Latest Durham University Stories
April Flowers for redOrbit.com - Your Universe Online Many bird species are likely to suffer from future climate change, a new study led by Durham University and BirdLife International reveals. These species will require enhanced protection for important sites, and better management of the wider countryside. In extreme cases, they may need to be physically moved to areas that are climatically suitable to help them survive. Stronger protection and effective management of the networks of...
Poor women who drank tea were viewed as irresponsible as whiskey drinkers in early 19th-century Ireland, new research by Durham University has unearthed. Critics at the time declared that the practice of tea drinking – viewed as a harmless pastime in most past and present societies – was contributing to the stifling of Ireland's economic growth, and was clearly presented as reckless and uncontrollable. Women who drank tea wasted their time and money, it was said, drawing them away...
Durham University Researchers designing and testing the 'classroom of the future' have found that multi-touch, multi-user desks can boost skills in mathematics. New results from a 3-year project working with over 400 pupils, mostly 8-10 year olds, show that collaborative learning increases both fluency and flexibility in maths. It also shows that using an interactive 'smart' desk can have benefits over doing mathematics on paper. Using multi-touch desks in the new classroom, the...
Experts from Durham University have identified a new gene that could help the development of fertility treatments in humans in the future. Scientists from Durham University, UK, and Osaka University, Japan, looking at fertility in mice, have discovered for the first time that the gene, which makes a protein called PDILT, enables sperm to bind to an egg, a process essential to fertilization. The team found that when the gene was 'switched off' in male mice, less than three per cent of...
A spectacularly bright object recently spotted in one of the Milky Way's neighboring galaxies is the result of a "normal" stellar black hole, astronomers have found. An international team of scientists, led by Dr Matt Middleton, of Durham University, analyzed the Ultraluminous X-ray Source (ULX), which was originally discovered in the Andromeda galaxy by NASA's Chandra x-ray observatory. They publish their results in the journals Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society and...
Teaching children with autism to 'talk things through in their head' may help them to solve complex day-to-day tasks, which could increase the chances of independent, flexible living later in life, according to new research. The study, led by Durham University, found that the mechanism for using 'inner speech' or 'talking things through in their head' is intact in children with autism but not always used in the same way as typically developing children do. The psychologists found that...
Grey seals have different types of personality that affect the extent to which they guard and care for their young, according to new research. Researchers from Durham University and the University of St Andrews, looking at seal colonies in Scotland, found that seal mothers are often unpredictable and adopt a wide variation of mothering styles when it comes to checking on their pups. Some are very attentive while others are not, the researchers found. The Durham-St Andrews study shows,...
Researchers have identified a potential drug therapy for a premature ageing disease that affects children causing them to age up to eight times as fast as the usual rate. The study is the first to outline how to limit and repair DNA damage defects in cells and could provide a model for understanding processes that cause us to age. The findings could have significant benefits, such as reducing degeneration of some tissues in older age, and could assist health management in countries,...
Researchers at the University of Leeds and Durham University have solved a long-standing problem that could revolutionize the way new plastics are developed. The breakthrough will allow experts to create the 'perfect plastic' with specific uses and properties by using a high-tech 'recipe book.' It will also increase our ability to recycle plastics. The research paper is published in the prestigious journal Science on Thursday. The paper's authors form part of the Microscale Polymer...
Results from a project run in 129 primary schools in Scotland, the largest ever trial of peer tutoring, show that children as young as seven to eight years old can benefit from a tutoring session as short as twenty minutes per week. The findings and the ease of implementation of the scheme indicate that peer tutoring could be an effective way to supplement the work of teachers and classroom assistants, and could be rolled out as a nationwide programme. The boost to school pupils'...
