Ants on the brain
Colonies of social insects such as ants and bees could collectively make decisions using mechanisms similar to those used in primate brains, according to new research from the University of Bristol.
Research
Wildfires reduced by human activity
For the last 2,000 years the climate has been the major cause of wildfires, but during the late 19th and early 20th century, human activity has dramatically reduced burning in many parts of the world, according to new research published in Nature Geoscience this week.
Birth of a new ocean
In a remote part of northern Ethiopia, the Earth’s crust is being stretched to breaking point.
Bias in the rock record?
Differences in the preservation potential of crustal rocks may explain peaks in crustal ages previously attributed to enhanced crust formation.
Rainforest collapse drove reptile evolution
Global warming devastated tropical rainforests, 300 million years ago. Now scientists report the unexpected discovery that this event triggered an evolutionary burst amongst reptiles – and inadvertently paved the way for the rise of dinosaurs, a hundred million years later.
Dinosaurs' 'superiority' challenged by their crocodile cousins
Good luck, not general ‘superiority’, was the primary factor in the rise of the dinosaurs according to new research from the University of Bristol. In a paper published in Science, Steve Brusatte and Professor Mike Benton challenge the general consensus that there must have been something special about dinosaurs that helped them rise to prominence.
New advice for treating fever in young children
Ibuprofen reduces a child’s temperature faster and for longer than paracetamol, in the first four hours a child has a fever. If the fever persists, then children should be given ibuprofen plus paracetamol, according to a study published today online at BMJ.com.
Getting the measure of poverty
Following the launch of the largest-ever research project on Poverty and Social Exclusion in the UK, Professor David Gordon, Director of the Townsend Centre for International Poverty Research, describes the scope and background of this new study.
£1.2 million for research into self-healing materials
Dr Ian Bond from the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Bristol and colleagues from Imperial College London have been awarded a four-year research grant of £1.2 million from the EPSRC (Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council) and DSTL (Defence Science and Technology Laboratory).
Adventures in a sea of noise
Captain Jacques-Yves Cousteau's book The Silent World captured the imagination of generations of armchair adventurers. But it fell short on one minor detail: the underwater world is anything but silent. Dr Steve Simpson in the School of Biological Sciences knows this better than most.