A pioneering new study has shown that water found on Earth predates the formation of the Sun – raising hopes that life could exist on exoplanets, the planets orbiting other stars in our galaxy.
The ground-breaking research set out to discover the origin of the water that was deposited on the Earth as it formed.
It found that a significant fraction of water found on Earth, and across our solar system, predates the formation of the Sun. By showing that water is ‘inherited’ from the environment when a star is born, the international team of scientists believe other...
‘Green’ offices with plants make staff happier and more productive than ‘lean’ designs stripped of greenery, new research by academics in Exeter, Cardiff, Holland and Australia have revealed.
In the first field study of its kind, published today, researchers found enriching a ‘lean’ office with plants could increase productivity by 15%.
The team examined the impact of ‘lean’ and ‘green’ offices on staff’s perceptions of air quality, concentration, and workplace satisfaction, and monitored productivity levels over subsequent months in two large commercial offices in the UK...
Damp and mould in homes could pose a significant health risk to people with asthma according to a new study by Exeter academics.
By critically reviewing the findings from 17 studies in eight different countries, the research published the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology found that the presence of several types of mould can lead to breathing problems in asthma sufferers, as well as increasing the likelihood of developing the condition.
The research has been conducted by a team at the University of Exeter Medical School and is the first time all of the information...
A team led by researchers at the University of Exeter Medical School and King’s College London has uncovered some of the strongest evidence yet that epigenetic changes in the brain play a role in Alzheimer’s disease.
Epigenetic changes affect the expression or activity of genes without changing the underlying DNA sequence and are believed to be one mechanism by which the environment can interact with the genome. Importantly, epigenetic changes are potentially reversible and may therefore provide targets for the development of new therapies.
Scientists from the Universities of Exeter and Bristol have conducted a study that shows eels are losing the fight to survive when faced with marine noise pollution such as that of passing ships.
The study, published today (August 7th) in the journal Global Change Biology, found European eels were 50% less likely to respond to an ambush from a predator, while those that did had 25% slower reaction times. Those that were pursued by a predator were caught more than twice as quickly when exposed to the noise.
Lead author Dr Steve Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Marine Biology...
Youth charity The Prince’s Trust is urging more unemployed young people in the South West to embrace their inner entrepreneur and explore the option of self-employment thanks to financial backing from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The Prince’s Trust Enterprise Programme, which helps jobless young people to start up in business, has already created more than £3.1 million in social value for the South West alone, according to research published by the charity last year .
Supported with investment from ERDF, from now until June 2015, over 1,300 more young...
Debilitating side effects associated with prescription medication for some of today’s most common conditions could be eradicated if they mimicked the body’s natural hormone secretion cycles, a new report has said.
Scientists from Exeter and Bristol have studied how conventional steroid treatments – commonly used to treat a range of conditions from steroid deficiency to inflammatory diseases such as asthma and arthritis – can have serious side effects due to the way in which they are delivered to the body.
The study concluded that many of these side effects could be...
Polar bears and Inuit communities have become victims in the public war of words on climate change and wildlife conservation, according to researchers from Britain and Canada.
University of Exeter geographer Dr Martina Tyrrell and Dr Doug Clark from the University of Saskatchewan’s School of Environment and Sustainability examined the fallout from a media campaign in the run-up to the March 2013 proposal to severely limit or prohibit trade in polar bears under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).
The risk of extreme versions of the El Niño weather phenomenon will double over the coming decades due to global warming, new research has shown.
The frequency of ‘extreme El Niños’ could see a twofold increase as the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean warms faster than the surrounding regions.
The last major events in 1982-3 and 1997-98, when sea surface temperatures exceeding 28°C developed in the normally cold and dry eastern equatorial Pacific, caused a massive reorganisation of global rainfall.
The impact of these events, including extreme floods and droughts,...
New models predict 3.5-10 mm sea-level rise over the next 20 years. An international team of scientists has shown that Pine Island Glacier, the largest single contributor to sea-level rise in Antarctica, has entered a period of irreversible, self-sustained retreat and is likely to increase its discharge into the ocean in comparison to the last decade.
The current imbalance of the West Antarctic ice sheet and its related contribution to ongoing sea-level rise is well established. In particular, Pine Island Glacier has receded by about 10km during the last decade and alone...
