news 2010

Life Sciences - History/Philosophy - 8.05
Mystery of the domestication of the horse solved
Our research clearly shows that the original founder population of domestic horses was established in the western Eurasian Steppe, an area where the earliest archaeological evidence for domesticated horses has been found." —Dr Vera Warmuth, from the University of Cambridge's Department of Zoology New research indicates that do

History/Philosophy - 11.04
Skeletons found in Oxford could be ’10th-century Viking raiders’
Thirty-seven skeletons found in a mass burial site in the grounds of St John's College may not be who they initially seemed, according to Oxford researchers studying the remains.

Medicine/Pharmacology - History/Philosophy - 13.03
Studying sleep in young people: links to growth, use of new technologies
Shahrad Taheri leads the Midlands Adolescent Schools Sleep Education Study (MASSES). He is Senior Lecturer in medicine, diabetes and endocrinology at the University of Birmingham. He is also a consultant physician at the Heart of England NHS Foundation Trust.

Medicine/Pharmacology - History/Philosophy - 8.03
Drug 'reduces implicit racial bias,' study suggests
Taking a heart disease medication can affect a person's subconscious attitudes towards race, a team of ethicists, psychiatrists and psychologists at Oxford University has found. In a study published in Psychopharmacology , researchers gave 18 people the drug propranolol and 18 people a placebo and found that the propranolol group scored significantly lower on the Implicit Attitude Test into subconscious racial bias – a standard test for testing subconscious racial attitudes.

History/Philosophy - 21.02
Nottingham academic reveals insight into early prehistoric human occupations
Image courtesy of EFAP (Epipalaeolithic Foragers in Azraq Project) PA 56/12 Some of the earliest evidence of prehistoric architecture has been discovered in the Jordanian desert, providing archaeologists with a new perspective on how humans lived 20,000 years ago.

Life Sciences - History/Philosophy - 1.02
Half of species found by 'great plant hunters'
More than 50% of the world's plant species have been discovered by 2% of plant collectors, scientists have found. With an estimated 15-30% of the world's flowering plants yet to be discovered, finding and recording new plant species is vital to our understanding of global biodiversity.

History/Philosophy - Law/Forensics - 18.01
Archaeologist reveals evidence of mass graves at Nazi death camp
Almost 70 years after the end of the Second World War a groundbreaking forensic archaeological study by the University of Birmingham has unearthed evidence of hidden burial sites at a former death camp where more than 800,000 Jews perished during the Holocaust.

Medicine/Pharmacology - History/Philosophy - 29.11.2011
Do we need a ’science of evidence’?
Evidence is key to many topical debates such as global warming, evolution, the search for weapons of mass destruction, DNA profiling, and advances in science and medicine. A new book asks whether, considering the importance of evidence for so many disciplines, a general 'science of evidence' is possible - or even desirable.

Earth Sciences - History/Philosophy - 15.09.2011
Minerals from ocean-floor rocks found in ultra-deep diamonds
Mineral inclusions discovered in diamonds prove that surface rocks can be subducted into the deep part of the Earth's mantle. The isotopic composition of the diamonds confirms that recycling of crustal materials, including carbon, extends into the lower mantle.

History/Philosophy - 31.08.2011
Discovery of Celtic chieftain’s fort set to rewrite Scottish history
A major discovery by archaeologists working in Perthshire will cast new light on understanding of the earliest history of Scotland. Broch Discovery [mp3] A team from the Strathearn Environs and Royal Forteviot (SERF) project have uncovered near the village of Dunning an exquisitely preserved Iron Age broch filled with evidence of early between the Picts and the Roman Empire.

Environmental Sciences - History/Philosophy - 23.08.2011
Ancient daddy long legs creep up in 3D: 300m year old harvestmen revealed in new virtual fossil
Two ancient types of harvestmen, or ‘daddy long legs,' which skittered around forests more than 300 million years ago, are revealed in new three-dimensional virtual fossil models published today .

Medicine/Pharmacology - History/Philosophy - 3.08.2011
Eating disorders and fertility research
Eating disorders such as anorexia and bulimia are associated with fertility problems and negative attitudes to pregnancy, according to a study from King's scientists. The research also revealed high rates of unplanned pregnancies in women with a history of anorexia, suggesting they may be underestimating their chances of conceiving.

Environmental Sciences - History/Philosophy - 7.07.2011
Modern polar bears descended from extinct bears from Ireland
Scientists have discovered that modern polar bears are descended from now extinct brown bears that roamed the region we know today as Britain and Ireland. It is thought that polar bears moved into this area just before, or during the last Ice Age, where they mated with female brown bears.

History/Philosophy - Medicine/Pharmacology - 8.06.2011
Archaeologists discover skeleton in doctor’s garden
A skeleton, possibly dating from Roman times, has been unearthed by archaeologists from the University of Bristol during a dig in the garden of vaccination pioneer Dr Edward Jenner in Berkeley, Gloucestershire.

History/Philosophy - 18.05.2011
Imaging technology reveals intricate details of 49 million-year-old spider
Scientists have used the latest computer-imaging technology to produce stunning three-dimensional pictures of a 49 million-year-old spider trapped inside an opaque piece of fossilized amber resin. University of Manchester researchers, working with colleagues in Germany, created the intricate images using X-ray computed tomography to study the remarkable spider, which can barely be seen under the microscope in the old and darkened amber.