In the news
Professor Martin Conway (Institute for Psychological Sciences) was interviewed about how neuroscience has changed our understanding of the human mind on BBC Radio 4’s In Our Time, chaired by Melvyn Bragg. To listen to the programme online go to http://tinyurl.com/5wrsnk
Around 200 of the world’s experts on dialects exchanged views at the University of Leeds during an international conference, reported the Yorkshire Evening Post, with a rare appearance by the famous American linguist William Labov. Professor Clive Upton (School of English) said: “The work at the University on dialect goes back to 1946. Leeds is home to the only substantive survey of dialect in England that has ever been carried out.”
Research from Leeds’ Credit Management Research Centre shows big companies are taking longer to settle their bills – particularly if they owe money to small firms, reported the Observer. Professor Nick Wilson (Business School) said smaller firms often find it hard to force their larger customers to keep up the agreed payment terms. “The suppliers rarely make a legal challenge to try to impose interest charges on late payments. The suppliers would argue that the bigger companies use the threat of such challenges as a pretext to delay payment.”
Is the nation’s obsession with obesity causing an increase in eating disorders? Speaking to the Times, Professor Andrew Hill (Leeds Institute of Health Sciences), said it is important to raise awareness of the risks of obesity, but warnings should perhaps not be targeted at children. “We have spent a huge amount of effort getting obesity on to the public health map in recent years,” he said. “The result is we now have two problems – children with obesity and those who develop disordered eating habits because they are terrified of it.”
Why don’t we see more disabled people on screen? A 2003 study suggested the problem of institutional discrimination against disabled people lies with the media, not the viewers, Professor Colin Barnes (School of Sociology and Social Policy) told the Guardian: “Disabled people are ordinary; they’re no different to anybody else. You’ll be disabled before you die, we all will, and disabled people are the biggest minority in the country, yet none of this is reflected in the media. And it’s about time it was.”
Pregnant women have been advised not to drink more than two cups of coffee a day after a major Leeds study, published in the British Medical Journal, found that too much caffeine can lead to underweight babies, reported the Washington Post, Daily Mail and the Sunday Times. Professor of nutritional epidemiology Janet Cade (Leeds Institute of Genetics, Health and Therapeutics) said: “Everyone wants the best for their baby. Limiting daily caffeine intake is one way which you can ensure your baby has the best start in life … mums should remember that energy drinks and colas also contain a fair amount.”
Genetically-modified crop trials need to be done in secure locations to prevent trials being wrecked and to minimise the environmental risk, Professor Tim Benton (Institute of Integrative and Comparative Biology), told the Independent and the Daily Mail, after his field trial of nematode-resistant potatoes was destroyed in June. “We cannot carry on for the next 20 or 30 years saying it’s too scary, the public is too frightened,” said Professor Benton. “There is absolutely no way we can move towards a world with food security without using GM technology, the amount of food we need could double.”
Andy Campbell (School of Law) appeared as a guest expert on BBC Radio Five Live’s Drive programme to discuss the effects of the credit crunch on the UK and West Yorkshire, from a banking and legal perspective.
One million children are addicted to gambling, and Britain’s lenient gambling laws are largely to blame, according to a study by Professor Gill Valentine (School of Geography), reported the Daily Mail. “The opportunity provided by the internet to gamble in privacy may exacerbate young people’s ability to access gambling opportunities,” she said.
Scientists from the universities of Leeds and York, including Dr Nigel Richards (School of Earth and Environment), have discovered a chemical equator that divides the polluted air in the northern hemisphere from the largely uncontaminated skies of the south, reported the Yorkshire Post. It was discovered after they flew a specially equipped plane north from Darwin in Australia to measure the levels of carbon monoxide in the two hemispheres.