Author Archives: Science Media Centre
expert reaction to a neuropeptide, cellular synchrony and jet lag in mice
A study in PNAS found that mice were able to adjust to a new time zone more quickly if they had been given an injection of a neuropeptide the previous day. read more
expert reaction to omission of women scientists from BBC’s ‘100 Women’
In a letter to The Times, a group of professors attacked the BBC for failing to include a scientist in its … read more
expert reaction to the news of Lisa Jardine stepping down from HFEA
The HFEA announced that in January 2014 Lisa Jardine will be standing down as Chair. read more
expert reaction to new research into anaesthesia and consciousness
Researchers publishing in Science Translational Medicine showed that measuring slow-wave activity in an individual’s brain while they are under anaesthetic offers the clearest picture yet of degrees of perceptual awareness in the brain during the period of anaesthesia. read more
expert reaction to press release offering dog cloning as a competition prize in the UK
South Korean firm Sooam Biotech announced a competition for UK dog owners to have their pet cloned. read more
expert reaction to study on triggering human hair follicle growth
Researchers publishing in PNAS have triggered the development of human hair follicles from dermal papilla cells in 3D culture conditions in the laboratory. read more
expert reaction to announcement of new nuclear build at Hinkley Point
The government announced the UK’s first new nuclear station in a generation will be built at Hinkley Point in Somerset by a consortium lead by EDF Energy. read more
expert reaction to the IARC classifying air pollution as carcinogenic
The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), part of the World Health Organisation, announced that it had classified outdoor air pollution as carcinogenic to humans. read more
expert reaction to announcement from NHS England regarding their communications strategy for Care.data
NHS England and the Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC) announced that every household in England will be sent information about care.data – an NHS project to collect patient records from all GP surgeries. read more
expert reaction to new research estimating 1 in 2000 carry vCJD proteins
A survey in the BMJ found around one in 2,000 people in the UK may carry variant CJD proteins though uncertainty remains about how many people will eventually develop the disease. read more
Expert reaction to air pollution and low birthweight
The Lancet Respiratory Medicine published a study which found a significant association between exposure to common air pollutants during pregnancy and the risk of restricted fetal growth. read more
expert reaction to Owen Paterson’s comments about Golden Rice in The Independent
The front page of The Independent newspaper lead with Environment Secretary Owen Paterson branding opponents of genetically engineered Golden Rice ‘wicked’. read more
expert reaction to depression during pregnancy and depression in offspring at age 18 years
A report published by JAMA Psychiatry suggested depression in pregnant women appears to increase the possibility their children may have depression when they are 18 years old. read more
expert reaction to compound that arrests neurodegeneration in mice
Science Translational Medicine published a UK study showing success for a potential new drug treatment for prion disease in mice, suggesting it could also hold benefits for the treatment of other neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. read more
expert reaction to the US government shutdown
The government shutdown in the US has lead to state science agencies like the National Science Foundation and National Institutes of Health closing all but the most vital operations.
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expert reaction to aircraft noise and cardiovascular disease
Two studies published in the BMJ found an association between exposure to high levels of aircraft noise and an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. One study looked at residents living close to Heathrow airport, whose results were presented at an SMC briefing and scrutinised in a ‘before the headlines’ analysis, while the other looked at 89 North American airports. read more
aircraft noise and cardiovascular disease
Living in a noisy environment has previously been linked to increased blood pressure. A new study, published in the BMJ, investigates whether there is a link between living in an area with high levels of aircraft noise from Heathrow and hospital admissions and deaths from stroke and heart disease. read more
aircraft noise and cardiovascular disease (before the headlines)
A study of residents living close to Heathrow airport, published in the BMJ, found an association between exposure to high levels of aircraft … read more
expert reaction to the awarding of physics Nobel prize
The physics Nobel has been awarded to Prof Francoise Englert and Prof Peter Higgs “for the theoretical discovery of a mechanism that contributes to our understanding of the origin of mass of subatomic particles, and which recently was confirmed through the discovery of the predicted fundamental particle, by the ATLAS and CMS experiments at CERN’s Large Hadron Collider”. read more
give the BBC a break over their IPCC coverage
This is a blogpost by Tom Sheldon, Senior Press Officer at the SMC. The IPCC has published the first … read more