Bicyclists who wear protective helmets are more likely to be struck by passing vehicles, new research suggests.
Drivers pass closer when overtaking cyclists wearing helmets than when overtaking bare-headed cyclists, increasing the risk of a collision, the research has found.
Dr Ian Walker, a traffic psychologist from the University of Bath, used a bicycle fitted with a [...]

Our minds might be able to find the right word quicker than Google and yet we rarely pause to think about how language shapes everything we do.
One person who has delved a little bit deeper is Applied Linguistics Professor Vivian Cook, of Newcastle University, who has been intrigued by the subtle nuances and ever-evolving nature [...]

Scientists at Newcastle University are launching a ground-breaking study tying into the Great North Run to find out why some of us can run faster than others – despite doing the same amount of training.
The research team, led by Professor Patrick Chinnery, is asking the 54,000 people taking part in next month’s Bupa Great North Run [...]

Forty years after botanist Oliver Gilbert carried out his research on the banks of the Tyne, the North East is about to be inspired to look for lichens once again.
Dr Gilbert carried out his pioneering PhD in Biological Indicators of Air Pollution at Newcastle University in the 1960s, which led to a deeper understanding of [...]

Archaeologists from Newcastle University are joining forces with English Heritage to carry out the first systematic excavation of a cemetery on Hadrian’s Wall.
Forming part of the World Heritage Site at Birdoswald Fort, Cumbria, this important Roman cremation cemetery is situated on a cliff edge. It is under serious threat from erosion, which has accelerated over [...]

A daily dose of aspirin can prevent the occurrence of cancer in people with a genetic predisposition towards Lynch syndrome, a Newcastle University scientist has told Europe’s largest cancer congress.
Lynch syndrome is a condition which accounts for around 5 per cent of all colon cancers.
Professor John Burn, from the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle [...]

Oxygen levels actually began to rise 2.8 billion years ago
Analysis of a rock type found only in the world’s oldest oceans has shed new light on how large animals first got a foothold on the Earth.
A scientific team including scientists from Newcastle University have for the first time managed to plot the rise and fall [...]

Computers which use light to process large amounts of data faster than ever before are just one of many ground-breaking potential applications of a new £6 million research programme at Queen’s and Imperial College London, launched today, 1 September 2009.
The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is funding the two universities to establish a [...]

Many pregnant women are not getting enough Vitamin D even when they take supplements. The finding has been made as a result of research carried out by the Northern Ireland Centre for Food and Health (NICHE), which involves researchers from Queen’s University Belfast.
Dr Valerie Holmes from Queen’s School of Nursing and Midwifery co-authored the study [...]

Researchers at Queen’s University Belfast are pioneering a new technique for the use of banana plants in the production of plastic products.
The Polymer Processing Research Centre at Queen’s is taking part in a €1 million study known as the Badana project. The project will develop new procedures to incorporate by-products from banana plantations in the [...]

“There are numerous areas, from medical diagnostics to environmental monitoring, where the ability to use simple field tests to detect traces of important indicator compounds would be invaluable: – Dr Steven Bell.”
Scientists at Queen’s University Belfast are developing new sensors to detect chemical agents and illegal drugs which will help in the fight against the [...]