science wire

ANALYSIS: absentee Egyptian votes and this week’s Presidential elections
Solava Ibrahim, University of Manchester. She is a Research Fellow at the University's Brooks World Poverty Institute.

Government should widen laws to combat widespread labour abuse
The Government should act urgently to stop the widespread abuse of foreign workers, say crime experts at The University of Manchester.

Saving the planet, one microwave at a time
The vast majority of the millions of microwave ovens thrown away every year could be easily fixed and reused, according to University of Manchester research. Making simple repairs could save the UK could save millions of pounds by replacing fuses or plugs rather than throwing away perfectly reusable microwaves with brand new ones.

Cities must must adapt to our changing climate, say leaders
UK cities must take more urgent and integrated action to adapt to our changing climate, according to some of the region's leading businesses and public sector representatives.

Passover treasure launches on iBookstore
A fourteenth-century Jewish masterpiece, painstakingly preserved by experts at The University of Manchester's John Rylands Library, is launched on iPad, iPhone and iPod touch this week.

’Uninvited’ Haiti earthquake teams neglected medical record keeping
Some foreign medical teams need to improve the way they respond to future disasters, according to an analysis of the devastating January 2010 Haiti earthquake.

“You need each other”, writers tell artists and scientists
Six of the UK's top science fiction writers are calling for scientists and the creative community to work more closely together to improve the credibility of their work.

Researchers let loo-se on unique project
University of Manchester researchers are beginning work on a prototype device for harvesting energy and clean drinking water from human waste. A project from a team of researchers from The University of Manchester , Imperial College London and Durham University beat more than 2,000 other proposals to receive $100,000 funding from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to develop a prototype system for recovering drinkable water and harvesting hydrogen energy from human faecal waste.

Rise of new media spurs major change in Bollywood’s India
India's Bollywood stars have turned to new media in huge numbers to be closer to their fans as part of a radical transformation of the industry in its quest for greater audiences.

New nuclear programme to address UK’s capability gap
A joint project between the Universities of Manchester and Sheffield for a New Nuclear Build and Manufacturing (NNUMAN) programme has been awarded £4m funding by the Engineering and Physical Scien

£11 million cleft research study will have global impact
The largest ever research programme into cleft lip and palate will bring huge potential benefit to patients around the world, say scientists speaking at the project's launch on Tuesday. Cleft is one of the most common congenital abnormalities in the world, affecting 1,200 children born in the UK every year, but little is known about its causes, with opinion divided on best treatments.

First historical handbook on consumption published
The first ever guide to the historical literature on consumption from ancient Greece to the contemporary world has been published, edited by Professor Frank Trentmann from The University of Manchester. The Oxford Handbook of the History of Consumption brings together 35 of the world's leading experts on consumption.

Surging growth in multi-faith space challenges religious decline
Britons now enjoy an increasing number of shared spaces for prayer, reflection and meditation, despite the declining popularity of established religion, according to the first ever study of multi-faith spaces in the UK.

Sniffy about the city? Just take a deep breath
A University of Manchester researcher says planners and architects should take the sense of smell more seriously when they are designing cities.

Whistling tribe rewrites rules of language
A renowned professor of linguistics is to argue his study of a remote Amazonian tribe has rewritten the rules of human language and the relationship between culture, thinking, and happiness at a free University of Manchester lecture today (19 March).

Manchester awarded £6.2 million to make NHS a safer place
The University of Manchester in partnership with NHS Greater Manchester has been awarded more than £6.2 million to help make the NHS a safer place for patients, the Government announced today (Friday).

Foundations were major force behind US rise as a superpower
A 15-year study of Rockefeller, Ford and Carnegie foundations has shown how they made powerful contributions to America's rising fortunes as an international powerhouse. Professor Inderjeet Parmar from The University of Manchester says the organisations have a century-long history of political activity, with connections all the way up to the US State Department, CIA and National Security Council.

