News Archive: December 2015

New Ashoka rice variety brings food security to millions

Around a million smallholders and their families in east and west India are enjoying greater food security thanks to work by researchers at Bangor University in Wales. Food security is a phrase that’s bandied about, but increasing food security can have real impact on people’s lives, and can come about by different means.

Publication date: 18 December 2015

Bangor University’s part in the world’s largest Marine Reserve

Bangor University is playing a significant role in the management of the world’s largest marine reserve.

Publication date: 18 December 2015

“Darwin’s puddle” shows how new species can emerge without geographic separation

Cichlid fish from a tiny volcanic crater have been caught in the act of sympatric speciation Can new species really evolve if there is no physical boundary to drive genetic separation? Physical and genomic evidence from the 700-metre wide volcanic crater Lake Massoko appears to have caught the process in the act.

Publication date: 18 December 2015

PhD student attends launch of parliamentary report on hunger

A PhD candidate who contributed evidence towards a major parliamentary report on hunger in the UK has attended the London launch of its follow-up document.

Publication date: 17 December 2015

Bangor University’s Winter Graduation Ceremony

Over a hundred and twenty postgraduate degrees were awarded to Bangor University students at its first winter graduation ceremony recently.

Publication date: 17 December 2015

How noise pollution is changing animal behaviour

This article by Dr Graeme Shannon , Lecturer at the School of Biological Sciences, was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article .

Publication date: 17 December 2015

A future where ‘smart’ contact lenses could predict your risk of suffering a common cold: Tear fluid antibodies and the common cold

Why is it that there are some people who can go a whole winter without so much as a sniffle, whilst others seem to catch every common cold that comes their way? A new study from Bangor University’s Extremes Research Group at the School of Sport, Health & Exercise Sciences , showed that it could be possible to predict the likelihood of participants succumbing to common cold symptoms by analyzing the level of antibodies in tear fluid.

Publication date: 16 December 2015

Awards success for the second year running at MediWales

A team led by Dr Chris Subbe, Senior Lecturer, School of Medical Sciences at Bangor University and a practicing clinician at Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board has been awarded the MediWales Award for "NHS Partnership with UK and International Industry" sponsored by Health & Care Research Wales and Roche.

Publication date: 15 December 2015

NERC-funded Envision Doctoral Training Partnership

Bangor University is a member of the prestigious NERC-funded Envision Doctoral Training Partnership ( http://www.envision-dtp.org/ ), together with the Universities of Lancaster and Nottingham, and the Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, British Geological Survey and Rothamsted Research.

Publication date: 15 December 2015

We need to make digital navigation tools more human – here's how

This article by Thora Tenbrink , Senior Lecturer in Cognitive Linguistics, School of Linguistics & English Language was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article . Imagine you’re in a city you don’t know, and need to find the way to the train station. You ask a stranger in the street, and she answers: “Walk east for 144ft, turn right towards the main road for 26ft, continue straight onto main road for 377ft. Your destination will be on the left.” You would probably think she sounded robotic – more like a digital route-finding system than a human being. And you’d be right.

Publication date: 15 December 2015

How a joke can help us unlock the mystery of meaning in language

This article by Vyvyan Evans , Professor of Linguistics, at the School of Lingusitics & English Language was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article . What do you get if you cross a kangaroo with an elephant? You’ll have to wait for the punchline, but you should already have shards of meaning tumbling about your mind. Now, jokes don’t have to be all that funny, of course, but if they are to work at all then they must construct something beyond the simple words deployed.

Publication date: 15 December 2015

£12m EU backed bio-refining research and innovation project gets the ‘green’ light

A new £12 million investment in Wales’ ‘green’ economy has been announced by Welsh Government Finance and Government Business Minister, Jane Hutt recently.

Publication date: 14 December 2015

New long-range micro backpacks for bees could provide vital information

Harnessing the bee’s own electrical energy is the solution proposed by an exciting new project to create a lightweight and long range bee-tracking device. Bee populations, our vital crop and fruit pollinators, are in serious decline; their survival faces challenges on several fronts, insecticides and varroa mites to name a few.

Publication date: 14 December 2015

Pontio calls on artists and scientists to collaborate

Pontio, Bangor University’s brand new arts and innovation centre, which officially opened its doors to the public today (1 st December 2015) is calling on performers and scientists to present exciting ideas as part of their SYNTHESIS project.

