news

Health Cath Harris | 24 Feb 11 A novel way of finding people to take part in a new study of dementia is being employed by researchers from the universities of Oxford and London. The Oxford Project to Investigate Memory and Aging ( OPTIMA) and the Centre for Stroke and Dementia Research at St Georges , University of London, will host stands at the Who Do You Think You Are?

When a British television producer called Gwendolyn Wright a decade ago to ask if she would be interested in hosting a new TV show, she quipped, "You do realize I'm a 55-year-old woman?" Age, it turns out, did not matter. The producer wanted her for her expertise in American architecture and urbanism.

University Park, Pa. Whether it is a projectile point picked up behind a plow or a gun purported to belong to a Wild West bandit, physical artifacts tell the history of the people who lived before us.

The results of a cohort study of women with a personal history of breast cancer published in this week's Journal of American Medical Association highlights the need for mammograms in women with a history of the cancer. Describing the research project as the most comprehensive study of its kind, the authors reported that the Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) study examined 58,870 screening mammograms in 19,078 women who had had early-stage breast cancer.

Launched as a reaction to the lack of outlets for challenging contemporary writing, a Cambridge-based journal is finding favour in the very places it aims to be the antidote for. One year on from its birth and with the fifth issue soon to be released, the Cambridge Literary Review continues to gain prominence, with a strong write up in the Times Literary Supplement and copies on sale in the Tate Modern bookshop amongst others.

With one arm raised and a determined scowl, the figure looks ready to march right off his carved tablet and into the history books. If only we knew who he was — corn god? Tribal chief? Sacred priest? "It's beautiful and was obviously very important," says University of Wisconsin-Madison archaeologist John Hodgson of the newly discovered stone monument.

Art historian joins BBC antiques show in Brighton University of Sussex art history research student Alexandra Loske has graduated from behind-the-scenes advisor to on-screen expert with an appearance on BBC show The Antiques Road Trip . The show, a spin-off from the perennially popular Antiques Roadshow , has begun its second series, with Alexandra appearing in the Brighton episode, where she shares her insights into rare and beautiful objects in Brighton's Royal Pavilion.

Switzerland is not the democracy par excellence as thought, but only a mediocre one and ranks fourteenth when compared with twenty-nine established democracies.

Early humans may have preferred the fox to the dog as an animal companion, new archaeological findings suggest. Researchers analysing remains at a prehistoric burial ground in Jordan have uncovered a grave in which a fox was buried with a human, before part of it was then transferred to an adjacent grave.

PA21/11 The Vikings are alive and well and living in the North West of England! That's the revelation in a new book on an epic research project into the genetic footprint of the Scandinavian invaders. 'Viking DNA: The Wirral and West Lancashire Project' is the culmination of several years of research by Wirral-raised Professor Steve Harding from the University of Nottingham, Professor Mark Jobling and Dr Turi King from the University of Leicester, and many other collaborators.

Planck unveils wonders of the Universe Astronomers reveal galaxy clusters and distant cold objects from space. Adapted from a news release issued by the UK Space Agency Monday 17 December 2010 Scientists working on Europe's Planck spacecraft have released the mission's first new findings this week in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics , revealing the coldest objects in the Universe in greater detail than ever before.

Annual-resolved European summer climate has, for the first time ever, been reconstructed over the past 2,500 years. Tree rings reveal possible links between past climate variability and changes in human history. Climate change coincided with periods of socioeconomic, cultural and political turmoil associated with the Barbarian Migrations, the Black Death and Thirty Years' War.

New research has uncovered a forgotten chapter in the history of the Bible, offering a rare glimpse of Byzantine Jewish life and culture. The study by the Centre for Computing in the Humanities (CCH) at King's College London, in collaboration with Cambridge University researchers, suggests that, contrary to long-accepted views, Jews continued to use a Greek version of the Bible in synagogues for centuries longer than previously thought.

New research has uncovered a forgotten chapter in the history of the Bible, offering a rare glimpse of Byzantine Jewish life and culture. The study by Cambridge University researchers suggests that, contrary to long-accepted views, Jews continued to use a Greek version of the Bible in synagogues for centuries longer than previously thought.

PASADENA, Calif. Newly released for the holidays, images of Saturn's second largest moon Rhea obtained by NASA's Cassini spacecraft show dramatic views of fractures cutting through craters on the moon's surface, revealing a history of tectonic rumbling. The images are among the highest-resolution views ever obtained of Rhea.

A once fertile landmass now submerged beneath the Persian Gulf may have been home to some of the earliest human populations outside Africa, according to an article in the December issue of Current Anthropology. Jeffrey Rose, an archaeologist and researcher with the University of Birmingham in the U.K., says that this 'Persian Gulf Oasis' may have been host to humans for over 100,000 years before it was swallowed up by the Indian Ocean around 8,000 years ago.

Plants don't think - but animals do. The difference between the thoughts of humans and the thoughts of other animals - and whether we will ever be able to find out exactly what they are - will be the topic of a public lecture given this evening by a Cambridge philosopher. While scientists spend their time in laboratories, philosophers spend their time thinking.

When German archaeologists discovered bones in the tomb of Queen Eadgyth in Magdeburg Cathedral, they looked to Bristol to provide the crucial scientific evidence that the remains were indeed those of the English royal. Dr Alistair Pike in the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology tells Hannah Johnson how tiny samples of tooth enamel proved the identity of a Saxon queen.

By Solmaz Barazesh Research/Penn State Five centuries after his death, Christopher Columbus remains a mysterious and controversial figure. Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece all claim the celebrated navigator and explorer as one of their own, yet there are few accurate records pertaining to Columbus' personal life and identity.

How to See the Best Meteor Showers of the Year: Tools, Tips and 'Save the Dates' Originally posted April 21, 2010, most recent update Nov. There are several major meteor showers to enjoy every year at various times, with some more active than others. For example, April's Lyrids are expected to produce about 15 meteors an hour at their peak for observers viewing in good conditions.