news 2017

Scientists have found that much of the Indus thrived around an extinct river, challenging ideas about how urbanisation in ancient cultures evolved. The Indus or Harappan Civilisation was a Bronze Age society that developed mainly in the northwestern regions of South Asia from 5300 to 3300 years ago, at about the same time as urban civilisations developed in Mesopotamia and Egypt.

The study focused on men with high levels of 'bad' cholesterol and no other risk factors or signs of heart disease Previous research has shown the benefit of statins for reducing high cholesterol and coronary heart disease risk amongst different patient populations. However, until now there has been no conclusive evidence from trials for current guidelines on statin usage for people with very high levels of low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol (above 190mg/dL) and no established heart disease.

Urban food demand in the Amazon could be hitting wildlife up to 1,000 km away from the city, according to new research. Rapid urbanization in the Brazilian Amazon means over 18 million people are now living in rainforest towns and cities but the impact of this demographic change on wildlife harvested for food, is largely unknown.

Many animal species suffer reduced reproductive success in urban habitats, despite wide-spread supplementation of breeding and feeding opportunities. In some years, the breeding success of city birds is devastatingly low. Biologists have now shown conclusively that in urban blue tits, reduced breeding success is linked to poor nestling diet and in particular to scarcity of caterpillars, their preferred nestling food.

'Heat island' effect could double climate change costs for world's cities Overheated cities face climate change costs at least twice as big as the rest of the world because of the 'urban heat island' effect, new research shows. The study by an international team of economists of all the world's major cities is the first to quantify the potentially devastating combined impact of global and local climate change on urban economies.