Tag Archives: university of exeter

Perfectly mixed up

By Guest PostMarch 21, 2013Cultureamerica, american philanthropists, andrea davis, aspirational environment, austin, cowboy boots, devon county council, drama, emma payne, exeter, fiona macbeth, ian stewart watson, ma drama students, perfectly mixed up, shannon price, stetsons, texas, transition service, united states, university of exeter, young people

Drama has become a regular activity for Exeter’s young people in care who have joined forces with students from the University of Exeter to stage a play in Austin, Texas. Stetsons and cowboy boots are at the ready as Exeter’s creative gang of performers head to the United States.

This life changing experience will be the first time that the theatre company ‘Perfectly Mixed Up’ travel and perform outside of Devon. Throughout the week long stay the company will perform their show, More than the Sum, and run two workshops with young people in care in Austin, Texas. ‘Perfectly Mixed Up’ are guests of the University of Texas at Austin who have an exchange programme with the Drama department at University of Exeter. (more…)

Beetroot juice – the winning formula for team sports

By Guest PostMarch 19, 2013Healthactivity, andy jones, beetroot juice, chemical processes, david weir, dietary nitrate supplementation, energy, high nitrate content, joe rees, nitrate rich juice, ospreys, paralympics, richie pugh, stamina, university of exeter, wales sevens captain, welsh rugby players

New research shows that drinking beetroot juice can significantly improve performance in team sports involving bouts of high intensity exercise.

Trials by the University of Exeter Sport and Health Sciences department have found a direct link between the high nitrate content of beetroot and the chemical processes needed to get muscles working at their most efficient during intermittent bursts of activity.

During the tests, sportsmen were either given beetroot juice with a full complement of nitrates, or juice which had had the nitrate removed. Those who had taken the nitrate-rich juice were found to have a distinct advantage when exercising over those who had been given the control juice to drink. (more…)

Lungs of the Planet Reveal Their True Sensitivity to Global Warming

By Guest PostFebruary 16, 2013Environmentamazon forest, atmosphere, burning fossil fuels, carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide concentration, carbon dioxide fertilization, chris jones, climate, climate warming, concentration, deforestation, global warming, lungs, oxygen, peter cox, planet, sensitive biological systems, sensitivity, tropical ecosystems, tropical rainforests, university of exeter, variation

Tropical rainforests are often called the “lungs of the planet” because they generally draw in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen.

But the amount of carbon dioxide that rainforests absorb, or produce, varies hugely with year-to-year variations in the climate.

In a paper published online (Feb 6 2013) by the journal Nature, a team of climate scientists from the University of Exeter, the Met Office-Hadley Centre and the NERC Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, has shown that these variations reveal how vulnerable the rainforest is to climate change. (more…)

UK’s Most Confident and Successful Corporate Managers Live Abroad During Their Formative Years, New Research Reveals

By Guest PostFebruary 14, 2013Economyacquisitions, business activities, business school, confidence, corporate managers, cultural miscommunication, culturally remote countries, culture, different cultures, difficult, dorota piaskowska, foreign markets, formative years, global population, grzegorz trojanowski, international experience, local involvement, markets, risky behavior, risky decisions, uk, uk citizens, uk company, university college dublin, university of exeter

Corporate managers widely exposed to more than one culture during their formative years (up until 23 years of age) are more likely to be confident taking difficult and risky decisions, such as acquisitions, new research from the University of Exeter Business School reveals.

The study looked at over 2,000 acquisition decisions taken by board members at 561 UK listed companies, and found that managers who live or study in cultures other than their own more readily take difficult strategic decisions such as deciding to acquire foreign companies.