Plans for new cancer research centre given green light
Plans to build a state-of-the-art cancer research building by the Manchester Cancer Research Centre (MCRC) have been approved by Manchester City Council's planning committee.

Priceless Jewish treasure will be big draw in New York
A fourteenth-century Jewish religious book, preserved by experts at The University of Manchester's John Rylands Library, is to be hand delivered to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, where it will go on show.

Power of love at heart of ‘gay marriage’
Legal rights and protections play second fiddle to the power of love for younger gay and lesbian couples who have formed civil partnerships, according to a three-year study by researchers at The University of Manchester.

Remains of Manchester tube system unearthed
A mysterious space underneath Manchester's Arndale shopping centre has been identified as the initial stages of a long forgotten underground railway through the city centre.

Tadpole researcher wins Westminster Medal at SET for Britain 2012
Nicholas Love, a post-doctoral researcher at the Healing Foundation Centre at The University of Manchester, is the overall winner at today's SET for Britain event in the House of Commons.

Hockey showdown in the Czech Republic
The Manchester Metros Ice Hockey Club, made up of students from across the city, are returning from Zlin in the Czech Republic after a showdown with the UTB Ice Hockey Team from the Thomas Bata University.

Tokyo subway attack responses “eroded freedoms”
The 1995 terrorist atrocity on the Tokyo Subway which killed thirteen people has led to a worrying erosion of religious freedom in Japan, according to one of Britain's leading scholars in Japanese studies.

Historian gives thanks to medieval Arab medics
One of the nation's leading medical historians has acknowledged the extent of Western medicine's debt to medieval Arab doctors in a new book.

Multimillion-pound health bonanza for Manchester
Manchester researchers are celebrating after securing £12.5 million of Government funding for clinical research in the city.

Third of looters were ‘from deprived areas’
Nearly a third of looters punished for taking part in the Manchester and Salford riots came from areas with high levels of social deprivation, an academic has found. Carly Lightowlers from The University of Manchester said there was evidence of a 'clear association' between poverty levels and the likelihood of being involved in the riots.

Modernist makeover was Mancunians’ way
Manchester was a stone's throw away from a brave new world of helipads, boulevards, tunnels and moving pavements, according to unrealised plans unearthed by researchers at The University of Manchester and Manchester School of Architecture.

‘Invisibility’ cloak could protect buildings from earthquakes
University of Manchester mathematicians have developed the theory for a Harry Potter style 'cloaking' device which could protect buildings from earthquakes. William Parnell's team in the University's School of Mathematics have been working on the theory of invisibility cloaks which, until recently, have been merely the subject of science fiction.

Director appointed for inflammation research centre
The University of Manchester, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and AstraZeneca have appointed Professor Tracy Hussell as Director of the new Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research (MCCIR).

New investment aims to establish the UK as a global graphene research hub
Today sees the announcement of full details of how an additional £50 million will be spent to keep the UK at the forefront of research into ‘wonder material' graphene.

Tool is new weapon in fight against climate change
A new service, developed by experts at The University of Manchester and The Mersey Forest, will provide vital information to help urban neighbourhoods avoid the potentially dangerous effects of climate change.

Partnership gives a voice to pressure ulcer patients
A new survey aims to give patients and carers a voice in the search to find the most effective prevention and treatment for pressure ulcers.

Supermaterial goes superpermeable
Wonder material graphene has revealed another of its extraordinary properties - University of Manchester researchers have found that it is superpermeable with respect to water. Graphene is one of the wonders of the science world, with the potential to create foldaway mobile phones, wallpaper-thin lighting panels and the next generation of aircraft.

University leads the way on high performance computing
The University of Manchester is heading up a large interdisciplinary network focusing on numerical algorithms and high performance computing.

9/11 spurred thankful end to radical theatre
A study of British contemporary theatre has found that the radicalism of the 1980s and 90s has been largely replaced by small c conservatism.

Star Organic Chemist Appointed
The University of Manchester is pleased to announce that Professor David Leigh FRS, one of the world's foremost organic chemists, will be joining the School of Chemistry later in the year.

