news 2009

The Kentish-Snowy Plover, a small shorebird found in the US and Europe, is suffering from an identity crisis after scientists at the University of Sheffield and the University of Bath have found genetic evidence that the populations are, in fact, separate species. Historically, biologists classified the Kentish Plover, found in Europe, and its look-a-like, the Snowy Plover, from the US, as being different varieties of the same species due to their similar looks.

Researchers from the University of Sheffield have created a new online atlas which displays images of the world, but not as we know it. The atlas includes over 200 maps which have been redrawn to show, at a glance, which cities are the largest, how all urban areas compare, and whether many or few people live in the countryside.

Researchers at the University of Sheffield, funded by the UK´s leading dementia research charity, the Alzheimer´s Research Trust, have uncovered how a type of brain cell is affected in Alzheimer´s. The team´s exciting findings are to be published later this month (May 2009)in two journals.

There is an association between schizophrenia and violent crime, but it is minimal unless there are also drug or alcohol problems, a large-scale study led by Oxford University has shown. The findings, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association, highlight the importance of treating drug or alcohol problems in people with severe mental illness.