Wild bird populations are generally thought to benefit from being given additional food in winter, but our understanding of the effects of such food provision is incomplete. The results of a new study, carried out by researchers at the University of Exeter and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), has found that feeding wild blue tits in winter resulted in less successful breeding during the following spring.
The research, just published in Scientific Reports, revealed that woodland blue tits that were provided with fat balls as a supplementary food during the winter months went...
Researchers at the University of Exeter found that older male burying beetles make better fathers than their younger counterparts. The study found that mature males, who had little chance of reproducing again, invested more effort in both mating and in parental care than younger males.
The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the Royal Society of London – B, considered how the likelihood of paternity influenced the way that males cared for young. Older males were good fathers and looked after the young even when they were unsure whether the offspring were theirs. Younger...
National Paracycling Champion Tom Staniford has an extremely rare condition which, until now, has puzzled his doctors.
He is unable to store fat under his skin – yet has type 2 diabetes – and suffered hearing loss as a child. Now, thanks to advances in genome sequencing, an international research team led by the University of Exeter Medical School has identified Tom’s condition and pinpointed the single genetic mutation that causes it.
As well as allowing a better understanding of Tom’s condition, the discovery may have implications for his bid to participate in the Rio...
Colonies of gannets maintain vast exclusive fishing ranges despite doing nothing to defend their territory from rival colonies, scientists have discovered.
A team of researchers led by the University of Exeter and the University of Leeds observed that northern gannets, which can fly hundreds of kilometres on a single fishing trip, avoided visiting the fishing grounds of gannets from neighbouring colonies.
The findings, published in the journal Science, could transform our understanding of animals’ foraging patterns because individual gannets do nothing to enforce this...
Personality is not inherited from birth parents says new research on zebra finches.
External factors are likely to play a bigger part in developing the personality of an individual than the genes it inherits from its parents, suggests the study.
Researchers at the University of Exeter and the University of Hamburg investigated how personality is transferred between generations. They found that foster parents have a greater influence on the personalities of fostered offspring than the genes inherited from birth parents.
A University of Exeter student is currently in search of music festival volunteers for ESRC funded PhD research.
There is little research into the multi-million pound festival sector, and this PhD study aims to change to that. The South West has a reputation for holding excellent and varied music festivals, each of which contributes to the local economy and tourist trade. University of Exeter student Dee Clayton, is aiming to understand the contribution of volunteers and create a picture of how festivals can use volunteers more effectively.
UK nature is in trouble – that is the conclusion of a groundbreaking report published today by a coalition of leading conservation and research organisations.
Scientists working side-by-side from 25 wildlife organisations have compiled a stock take of our native species – the first of its kind in the UK. The report reveals that 60% of the species studied have declined over recent decades. More than one in ten of all the species assessed are under threat of disappearing from our shores altogether.
The State of Nature report will be launched by Sir David Attenborough and UK...
The privacy management of 16 popular social networking sites, including Facebook and Twitter, is “seriously deficient,” according to a study being published in the June issue of Computer magazine.
Researchers from UK-based Security Lancaster , an Academic Centre of Excellence in Cyber Security Research at Lancaster University, found a disconnect between privacy statements and the site’s actual privacy controls.
“Although social networking sites continue to attract millions of diverse users worldwide, they remain plagued by privacy compromises that breed user dissatisfaction...
Problematic child-teacher relationships may be a predictor of psychological problems in later life, according to new research published online by the British Journal of Psychiatry.
Researchers led by the University of Exeter supported by the National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care in the South West Peninsula (NIHR PenCLAHRC), in conjunction with the University of Leicester and King’s College London, studied 3,799 primary school-aged children and 3,817 secondary school-aged children.
The University of Exeter has joined Easy Access IP, which promotes new ways of sharing intellectual property (IP). The University will be making selected intellectual property – patents, copyright, designs and know-how – available free to businesses which are willing to use it to develop products and services which benefit society and the economy. Some early-stage IP is too risky to attract investment from companies. By offering free and easy access to this, companies have the opportunity to evaluate the potential and possibilities with reduced risk. Companies can access the IP on an...