Publication date: 14 December 2015

EU boost to lead business success

A £3.9m EU backed initiative to help business owners and managers gain new leadership and management skills was announced by Finance and Government Business Minister, Jane Hutt, today [11.12.15]. Led by Swansea University in partnership with Bangor University, the ION Leadership project is backed with £2.7m from the European Social Fund to raise skills and drive forward productivity and turnover in small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) as well as in larger organisations.

Publication date: 11 December 2015

Hot bath after exercise improves performance in the heat

New research from Bangor University shows that taking a hot bath after exercise for 6 days reduces both resting and exercising body temperature and improves running performance in the heat. Prof Walsh, whose team lead the work, said “for sports people who compete in the heat, the new mantra should be: "train-cool, bathe-hot".

Publication date: 11 December 2015

Student Christmas Market attracts record numbers

Students from across Bangor University and Grwp Llandrillo Menai took part in the running of 65 stalls at the Student Christmas Market held on 4 December attracting over 1600 visitors. It was fantastic to see such a diverse range of locally made merchandise on offer this year.

Publication date: 11 December 2015

Taking a hot bath after exercise improves performance in the heat

This article by Professor Neil Walsh , School of Sport, Health and Exercise Sciences was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article .

Publication date: 10 December 2015

A Bangor graduate has set up a social enterprise to encourage people to get outdoors

Zoology and Conservation graduate Tom Cockbill, originally from Walsall, West Midlands, recently established Wild Elements, a social enterprise based in Bangor, thanks to support from Bangor University’s Careers Service. A passion for getting people outdoors and enjoying the natural world was the impetus for Tom, 32, to set up Wild Elements. Tom said: “With so much natural beauty right on our doorstep here in Bangor, I felt a responsibility to pass on my own positive experience of the outdoors to others.”

Publication date: 10 December 2015

Seven Reasons to shop locally this Christmas

Christmas sales can account for between a third and nearly two-thirds of some retailers’ annual turnover, so it’s not surprising that national retailers are running huge advertising campaigns to attract shoppers. The rise in online and out of town shopping means that people often don’t realise that there’s already a huge variety of goods and services available on their local high street. To address this, Bangor has recently created a Business Improvement District, which is bringing businesses together to create a more vibrant and enticing shopping area along the High Street.

Publication date: 9 December 2015

When languages die, we lose a part of who we are

This article by Anouschka Foltz , Lecturer in Psycholinguistics, at the School of Lingusitics & English Language was originally published on The Conversation . Read the original article . The 2015 Paris Climate Conference (COP21) is in full gear and climate change is again on everyone’s mind. It conjures up images of melting glaciers, rising sea levels, droughts, flooding, threatened habitats, endangered species, and displaced people. We know it threatens biodiversity, but what about linguistic diversity?

Publication date: 9 December 2015

Deciphering the connection between language and meaning

A Bangor University academic discusses the connection between language and meaning in a new book published by Cambridge University Press. In The Crucible of Language , Professor Vyv Evans brings the latest findings together to explain what we know, and what we do, when we communicate using language. He shows how linguistic meaning arises, where it comes from, and the way in which language enables us to convey the meanings that can move us to tears, bore us to death, or make us dizzy with delight.

Publication date: 8 December 2015

Bangor University graduates well-regarded by major employers

Bangor University appears in the top 40 table of UK Universities who produce the best graduates according to an international survey published online by the Times Higher magazine. The survey of predominantly businesses, IT and engineering sector companies reveals which universities are the most popular and well-regarded sources of excellent recruitment material.

Publication date: 8 December 2015

New Welsh Language Centre for Mold

Due to the increase in the number of people who want to learn Welsh in the Flintshire area over the past five years, Welsh for Adults North Wales, Bangor University, have opened a new language centre in Mold today .

Publication date: 4 December 2015

Bangor University rewards outstanding impact from its research and enterprise activities

Projects which have benefited local and global communities were rewarded as Bangor University held its third annual Impact and Innovation Awards on the 3 rd December 2015.

Publication date: 4 December 2015

We want to build tiny backpacks for bees – here’s why

This article by Paul Cross , Senior Lecturer in the Environment, at the School of Environment, Natural Resources and Geography and Cristiano Palego , Senior Lecturer in Smart Sensors and Instrumentation at the School of Electronic Engineering , was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article .

Publication date: 3 December 2015

Bangor University Host Advanced Boiling Water Reactor Seminar

Bangor is proud to be the first university in Wales that has hosted a technical seminar on the Advanced Boiling Water Reactor (ABWR) - the technology that will be deployed by Horizon Nuclear Power at Wylfa Newydd on the Isle of Anglesey.

Publication date: 2 December 2015

Archive of the month

Publication date: 1 December 2015