In the news

Professor of international law Surya Subedi called for Nepal’s King Gyanendra to ‘hand over power back to the people’ in interviews with CNN, BBC World, BBC Radio 4 World at One and Sky News. He later welcomed the reinstatement of Nepal’s parliament and looked to the country’s future: “There are huge challenges ahead and one of them is to write a new constitution.”

BBC Radio 4’s Me and my poison featured professor of molecular epidemiology Chris Wild. His work has linked exposure to the chemical aflatoxin with impaired growth, making children - notably in developing countries - more susceptible to disease. Professor Wild has also looked at how simple changes in handling crops can prevent the toxin developing in foods (Reporter 492). Talking about the solutions, he said: “It’s very low-tech science - it’s educational - but I believe even a partial reduction in exposure could bring health benefits.”

“There’s an amazing network of pipes, cables and sewers buried underneath the nation’s roads. The total length of all those assets would go to the moon and back ten times” Professor Tony Cohn (right) told BBC Radio 4’s You and yours when he joined the show to talk about his work on 3D maps of the ‘underworld’ which could prevent unnecessary holes in UK roads (Reporter 515).

The Leeds conference on French diplomat and eighteenth century cross-dresser Charles d’Eon de Beaumont (Reporter 515) was picked up by The Independent and Yorkshire Post. He built up a collection of radical feminist literature during his colourful life, explaining why Mary Wollstonecraft considered him a pioneer. However, historian and conference organiser Dr Simon Burrows highlighted d’Eon’s ‘less admirable qualities’ in The Independent: “His actions were also connected to his craving for publicity. We can’t ignore that he was also a dubious figure who fabricated stories against his enemies.”

‘Nanotechnology could give your central heating system an energy-efficiency boost’ declared a Guardian feature on research into nanofluids by Professor Richard Williams and Dr Yulong Ding. The Yorkshire Post and Canada’s Globe and Mail also picked up the research into a fluid which could improve the efficiency of central heating and reduce energy bills (Reporter 515).

The support of Fay and Geoffrey Elliott and Leeds’ collection of rare Wilde documents (see full story) were covered by the Guardian, The Independent, Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post.

Professor of applied maths Mark Kelmanson joined BBC TV’s Balderdash and Piffle to explain why the term 99 ice cream couldn’t originate with Roman numerals. Some viewers had suggested the initials for ice cream, IC, formed 99 in Roman numerals but Professor Kelmanson said the correct form for the number was XCIX.

Look out for expert Professor Martin Conway in a series of BBC 1 and BBC radio programmes on memory which will be broadcast in June.