research

Retired holidaymakers asked to share stories

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Thu, 08/04/2016 - 10:41am

Retired holidaymakers are needed to take part in new research which aims to discover how giving up work has affected their tourism choices.

Academics from the University of Exeter Business School want to collect data on how people holidayed before and after retirement. They hope this will allow experts to better understand how tourism affects the wellbeing of older people, and how retirement leads to changes in the choice of location and holiday type.

The researchers are working with the charity Age UK Exeter to carry out the survey, which can also be completed online ....

Steep decline in number of small family farms

A major new independent study¹ commissioned by The Prince’s Countryside Fund into the future of small family farms across the UK, has revealed a steep decline in numbers since the beginning of the century.

Over the last two or three decades, small family farms have experienced profound change. The report set out to explore the future for these farms by identifying the pace of change, investigating ways in which they might improve performance and viability as well as putting forward proposals for improvements to farm management, adjusting policies and bringing in new blood.

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New technique could revolutionise surgical treatment of epilepsy

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Sun, 07/10/2016 - 3:06pm

Scientists at the University of Exeter have developed a pioneering new technique that could revolutionise the surgical treatment of epilepsy.

The team of scientists, led by Dr Marc Goodfellow and Professor John Terry, have developed the ground-breaking new method that can identify the specific regions of the brain that trigger seizures in people with epilepsy.

The new technique is designed to help surgeons and neurologists measure the relative contribution to the occurrence of seizures made by different brain regions, and so determine the brain regions to remove that will...

Night-time light pollution causes spring to come early

Human use of artificial light is causing Spring to come at least a week early in the UK, researchers at the University of Exeter in Cornwall have found.

New research led by a team of biologists based at the University’s Penryn campus highlights for the first time and at a national scale the relationship between the amount of artificial night-time light and the date of budburst in woodland trees.

The study, the result of a long term collaboration with independent environmental consultants Spalding Associates, in Truro, made use of data collected by citizen scientists from...

Exeter GP takes on new health research champion role

A GP in Exeter has a new role championing health research and encouraging doctors to increase the opportunities for their patients to take part in clinical research studies conducted in the county.

Dr Lisa Gibbons – a GP and partner at St Thomas Health Centre - has been appointed as the Clinical Research Specialty Lead for primary care in the South West peninsula.

Lisa, who has practised at the health centre in Cowick Street for almost two years, has been involved in health research throughout her medical training and she says she has seen the positive impact of research...

Patients with high blood pressure wanted for clinical trial

PEOPLE in the South West suffering from high blood pressure are being given the chance to take part in a major clinical research trial which could herald a ‘new era’ in the treatment of the life-threatening condition.

The ‘WAVE IV’ trial at the Royal Devon and Exeter Foundation Trust is testing a new one-hour, one-off non-invasive treatment which aims to reduce blood pressure permanently, cutting the patient’s risk of stroke and heart attacks and eliminating the need for on-going medication.

Principal investigator for the study, Dr Andrew Sharp, Consultant Cardiologist and...

GraphExeter illuminates bright new future for flexible lighting devices

Authored by News Desk
Posted: Mon, 06/27/2016 - 1:07pm

Researchers from the University of Exeter have pioneered an innovative new technique to make flexible screens more effective and efficient.

A team of Engineers and Physicists from Exeter have discovered that GraphExeter – a material adapted from the ‘wonder material’ graphene - can substantially improve the effectiveness of large, flat, flexible lighting.

By using GraphExeter, the most transparent, lightweight and flexible material for conducting electricity, instead of pure graphene, the team have increased the brightness of flexible lights by up to almost 50 per cent....

El Nino drives fastest annual increase on record of carbon dioxide

The rising concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide has passed a symbolic threshold early due to the fastest annual increase on record

The human-caused rise in atmospheric concentration of carbon dioxide is being given an extra boost this year by the natural climate phenomena of El Niño, say climate scientists in a paper published in yesterday's edition of the journal Nature Climate Change. As a result, 2016 will be the first year with concentrations above 400 parts per million all year round in the iconic Mauna Loa carbon dioxide record.

Lead author Professor Richard...

Last call for commuters to help steer traffic congestion project

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Fri, 06/10/2016 - 12:02pm

Researchers at the University of Exeter who are working on an initiative to curb traffic congestion in and around the city are issuing a final call for help from commuters.

Over 2,000 people have already responded to an online survey at www.commute-exeter.com which is aimed at anyone over the age of 17 who commute into or within Exeter to work or for study.

Experts from the University’s Geography department are now leading a last push to get as many people as possible to complete the 10-minute survey which closes at 5pm on Sunday June 19. As an added incentive participants...

City birds less afraid of litter, says Exeter researcher

Authored by Mary Youlden
Posted: Sat, 06/04/2016 - 12:06pm

Urban birds are less afraid of litter than their country cousins according to a new study co-authored by a University of Exeter academic.

The research, which highlights one way in which birds adjust to urban settings and published in the journal Animal Behaviour, shows that corvids - the family of birds which includes crows, ravens and magpies - are more likely to show fear in relation to unfamiliar objects than other birds.

However, if they and other bird species have previously encountered similar objects they are able to overcome some of their fear.

Dr Alex...

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