Latest News

Major Coffee chain’s interest in Biobased and compostable plastic coffee cup lids

With 2.5 billion takeaway coffee cups being used in Britain each year, there are almost as many plastic lids being thrown away.

Scientists are working with industry in to develop a new compostable plastic, which will withstand the hot liquids and can be specially moulded for coffee cup lids.

Publication date: 20 April 2018

Conservation through religion? Scientists confirm that sacred natural sites confer biodiversity advantage

Sacred natural sites (SNS) are found all over the world. They are thought to play an important role in conservation but until recently there was little systematic investigation of this claim. Now, new research published in the journal Biological Conservation by an international and multidisciplinary team, led by the University of Ioannina and including Bangor University, has shown that there is a notable conservation benefit to SNS. The researchers of the project, known as THALIS-SAGE, chose for their study the region of Epirus, in north-western Greece, that is host to numerous sacred groves protected through religion for hundreds of years.

Publication date: 20 April 2018

Can a brain injury change who you are?

Who we are, and what makes us “us” has been the topic of much debate throughout history. At the individual level, the ingredients for the unique essence of a person consist mostly of personality concepts. Things like kindness, warmth, hostility and selfishness. Deeper than this, however, is how we react to the world around us, respond socially, our moral reasoning, and ability to manage emotions and behaviours.

This article by Leanne Rowlands, PhD researcher in Neuropsychology at the School of Psychology was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 20 April 2018

Early career researcher event workshop on ethics in social research

Publication date: 17 April 2018

Flushed with success: How the National Trust plans to stop energy going down the drain.

Over the past 18 months the National Trust has spent almost half million pounds at Penrhyn Castle on projects to create sustainable energy and hot water - yet much of this energy goes to waste - simply flushed down the drain.

To combat this the team at Penrhyn Castle, in collaboration with Bangor University and Trinity College Dublin, are embarking on an exciting new heat recovery project to make use of the huge amount of hot water that usually goes, quite literally, to waste.

Publication date: 17 April 2018

Inspired by 2001- A Competition for Bangor University Students

Publication date: 16 April 2018

What does Citizenship mean in Europe?

In an exciting collaboration between Bangor University Law School and the European School of Law (based at Toulouse University), a PhD Workshop on the broad theme of “Citizenship” will take place in Bangor on Thursday/Friday, 3rd and 4th May 2018. This year’s workshop builds on European School of Law PhD workshops held in Toulouse in 2016 and Barcelona in 2017. 

Publication date: 13 April 2018

Hen Blant Bach wins Silver in International Film & Television Award

A programme, of which Bangor University was an integral part, has won a Silver Award in the 2018 New York Festivals International Film and Television Awards.

Hen Blant Bach, a production by Darlun production company won the Award in the Community Portraits documentary category. The series was a new factual format for S4C, and followed the social experiment which brought older people and nursery children together to share their day care. The programmes documented the transformative positive effects that can be brought about by bringing these two groups together.

Publication date: 12 April 2018

Bangor research featured in the Spring Issue of Chartered Forester magazine

Articles by Professor John Healeyand Genevieve Agabafrom Bangor University feature in the recent Spring 2018 Issue of the Chartered Forester magazine published by the Institute of Chartered Foresters.

Publication date: 11 April 2018

New styles of strikes and protest are emerging in the UK

The image of strikers picketing outside factory gates is usually seen as something from the archives. Official statistics show an almost perennial decline in formal strikes. In the month of January 2018 there were 9,000 recorded working days lost due to strikes – a tiny fraction of the 3m recorded in January 1979.

This article by Emma Sara Hughes, PhD Candidate in Employment Relations, Bangor University and Tony Dundon, Professor of HRM & Employment Relations, University of Manchester was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 10 April 2018

AI like HAL 9000 can never exist because real emotions aren't programmable

HAL 9000 is one of the best-known articifical intelligence characters of modern film. This superior form of sentient computer embarks on a mission to Jupiter, along with a human crew, in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which is currently celebrating its 50th year since release.

This article by Guillaume Thierry, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience, School of Prychology was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

For more on Stanley Kubrick and 2001 read: https://www.bangor.ac.uk/news/latest/stanley-kubrick-s-films-all-had-one-thing-in-common-jewishness-36122

Publication date: 9 April 2018

The English language is the world's Achilles heel

English has achieved prime status by becoming the most widely spoken language in the world – if one disregards proficiency – ahead of Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. English is spoken in 101 countries, while Arabic is spoken in 60, French in 51, Chinese in 33, and Spanish in 31. From one small island, English has gone on to acquire lingua francastatus in international business, worldwide diplomacy, and science.

This article by Guillaume Thierry, Professor of Cognitive Neuroscience at the School of Psychology was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 4 April 2018

We're mapping wartime shipwrecks to explore the past – and help develop green energy projects

Wartime shipwrecks such as the USS Juneau – recently discovered in the Pacific Ocean by philanthropist Paul Allen and his team – are of great interest to both military historians and the general public. 

Many such wrecks lie in extremely deep, relatively clear waters and are the legacy of naval battles fought far out to sea. But some of the technologies and methods that are being used to locate and identify such sites are now being employed by scientists in shallower, sediment-rich UK waters for similar – and very different – purposes.

This article by Michael Roberts, SEACAMS R&D Project Manager, Centre for Applied Marine Sciences, at the School of Ocean Sciences, was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 27 March 2018

Women in Science Scholarships Awarded

Publication date: 27 March 2018

A great year for signed languages in film – and what we can learn from it

Looking back at the films released in 2017, and those honoured at the Oscars, it is quite remarkable to note the prominence of signed languages. Three lms in particular stand out for their sensitive portrayals of signed languages as bona fide languages: Baby Driver, The Shape of Water and The Silent Child. Two of these films, Baby Driver and The Silent Child, also make an important contribution – both onscreen and off – towards recognising and respecting Deaf culture, identity, and community; they both have Deaf actors playing characters that demonstrate the importance of signed languages in their everyday lives.

This article by Dr Sara Louise Wheeler, Lecturer in Social Policy (Welsh medium) at the School of Social Sciences was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.

Publication date: 26 March 2018

Hot baths help to prepare Team Wales for the heat of the Australian Commonwealth Games

With temperatures predicted to exceed 30°C on the Gold Coast of Australia the Commonwealth Games will place considerable heat strain on competing athletes.

In preparation for the heat, Team Wales athletes have been plunging into hot baths after their usual training. Rob Condliffe, a physiologist at Sport Wales Institute who is helping to prepare Team Wales athletes for the Commonwealth Games says, “The hot bath is an extremely practical evidence-based approach to heat acclimation”. 

Publication date: 26 March 2018

NRN-LCEE public lectures

Publication date: 23 March 2018

Working to safeguard the public against viruses and antibiotic resistant bacteria

Scientists working to reduce risk the risks to the public from exposure to viruses and antibiotic resistant bacteria in the water environment are meeting to share their research and discuss next steps today (14 March at the Royal Geographic Society, London).

Publication date: 14 March 2018

The Sustainability Lab’s Events

Publication date: 18 January 2018