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4 July 2014 A collaborative European Marie Curie Initial Training Network (ITN) project that includes researchers from the University of Bristol aims to train high calibre PhD and postdoctoral researchers with a comprehensive understanding of water quality processes, uncertainty issues and decision making strategies for integrated water catchment management.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.

When concrete shells are constructed, they usually have to be supported by elaborate timber structures. A revolutionary technique developed at the Vienna University of Technology now uses inflatable air cushions instead. Large shell structures made of concrete or stone are hardly ever built any more.

Soils under Britain's allotments are significantly healthier than intensively farmed soils First study to show that growing at small-scale in urban areas produces food sustainably without damaging soils Authors say planning and policy makers should promote urban own-growing as a sustainable way of meeting increasing food demand An increase in urban allotments could help us meet the rising demand for food throughout the world, without damaging the Earth's soils, according to new research from the University of Sheffield.

The global diversity of plants being cultivated by Britain’s gardeners is playing a key role in the fight to save the nation’s threatened bumblebees, new research has revealed. Ecologists at Plymouth University, in a study published this week, have shown the most common species of bumblebee are not fussy about a plant’s origin when searching for nectar and pollen among the nation’s urban gardens.

A new study uses social media to show how New York's fashion industry still centers on just a few blocks of Manhattan. A new study shows New York fashion designers don't just flock to trends: They also do nearly all their business within the confines of the city's historic Garment District.

A study from Lund University in Sweden has compared the role of urban cycling and transport planning in Copenhagen, Denmark, and Stockholm, Sweden, and the results could serve as a guide for other cities struggling with cycling safety.

AUSTIN, Texas — A manipulation strategy often used in marketing and fundraising known as "Door-in-the-Face" could backfire among less concrete thinkers, according to new research from The University of Texas at Austin. Used widely for decades, the Door-in-the-Face persuasion strategy begins with an extreme request (say, for a donation of $500) that ends with a proverbial door being slammed in the requester's face and quickly follows up with a more moderate, smaller request (a $10 gift).

Manufacturing areas in the city of Birmingham, which represent only a small percentage of the city's land area, are contributing significantly to urban lighting, according to research carried out by University of Birmingham environmental scientists published in the journal PLOS ONE today (Monday 6th May 2013).

Thermal video and still images including aerials are available on request. Nick Williams, University of Melbourne, P: 03 9035 6850, E: Andrew Coutts, Monash University, P: 03 9905 8284, E: Nerissa Hannink, University of Melbourne media office, P: 8344 8151, M: 0430 588 055, E: As Melbourne swelters through another heat wave, scientists are using thermal imaging to work out how plants can be used to reduce the severe temperatures in our cities.

Toronto - and other cities around the world - can significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions by implementing aggressive but practical policy changes, says a new study by University of Toronto Civil Engineering Professor Chris Kennedy and World Bank climate change specialist Lorraine Sugar , one of Kennedy's former students.

Improving water supplies in rural African villages may have negative knock-on effects and contribute to increased poverty, new research published today [14 November] has found. Rural development initiatives across the developing world are designed to improve community wellbeing and livelihoods but a study of Ethiopian villages by researchers at the Universities of Bristol and Addis Ababa in Africa has shown that this can lead to unforeseen consequences caused by an increase in the birth rate in the absence of family planning.

Researchers have announced the results of the largest ever health and lifestyle survey of cities and conurbations across Europe - including five British urban centres. The research examined and compared the health, life expectancy and lifestyles of the populations of 26 European cities (the Euro-26) and found major differences, not only between cities, but within individual urban areas too.

Urban rivers throughout England and Wales have improved dramatically in water quality and wildlife over the last 20 years. That's the conclusion of one the largest studies of national trends in river health ever undertaken. After decades of pollution, typically from poorly treated sewage and industrial waste, rivers in or near Britain's major urban areas are regaining insects such as mayflies and stoneflies that are typical of fast-flowing, oxygen-rich waters.

Engineers have developed a new imaging technique that lets them see the insides of massive concrete bridges. Much like a sonogram, this technique provides quick, easy-to-interpret images, so that the health of these expensive structures can be assessed and monitored. The patient weighs several tons and is hundreds of meters long.

Introducing the online game for Londoners which researchers hope will one day influence the shape of the nation's capital. —Daniele Quercia An online game which tests Londoners' ability to recognise parts of the capital has been devised by researchers as the first step in a project to create a "memory map" of the city.

Collaborative research is helping to shed light on how to close the gap on Indigenous health disadvantage, writes SIMON COPLAND. We hear a lot about 'closing the gap' between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health outcomes. With a 12-year difference in life expectancy between non-Indigenous and Indigenous males, and child mortality rates up to four times higher in Indigenous communities, Indigenous disadvantage is considered to be one of Australia's biggest health problems.

Urban Biodiversity and the feel-good factor Urban Biodiversity and the feel-good factor Visitors to urban green spaces in Sheffield feel better in areas they perceive to have greater biodiversity. A recent study, carried out as part of the University of Sheffield´s Urban River Corridors and Sustainable Living Agenda (URSULA) project, examines how people´s feelings of well-being are related to both the numbers of species they think are present at a site, and to the actual number present.

BERKELEY — Pyrethroids, among the most widely-used home pesticides, are winding up in California rivers at levels toxic to some stream-dwellers, possibly endangering the food supply of fish and other aquatic animals, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, and Southern Illinois University (SIU).

Researchers from the University of Sheffield have created a new online atlas which displays images of the world, but not as we know it. The atlas includes over 200 maps which have been redrawn to show, at a glance, which cities are the largest, how all urban areas compare, and whether many or few people live in the countryside.