Co-author, Grzegorz Trojanowski, Associate Professor in Finance at the University of Exeter Business School says corporate managers with wide exposure to different cultures tend to see doing business in foreign countries as providing great opportunities, and they expect to get a positive result from their business activities in these markets. (more…)

Bio-inspired Fibres Change Colour When Stretched

By Guest PostFebruary 6, 2013Sciencealfie lethbridge, bastard hogberry, bio inspired fibres, birds, blue colour, bright iridescent, cells, change colour, creation, cylindrical cross section, eye on earth, fruit, geographic area, Germany, harvard laboratories, harvard university, heat, joanna aizenberg, key elements, light and colour, ludwig maximilians university, margaritaria nobilis, mathias kolle, moritz kreysing, nanoscale, new fibre, peter vukusic, photonic fibres, polymer bilayer, pressure, principal investigator, seed, skin, smart fabrics, soap bubbles, south american, specific biological function, technological design, tropical plant, unique structural elements, university of exeter, vibrant colour, when stretched

A team of materials scientists at Harvard University and the University of Exeter has invented a new fibre which changes colour when stretched. Inspired by nature, the researchers identified and replicated the unique structural elements, which create the bright iridescent blue colour of a tropical plant’s fruit.

The multilayered fibre, described in the journal Advanced Materials, could lend itself to the creation of smart fabrics that visibly react to heat or pressure.

“Our new fibre is based on a structure we found in nature, and through clever engineering we’ve taken its capabilities a step further,” says lead author Dr Mathias Kolle, a postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS). “The plant, of course, cannot change colour. By combining its structure with an elastic material, however, we’ve created an artificial version that passes through a full rainbow of colours as it’s stretched.” (more…)

Syria Policy Warning over Weapons of Mass Destruction Risk

By Guest PostDecember 26, 2012Politicsafghanistan, alternative path, andrew rathmell, anti assad coalition, bitter insurgency, catastrophic, catastrophic success, conflict, east timor, gareth stansfield, insurgent threat, intervention, Iraq, iraq veteran, jonathan githens mazer, kosovo, libya, mass destruction, middle eastern, military action, nato, northern ireland, paradox, post assad society, regime, risk, scholar, sierra leone, syria policy warning, syrian security forces, university of exeter, us disengagement, weapons, western strategic messages, worst option. sir paul newton

Policy-makers have been warned that premature military action in Syria could lead to uncontrolled access to weapons of mass destruction and a prolonged, bitter insurgency following any intervention that resulted in the sudden collapse of the Syrian security forces.

Despite the desire to prevent further bloodshed, taking direct action to try to end the conflict could be the “worst option” and could only serve to further destabilise the situation in the volatile country.

General (Retd) Professor Sir Paul Newton co-wrote the report alongside distinguished Middle Eastern scholars at the University of Exeter’s Strategy and Security Institute, of which he is Director. He said: “Although it may appear attractive in the short-term, the one scenario that must be avoided is sudden, uncontrolled state collapse. This may seem like a paradox given the pressing need to end humanitarian suffering and the risk of the conflict spreading. However, it could be catastrophic. If unmanaged disintegration of the Syrian state were to occur, access to weapons of mass destruction would be uncontrolled.” (more…)

Birdsong Bluster may Dupe Strange Females, But It Won’t Fool Partners

By Guest PostDecember 24, 2012Natureaustralia, bettencourt schueller foundation, birdsong, cheat, energy, evolution, mate, morgan david, most popular finch, patterns, sasha dall, song rate, university of exeter, unknown female, zebra finches

Male birds use their song to dupe females they have just met by pretending they are in excellent physical condition.

Just as some men try to cast themselves in a better light when they approach would-be dates, so male birds in poor condition seek to portray that they are fitter than they really are. But males do not even try to deceive their long-term partners, who are able to establish the true condition of the male by their song.

Researchers at the University of Exeter’s Cornwall Campus studied zebra finches to establish how trustworthy birdsong was in providing honest signals about the male’s value as a mate. Singing is a test of the condition of birds because it uses a lot of energy. Fit and healthy birds are thought to be able to sustain a high song rate for longer, making them more attractive to females. (more…)

Study Proves that One Extinction Leads to Another

By Guest PostAugust 15, 2012Natureafrican plains, aphids, carnivore, ecosystem, extinction, food web, frank van veen, insects, parasitic wasps, predatory fish, predatory species, ripple effect, university of exeter

When a carnivore becomes extinct, other predatory species could soon follow, according to new research.

Scientists have previously put forward this theory, but a University of Exeter team has now carried out the first experiment to prove it.

Published today (15 August 2012) in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters, the study shows how the demise of one carnivore species can indirectly cause another to become extinct. The University of Exeter team believes any extinction can create a ripple effect across a food web, with far-reaching consequences for many other animals. (more…)