Latest News

Over 60 and online: New population health report finds older people in Wales actively involved in social media

Welsh over 60s are online and actively engaging in social media, and this could be an important tool for public health.

77 out of every 100 people in Wales aged 16 years and above use one or more social media platforms. 65 in that hundred people use social media on a daily basis. These insights are from a new report: Population Health in a Digital Age: Patterns in the use of social media in Wales published by Public Health Wales and Bangor University today. 

Publication date: 28 January 2020

Could willow be the answer to better lamb growth?

A Woodland Trust media release

New research has shown willow trees could be used to optimise production in lambs because it has particularly high concentrations of cobalt and zinc.

The study sampled leaves from three native deciduous species – willow, alder and oak – from three sites across the UK and analysed their mineral, energy and protein content.

Publication date: 24 January 2020

A&E waiting times worst on record – but using AI to unblock beds could be part of the solution

January is the busiest month of the year for the NHS – with patients often queuing in corridors and ambulances.

In 2019 Emergency Department waiting times in England were the worst on record, with 2000 patients waiting for more than 12 hours for a hospital bed in December. At the same time latest researchshows that over the past three years almost 5500 patients have died in emergency departments while waiting for a hospital bed.

Part of the problem is that patients who are admitted as emergencies to hospital can be really sick and unstable. So making the decision as to when they are getting better and are safe to go home (and the bed is free) is complicated and risky.

This article by Christian P Subbe, Senior Clinical Lecturer in Acute & Critical Care Medicine, School of Medical Science,s is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Publication date: 24 January 2020

Face the future – Bangor University awarded substantial grant to explore Emotional AI in our cities

As Emotional Artificial Intelligence (AI) starts to be rolled out in smart cities, a team from Bangor University has won a substantial grant to study ways in which citizens can live harmoniously with technologies that sense, learn and interact with their emotions, moods, attention and intentions.

‘Emotional AI in Cities: Cross Cultural Lessons from UK and Japan on Designing for An Ethical Life’ is a 3-year project jointly-funded by British and Japanese research councils and will be led by Andrew McStay, Professor of Digital Life at Bangor University.

Publication date: 23 January 2020

Launch of a faster age at M-SParc

A 5G research centre, which will make Wales a global leader in the technology and change how the internet works, will be officially launched at M-SParc, Bangor University’s Science Park today (23.1.20).

The Digital Signal Processing (DSP) Centre is run by professors and researchers from Bangor University, who are working on speeding up broadband, and are playing a vital role in enabling true 5G. With partners including Huawei and BT, this is global work which could be world-changing.

Publication date: 23 January 2020

Positive psychology: A New Approach to Promoting Healthy Behaviour

We have long been aware that physical inactivity, poor diet, problem alcohol use and smoking have significant long-term health implications. However, reversing lifestyle trends which ultimately result in conditions such as obesity and heart disease, is widely challenging.

These health problems significantly reduce quality and length of life for people across the globe. With this in mind, it is important to develop novel strategies which can tackle one of the most pressing public health issues of our time.

An exciting and novel approach to this issue has drawn some interesting conclusions. As part of a collaboration between the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB) Public Health Team and the School of Psychology at Bangor University, a PhD research project found positive psychology – the study of strengths and virtues which help people feel mentally well – can also promote healthy behaviour.

Publication date: 22 January 2020

Bangor scientists strengthen Russian links to fight climate change

Scientists from North Wales have attended a ground-breaking climate change seminar in Siberia.

Two scientists from Bangor University were invited by the British Consulate in Russia to talk about their environmental research.

Publication date: 15 January 2020

Barriers to healthcare for deaf communities in Wales

Deaf people in Wales face serious challenges in getting the health care information and services that they need, according to a recently published report. (Health and Wellbeing for Deaf Communities in Wales: Scoping for a Wales-Wide Survey).

Publication date: 13 January 2020

Exercise: we calculated its true value for older people and society

Taking up exercise is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions for people wanting to improve their health. But our research shows that the benefits of older people going to exercise groups go beyond self-improvement and provide good value for society, too.

This article by Carys Jones, Research Fellow in Health Economics at the Centre for Health Economics and Medicines Evaluation is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Publication date: 9 January 2020

Five years on from the Charlie Hebdo attack, ‘Je suis Charlie’ rings hollow

After the terror attack on the Paris office of satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo on January 7 2015 left 12 people dead, many declared “Je suis Charlie” (“I am Charlie”) in solidarity. But behind the understandable emotion that accompanied such declarations lay a more complicated reality. Many reactions to the attack were more conservative than first appeared, and not in keeping with the values of the publication. Five years on, “Je suis Charlie” has quite a hollow ring to it.

This article by Jonathan Ervine, School of Languages, Literatures & Linguistics is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article. 

Publication date: 6 January 2020

Did human hunting activities alone drive great auks’ extinction?

eLife news release

New insight on the extinction history of a flightless seabird that vanished from the shores of the North Atlantic during the 19th century has been published today in eLife.

The findings suggest that intense hunting by humans could have caused the rapid extinction of the great auk, showing how even species that exist in large and widespread populations can be vulnerable to exploitation

Publication date: 26 November 2019