What is a snowflake and why are schools failing kids at maths? – Reading in the news Weds 13 Dec
13 December 2017
What is a snowflake?: Dr Rob Thompson (Met) explains to BBC Radio 2's (approx. 15 mins in) Simon Mayo how snowflakes are formed, the different types of snowflakes that are formed depending on the type of weather they are created in and why two snowflakes are unlikely to be the same.
Graduate gran: Further coverage on getreading of Dr Anne Latto who picked up a PhD from the FTT department during last week's graduation ceremonies. Dr Latto, 85, collected her fifth degree from the University of Reading. Read our news story.
Inflation rise: Dr Alexander Mihailov (Economics) spoke to BBC Radio Berkshire (approx. 1 hour 20 mins in) about the rise in inflation that was announced yesterday, explaining what this means and how this may impact interest rates.
Schools failing kids at maths: An article in Schools Week which explores why primary school children are underperforming in maths features comment from Prof Paul Glaister (Maths), who said ‘the government had placed an emphasis on high volumes of content at the expense of deep understanding.'
Weather in music: AGU TV interviews Prof Paul Williams (Met) at the AGU 2017 Fall Meeting, to hear about his research on how music reflects the weather events of the times and how music can be used to help disseminate scientific knowledge.
Arctic shipping routes: Infomarine features an article on predicting the existence of viable shipping routes through the Arctic - Dr Nathaniel Melia (Met) provides expert comment.
Renewable energy: A new data tool to support the move from fossil fuels to renewable energy has been launched by The Institute for Environmental Analytics, part of the University of Reading. Phys.org covers the news.
Other coverage:
- Prof Keith Morrison (Met) is interviewed by BBC Hereford and Worcester (approx. 40 mins in) on the subject of igloos.
- Reading.ac.uk reports on the University of Reading becoming the first university in the UK to pledge support to the Back British Farming campaign by the NFU, thanks to an Agriculture student's work.