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Image of a Temnothorax albipennis colony inside a nest

How ants investigate the housing market when searching for their ideal home

2 October 2013

An immediate and chronic concern for many of us is how the British housing market influences our whole economy: surprisingly ants also have issues over the value of new homes, researchers from the University of Bristol have found.

Generic image of a mother and child

Autistic kids have poorer sleep quality than their peers right up to their teens

1 October 2013

Children with autistic spectrum disorders have poorer sleep quality than their peers right up to their teens, reveals research conducted by an international team including researchers from Bristol. The findings, published online in the Archives of Disease in Childhood, show total sleep duration is shorter and punctuated by more frequent waking at night and this poor-quality sleep may affect daytime learning and behaviour.

A plate of fish

Concerns over mercury levels in fish may be unfounded

1 October 2013

New research from the Children of the 90s study at the University of Bristol suggests that fish accounts for only seven per cent of mercury levels in the human body. In an analysis of 103 food and drink items consumed by 4,484 women during pregnancy, researchers found that the 103 items together accounted for less than 17 per cent of total mercury levels in the body.

A cheetah

New research links individual animal behaviour with social spacing

30 September 2013

New research by the universities of Bristol and Princeton has found certain animal species are capable of co-ordinating their spatial behaviour to cover terrain by maintaining areas of exclusive use while sharing other regions of space with their neighbours.

Generic image illustrating mortgage interest rates

Outstanding interest-only mortgages put older people at risk

30 September 2013

One in three over 70’s with mortgages have interest-only mortgages with no linked investment and 13 per cent of older people with mortgages are struggling to make repayments on their home. These are the findings from new research led by academics at the University of Bristol’s Personal Finance Research Centre and the International Longevity Centre UK (ILC–UK) – a leading think-tank on demographic change.

Close-up of human hip x-ray

Study reveals dramatic fall in death rates after hip replacements

27 September 2013

Mortality rates in the first 90 days following hip replacement surgery have halved according to a study led by Professor Ashley Blom from the University of Bristol's School of Clinical Sciences.

Generic image illustrating charitable giving

Small changes can yield big results for workplace giving

26 September 2013

Charities are constantly searching for innovative, low cost ways to maximise their fundraising revenues. Insights from behavioural economics may offer some solutions. Small, seemingly trivial changes such as including a picture of a colleague on marketing material, asking donors to opt-out rather than opt-in to annual donation increases and giving sweets to potential donors have all proved to be successful methods to encourage workplace giving and to increase donor sign up.

Generic image illustrating charitable donations

Lottery funding plays an important role, helping charities to thrive

26 September 2013

New research from the Centre for Market and Public Organisation (CMPO) demonstrates the importance of grant income – in this case grants from the Community Fund (one of the predecessors to the Big Lottery Fund) – to many charities.

Generic image illustrating medical drugs

Study finds link between commonly prescribed statin and memory impairment

25 September 2013

New research that looked at whether two commonly prescribed statin medicines, used to lower low-density lipoprotein (LDL) or ‘bad cholesterol’ levels in the blood, can adversely affect cognitive function has found that one of the drugs tested caused memory impairment in rats.

An adult female zebrafish

Do anaesthetics trigger stress?

24 September 2013

New research, carried out in collaboration between the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences and AstraZeneca Brixham Environmental Laboratory, could improve the welfare standards of millions of fish used by scientists around the world.



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