News 2019

Female MPs are roughly 20% more vocal in parliamentary debates where the cabinet minister is female than when the responsible minister is male, finds a new study by UCL. The research, published in the British Journal of Political Science , is the first to consider whether female leadership affects the processes or outcomes of political debate.

One in three people commit "financial infidelity", with potentially toxic consequences for their relationships, according to a study co-led by UCL which is thought to be the first to investigate the concept. Romantic relationships are built on trust, but partners are not always honest about their financial behaviour - they often hide spending, debt, and savings from one another.

A new study by scientists from The Nature Conservancy (TNC), the University of Bristol and flood analytics company Fathom, seeks to answer an important question related to flooding in the United States - pay now to protect undeveloped areas that are likely to flood in the future or allow developments to go ahead and pay for damage when it occurs.

Government leaders must set a good example to the business community if they want to eliminate corporate corruption, a new study reveals. Financial incentives and criminal punishment will not root out corrupt business practices, but a government culture of honesty, integrity and strong leadership could help to cure corruption.

Climate change expert Professor Sir David Hendry will explore how humanity has accelerated global warming when he delivers the annual China Institute Li Siguang lecture at the University of Birmingham on Wednesday 20th November. And his talk 'Climate Change in the Long Run' will illustrate how climatologists, volcanologists, dendrochronologists, meteorologists, geophysicists and health scientists are working together to tackle climate change and its consequences.

Waste carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels could be used to make valuable products such as plastics, fuels and cement, suggests new research. If done correctly, using waste carbon dioxide (CO2) to make useful products would also help offset the costs of mitigating climate change, argue scientists in a review .

A large-scale report into the nature and prevalence of prostitution in England and Wales, carried out by researchers at the University of Bristol, has been published today [30 October]. The research, commissioned and published by the Home Office, is a significant step in understanding sex work, the variety of different services and for what reasons people become involved.

Women, the young and older people are most risk averse when it comes to financial risk taking, according to new research from the University of Bristol and Cass Business School. The report ' Quantifying Loss Aversion: Evidence from a UK Population Survey ' identifies key characteristics about individuals which explain their attitude to risk and loss.

The US green economy is estimated to generate over $1.3 trillion in revenue per year, representing 16.5% of the global green economy, according to a new study by UCL. The green economy - broadly defined as an economy that is low carbon, resource efficient and socially inclusive - is a major source of jobs in the US, employing an estimated 9.5 million people.

New research has shed light on the impact of financial crises on air pollution showing that, while emissions are reduced during a financial crisis, the positive impacts are unexpectedly short-lived as new patterns of pollution emerge. A study led by Dr Andreas Antoniades and Dr Alexander Antonarakis at the University of Sussex shows that the break out of a financial crisis is associated with reductions in carbon dioxide (CO2) sulphur dioxide (SO2), and nitrogen dioxide (NO x ), and emissions.

From decarbonising heat to food security and water sustainability, we're working to bring about improvements that will benefit nature and the well-being of the planet. Durham's research is having an impact on the environment and potentially all of our lives. In fact, it's hard to imagine a more important research focus for us than the environment given that all life depends upon it.

The billion-dollar pet industry now has a growing market dedicated to wearable devices but new research from the University of Bristol has found these devices capture more data on the owners rather than their pets. Consumers have the option to track location, activity and health data of their pets but the Bristol Cyber Security Group have found these wearables do not always acknowledge the privacy implications for the humans and their data.

The hotter the day the more likely US immigration judges are to make harsher decisions - a new study by the universities of Ottawa, Canada and Sussex, England can reveal. The study, published in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics , analyses the impact of outdoor temperatures on high-stakes decisions made in 207,000 US immigration cases.

Garden centres need to provide more information about bee-friendly plants, according to new research Garden centres in the south east need to provide more information about pollinator-friendly plants, according to new research from the University of Sussex. In a study focused on the public attitudes and behaviours towards pollinator-friendly planting, researchers discovered that 52% of people thought garden centres didn't offer enough information despite believing that they'd be the 'best place' to turn to for advice.

When Sandie Read was diagnosed with dementia at 57, she felt a mixture of fear, anxiety and depression. Fifteen years later and not only is she offering support to fellow sufferers but she's also working with researchers to improve the way people communicate and interact with those living with the condition.

16 May 2019 As the UK heads towards a cashless society, experts have warned changes to infrastructure - including easy access to free ATMs - are leaving some of the most deprived communities behind. New research from the University of Bristol's Personal Finance Research Centre shows deprived neighbourhoods, often those where people are most likely to rely on cash, are rapidly witnessing the disappearance of their free cashpoints.

People's feelings about their own financial situation had the greatest influence on them voting to leave the EU, according to new research which challenges the widely-held belief that it was the old and unhappy who swung the Brexit vote. Academics at the Universities of Bristol, Warwick and ETH Zurich, analysed the views of 8,000 prospective voters to determine what factors led to anti-EU sentiment.

Countries relying on the world's biggest and most established source of renewable electricity have seen their poverty, corruption and debt levels rise and their economy slow at significantly greater rates than nations which use other energy resources over the last three decades, a major new study has found.

Police at a crime scene in Leyton, east London after a man in his twenties was stabbed to death in March of this year. Credit: PA. Police at a crime scene in Leyton, east London after a man in his twenties was stabbed to death in March of this year. Credit: PA. Knife crime data from a 12-month period could be used to help forecast the London neighbourhoods most likely to suffer a fatal stabbing the following year, according to latest research.

PA. Female contestants in the reality show Big Brother are unpopular among viewers in countries across the globe, according to a new study. The findings could have important implications for the existence of gender discrimination in the entertainment industry. Women contestants proved particularly unpopular in the UK, where being female roughly doubled a housemate's probability of losing any given audience vote during the show's 18-year life-span.