News Archive

Are superfoods really super? – Reading in the news Thurs 18 Oct

Superfoods - are they really super?: Dr Gunter Kuhnle (Food) was featured on a programme for London Live looking at the nutritional differences between superfoods and more traditional food sources. The results showed there wasn't much difference from a health perspective. 

Outer space weather forecasts: The Daily Mail covers the Reading research which found that space weather observations from distant points in the solar system are crucial to improving forecasts of harmful events heading for Earth. The story is also featured on The Siver Post. Read our news story here. 

Declining bee populations: Further coverage of the World Bee Project, which the University is involved in. The project is using technology to monitor global honey bee populations. One of the project leaders was interviewed on BBC Radio 5 Live (approx. 3 hours 14 mins in), mentioning the University's involvement in the project. The interview was then aired on regional radio station across the UK, as well as BBC Radio Wales and BBC Radio Scotland. BBC Radio Berkshire (approx. 1 hour 2 mins in) also featured an interview with Prof Simon Potts (Agri-Environment) and ran the story on its news bulletins yesterday. Read our news story here. 

Heathrow to introduce facial recognition technology: Prof James Ferryman (Computer Science) was interviewed on BBC Radio Berkshire (approx. 9 mins in) on the news that Heathrow plans to introduce facial recognition technology into its departure terminals, speeding up the process and increasing security. 

Hedgehog surveys: PhD student Ben Williams spoke to BBC Radio Wiltshire (approx. 48 mins in) about the decline in hedgehogs in the rural countryside and the potential reasons for this. 

Other coverage:

• Continued coverage of the benefits of houseplants research in Medical Xpress. Read our news story here.
• Prof Ellie Highwood (Met) appeared on BBC York's The Weather Show (approx. 48 mins in) to talk about the impact of climate change on summer heatwaves.
• Prof Karin Lesnik-Oberstein (English Literature) was interviewed by French website Slate.fr on the subject of women and body hair removal.
• Comments from Prof Paul Williams (Meteorology) are featured in articles in Gulf Times and MenaFN on the topic of how climate change is increasing air turbulence.
• Meteorology PhD student, Simon Lee, was featured on That's Thames Valley TV speaking about the findings of the IPCC report on climate change released last week.
• An article in TimesNowNews.com on the potentially hazardous ingredients found in cosmetics and personal care products mentions the study by Professor Emeritus Philippa Darbre (Biological Sciences) which found parabens, commonly used in cosmetics, in 18 of 20 samples of tissue from breast tumour biopsies, suggesting a possible link.
• OpenGovAsia reports on the dual PhD programme between Reading and the University of the Philippines Los Baños.
• An obituary for former UoR lecturer Mary Midgley appears in The Herald Scotland.
• First year Agriculture student Ellie Westaway is one of the winners of the Aberdeen-Angus Cattle Society's 2018 Youth Development Programme.