Lost Shostakovich sonata has UK premiere
A little known Shostakovich violin sonata fragment is to be heard for the first time in the UK at a special University of Manchester performance today (19 January).

The Waters Chair of Mass Spectrometry at the Michael Barber Centre
The University of Manchester and Waters Corporation have announced the creation of the Waters Chair of Mass Spectrometry focusing on the many fields of research that utilise mass spectrometry technology.

Stargazing LIVE returns to Jodrell Bank
The hugely-popular Stargazing LIVE returns to The University of Manchester's Jodrell Bank Observatory next week.

Graphene reveals its magnetic personality
Can organic matter behave like a fridge magnet? Scientists from The University of Manchester have now shown that it can. In a report published , they used graphene, the world's thinnest and strongest material, and made it magnetic. Graphene is a sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a chicken wire structure.

Smart way of saving lives in natural disasters
Smartphones could help save hundreds of thousands of lives in the aftermath of a disaster or humanitarian crisis, research from University of Manchester academics has found. Software developed by computer scientists could help to quickly and accurately locate missing people, rapidly identify those suffering from malnutrition and effectively point people towards safe zones simply by checking their phones.

Site of earliest house is scheduled by the Government
21 Dec 2011 One of Yorkshire's most outstanding historical sites has been given protection by Heritage Minister John Penrose.

£2 million grant for brain study
21 Dec 2011 University of Manchester scientists have been awarded £2 million to explore the brain processes involved in ‘semantic cognition' and the different ways in which it can break down in various neurological conditions, such as stroke and dementia.

Human skull study causes evolutionary headache
20 Dec 2011 Scientists studying a unique collection of human skulls have shown that changes to the skull shape thought to have occurred independently through separate evolutionary events may have actually precipitated each other. Researchers at the Universities of Manchester and Barcelona examined 390 skulls from the Austrian town of Hallstatt and found evidence that the human skull is highly integrated, meaning variation in one part of the skull is linked to changes throughout the skull.

Flying into the eye of the storm
09 Dec 2011 University of Manchester scientists flew into the middle of the violent storms battering Scotland yesterday to measure the huge impact of the winds. Atmospheric scientist Keith Bower was on the Facility for Airborne Atmospheric Measurements (FAAM) research aircraft, while Professor Geraint Vaughan was monitoring measurements from the ground.

£1 million drug treatment study launched
08 Dec 2011 University of Manchester researchers have been awarded £1 million to investigate the effectiveness of the Department of Health's ‘Payment by Results' (PbR) schemes in the treatment of addiction.

Social media ‘not to blame’ for inciting rioters
08 Dec 2011 A study of 2.4 million Twitter messages from the time of the riots has found that politicians and other commentators were wrong to claim the website played an important role in inciting and organising the disturbances.

How sustainable is nuclear power for the UK?
08 Dec 2011 Nuclear power could contribute significantly to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the UK but this would lead to considerable impacts on natural resources and the environment, a report from The University of Manchester claims. The research into the sustainability of nuclear and other electricity options in the UK shows that nuclear power could make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.

University poet one of Irish Times top five
06 Dec 2011 A collection of poetry by a creative writing lecturer based at The University of Manchester has been named as one of the top five books of 2011 by a group of top writers in the Irish Times.

Stunning edition of Dickens’ Christmas classic available on iBookstore
05 Dec 2011 An exquisite handwritten edition of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, kept at The John Rylands Library, is now available on the iBookstore.

Anti-inflammatory chemical could prevent stroke damage
05 Dec 2011 Drugs that block inflammation in the brain could help patients who have a stroke or a brain haemorrhage, Manchester scientists said today (5 December) at the British Society for Immunology Congress in Liverpool.

Strictly Orthodox now one fifth of British Jews
ew statistics produced this month by an academic from The University of Manchester show that the Strictly Orthodox - or Charedi - community accounted for 20 per cent of all Anglo-Jewry in 2010.