People have evolved to have subconscious urges to over-eat, and limited ability to avoid becoming obese, especially in winter, a University of Exeter study has found.
There is not yet an evolutionary mechanism to help us overcome the lure of sweet, fatty and unhealthy food and avoid becoming overweight for understandable and sensible reasons, according to researchers.
This is because in our past being overweight has not posed a significant threat to survival compared to the dangers of being underweight. The urge to maintain body fat is even stronger in winter when food in...
Scientists have been given an extraordinary glimpse into how wild New Caledonian crows make and use ‘hooked stick tools’ to hunt for insect prey.
Dr Jolyon Troscianko, from the University of Exeter, and Dr Christian Rutz, from the University of St Andrews, have captured first video recordings documenting how these tropical corvids fashion these particularly complex tools in the wild.
The pair developed tiny video ‘spy-cameras’ which were attached to the crows, to observe their natural foraging behaviour.
They discovered two instances of hooked stick tool making on...
Six University of Exeter academics appear on a list of the world’s most influential scientific minds that is published this week.
Inclusion on the authoritative Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list for 2015 puts the academics, who are working across the natural, biomedical and social sciences, in the top one per cent of researchers globally. Three are producing world class research on climate change and three in fields related to medicine.
Two academics from Mathematics – Peter Cox and Pierre Friedlingstein -- are listed under GeoSciences, along with Neil Adger...
Research carried out at the University of Exeter has advanced understanding of how some damaging bacteria behave and may pave the way for new and more targeted antibiotics.
A study led by Dr. Nicholas Harmer, Senior Lecturer in Structural Biochemistry at the University of Exeter, published today in the journal Chemistry and Biology, provides new information about the way bacterial cells build up a defensive sugar coating and how that process can be interrupted.
In the study, funded by the Biotechnology & Biological Sciences Research Council and the Royal Society,...
Members of Parliament and Lords are likely to live far longer than the UK average, according to research involving the University of Exeter.
A PhD student at the University of Exeter Medical School worked with Just Retirement insurance to examine the number of deaths in almost 5,000 members of the two UK Houses of Parliament compared with the general population over a 65-year period, from 1945-2011.
They compared the observed mortality – or death rates - in members with the expected mortality of the general population, matched to the same sex or age of the member in the...
TOUGH new policies to combat fish fraud across Europe appear to be working, according to a new study.
The largest multi-species survey of fish labelling accuracy to date indicates a marked and sudden reduction of seafood mislabelling in supermarkets, markets and fishmongers in the EU.
Scientists in six European countries, including Dr Andrew Griffiths from the University of Exeter, tracked samples of the mostly commonly consumed fish, including cod, tuna, hake and plaice, after a series of studies going back 5 years had shown mislabelling in up to 40% of cases.
Scientists from the University of Exeter are warning of the risks that seismic surveys may pose to sea turtles. Widely used in marine oil and gas exploration, seismic surveys use airguns to produce sound waves that penetrate the sea floor to map oil and gas reserves.
The review, published in the journal Biological Conservation, found that compared to marine mammals and fish, turtles are largely ignored in terms of research attention and are often omitted from policy guidelines designed to mitigate the environmental risks of seismic surveys.
Two rising research stars at the University of Exeter have been recognised by each receiving a highly prestigious Philip Leverhulme Prize.
Climate scientist Dr James Screen and optical physicist Dr Jacopo Bertolotti have both been awarded prizes of £100,000 towards their continued research, in recognition of their respective work on rapid Arctic climate change and light scattering in fundamental physics.
The Philip Leverhulme Prize is awarded to researchers who have already had a significant international impact and whose future research career is exceptionally promising...
Researchers at University of Exeter have developed a new test to help diagnoses diabetes, which they say will lead to more effective diagnosis and patient care.
Research published in the journal Diabetes Care, shows how a genetic test can help doctors to differentiate between type 1 and type 2 diabetes in young adults.
With rising obesity levels it is sometimes difficult for doctors to distinguish between type 1 diabetes, which requires treatment with insulin injections and type 2 diabetes, which can be controlled through diet and weight loss. The Exeter team has devised a...
Members of the public are invited to an exhibition of clinical research currently being undertaken by clinicians at the Royal Devon and Exeter NHS Foundation Trust, the leading research hospital in the South West Peninsula.
The event takes place on 5th November from 11.30am-1pm in the Research Innovation, Learning and Development (RILD) building on the hospital’s Wonford site. It will include a chance to view presentations on the exciting developments in clinical care currently being investigated by RD&E teams and an opportunity to meet with clinicians to discuss their work....
