news 2011

University of Warwick economics professor Christopher Woodruff will oversee a new initiative that plans to invest £15 million into research on private enterprise development in low-income countries. The initiative, the largest research endeavour undertaken on the subject, is a joint venture co-ordinated by the Centre for Economic Policy Research in partnership with the Department for International Development.

It is currently an efficient filter system that could be used in countries with poor access to fresh potable water, or to remove heavy metals and industrial waste products from ground water sources." —Dr Easan Sivaniah from the University of Cambridge's Cavendish Laboratory Scientists have developed a new method of creating nanoporous materials with potential applications in everything from water purification to chemical sensors.

Innovative technology being pioneered at Cardiff to speed up the discovery of new drugs to tackle lung diseases could also dramatically reduce testing on animals. Scientists at the School of Biosciences have shown it is feasible to integrate human liver cells with lung cells to create the Metabo-Lung - a working model of human lung tissue to test the toxicity of drugs.

Celebrity endorsement of charities and NGOs may not quite have the pulling power it once had, according to new research by a University of Manchester academic. Daniel Brockington says the proportion of newspapers stories about charities which mention celebrity have been declining over recent years. Other research on the use of celebrity in the US, he says, shows that even the highest profile figures can fail to get the causes they advocate prominently reported in the news.

One million Britons experienced workplace violence in the last two years, while millions more were subjected to intimidation, humiliation and rudeness, new research has shown. Surprisingly, managers and professionals in well-paid full-time jobs are among the groups most at risk. The study also shows that conventional employment policies are failing to deal with workplace ill-treatment.

Planned changes to the way vets are allowed to conduct TB tests could have a dramatic impact on rural veterinary practices and fail to address quality control issues surrounding tests for bovine tuberculosis, University research has found. The Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) recently announced their intention to require veterinary practices in England to competitively tender for TB tests in specific geographical areas.

Researchers from the University of Bristol's School of Veterinary Sciences have concluded that the wellbeing of barn chickens is increased if they have activity objects, perches and other stimulation. Around 75 per cent of barn chickens reared for UK households are in barns which don't have natural daylight or activity objects such as pecking blocks.

Researchers find recipe for "perfect plastic” Researchers have solved a long-standing problem that could revolutionise the way new plastics are developed. The breakthrough, involving researchers at Durham University and the University of Leeds, will allow experts to create the 'perfect plastic' with specific uses and properties by using a high-tech 'recipe book'.

Ever since the era of silent films, smoking has played a major part in film symbolism. Think Audrey Hepburn in Breakfast at Tiffany's or Robert De Niro in Goodfellas. But iconic scenes such as these could be damaging the health of teenagers, who are more likely to smoke after watching films depicting the habit.

The UK riots may have damaged properties and businesses, but the real damage hasn't even been properly considered yet, say University of Nottingham experts.

Making friends is a key part of school life, often shaping our futures and helping us develop as individuals. With youngsters across the country returning to school this week, new research has identified the factors which influence these relationships, with academic achievement, mother's education and personality found to be essential in the friendship formation process.

A team of marine experts is helping predict the future of coastal ecosystems after discovering that warming temperatures may exacerbate ocean acidification. In a paper published in full by Nature Climate Change magazine this month, the scientists warn that rapidly deteriorating Mediterranean coastal ecosystems are further threatened by increasing CO2 levels.

Searching the internet might seem simple, but applying a little bit of economic theory to information retrieval can shed some light on the best search strategies to adopt, according to researchers. Leif Azzopardi from the School of Computing Science at the University of Glasgow took production theory from microeconomics and applied it to the process of searching the internet, or any other database system.

Research: Effectiveness and cost effectiveness of cardiovascular disease prevention in whole populations: modelling study The introduction of legislation that restricts unhealthy food, for example by reducing salt content and eliminating industrial trans fats, would prevent thousands of cases of heart disease in England and Wales and save the NHS millions of pounds, finds research published on bmj.com | today.

Players of the game rock paper scissors subconsciously copy each other's hand shapes, significantly increasing the chance of the game ending in a draw, according to new research. A study published today in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B shows that even when players lose out by drawing a game, they can't help themselves from copying the hand gestures of their opponent.

Researchers at the University of Liverpool have found that children who watch adverts for unhealthy food on television are more likely to want to eat high-fat and high-sugar foods. The study by researchers in the Institute of Psychology, Health and Society examined the food preferences of a group of 281 children aged six to 13 years old from the North West of England.

New research by the University of Warwick and Humboldt University shows that the frequency of wars between states increased steadily from 1870 to 2001 by 2% a year on average. The research argues that conflict is being fed by economic growth and the proliferation of new borders.

Just as grey hair and wrinkles are widely accepted as a natural part of ageing, so is an increased risk of falling, which can happen for many reasons and with devastating consequences, including increased likelihood of injury, hospitalisation and even death. A new research study by human movement scientists at the University of Birmingham is seeking to reduce the risk to older people of falling, by investigating the relationship between gaze direction and walking behaviour.

A major study reveals for the first time the number of children being brought up by a relative instead of their mother or father. 'Spotlight on Kinship Care' is the first study to quantify the number of children being looked after by family members in England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and is based on data from the 2001 Census.

New atlas shows austerity hitting the poor rather than the rich Researchers at the University of Sheffield have created a unique atlas which is an authoritative record of the changing social geography of Britain. Bankrupt Britain: an atlas of social change , published by The Policy Press, shows, for the first time, how economic and social fortunes have been affected in different areas in the wake of the 2007 banking crisis, 2008 economic crash, 2009 credit crunch and 2010 cuts.