Latest Belfast Stories
A Queen's University Belfast academic is working on research that could help protect the lives of military based in Afghanistan.Professor Wei Sha from Queen's School of Planning, Architecture and Civil Engineering has been testing how safe vehicles with titanium alloys are when attacked by bullets or explosions.Professor Sha's research examines the damage tolerance of the popular material titanium. It is the first research of its kind to reveal the reasons behind the deformation and damage...
Dogs are now being trained in Britain to warn diabetic owners when their blood sugar levels take a dangerous plunge.Most people know that dogs are often used in searching for illegal drugs and explosives, and a few have heard that man's best friend has proven himself even capable of sniffing out certain cancer cells.But now, these amazing creatures are pioneering a new frontier in diabetes care after recent evidence indicated that a dog's hypersensitive nose can detect incredibly small...
Queen's University Belfast academics have helped develop an antioxidant supplement which may slow down sight loss in elderly people.The supplement may help those affected by the leading cause of blindness in the Western World, a five-year research program has found.Professor Usha Chakravarthy, from Queen's Centre of Vision and Vascular Science (CVVS), co-ordinated the study, which looked at nutritional supplements for patients with early age-related macular (AMD) degeneration and found they...
In a controversial new paper in the journal Nature, astronomers from Queen's University Belfast have proposed a new physical interpretation of a supernova discovered on 7th November 2008.A group of researchers, led by Dr. Stefano Valenti from Queen's University Belfast, found a weak explosion that is unusual in many ways, and several lines of evidence suggest it could be from a massive star.This goes against mainstream thinking in the astrophysics community which believes that this type of...
A Belfast woman who had not undergone fertility treatments was in stable condition after giving birth to six babies, her doctors in Northern Ireland said. A team of 30 doctors and nurses delivered the babies Friday via Caesarean section within five minutes, The Daily Telegraph reported Saturday. We have planned very carefully for today and today went as well as we had hoped it would, said neonatal consultant Clifford Mayes, who oversaw the team. The four girls and two boys, born 14 weeks...
Scientists at Queen's University Belfast have discovered a new eco-friendly way of dissolving wood using ionic liquids that may help its transformation into popular products such as bio fuels, textiles, clothes and paper.Dr Héctor RodrÃguez and Professor Robin Rogers from the University's School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering worked along with The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, AL, to come up with a more cost and energy efficient way of processing wood.Their solution, which...
Workers at an auto parts plant in Northern Ireland promised Tuesday to continue a sit-in to protest its closing and the skimpy severance packages offered. The Visteon plant in Belfast made parts for Ford and belonged to the company until 2000. The closing was announced Tuesday, The Belfast Telegraph reported. John McGowan, a shift leader, said that last year laid-off workers were offered redundancy payments of 30,000 pounds (about $44,000 at the current exchange rate.) This week, they were...
New research published by a Queen's University Belfast academic has shown that crabs not only suffer pain but that they retain a memory of it.The study, which looked at the reactions of hermit crabs to small electric shocks, was carried out by Professor Bob Elwood and Mirjam Appel from the School of Biological Sciences at Queen's and has been published in the journal Animal Behavior.Professor Elwood, who previously carried out a study showing that prawns endure pain, said his research...
A new study has shown there is an urgent need for more children to take part in clinical trials to make sure medicines can be licensed for their safe and effective use.The study has been carried out by Professor James McElnay, a leading academic at Queen's University Belfast.Professor of Pharmacy Practice as well as Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Research and Postgraduates at Queen's, Professor McElnay led a study which showed many people in Northern Ireland do not know medicines are being used...
Queen's University Belfast is working on a three-year study to conserve and restore endangered horse mussel reefs in Strangford Lough.Marine biologists based at the University's marine research and outreach centre in Portaferry in County Down, which is part of the School of Biological Sciences, will provide scientific and technological research to map and monitor the species and undertake trials to restore it.Horse mussel reefs are important to the marine environment because they are...
