university of manchester – Shamskm: A site to exchange knowledge and solutions

Scientists build thinnest-possible LEDs to be stronger, more energy efficient

By Guest PostMarch 31, 2014Sciencebekaempfung der korruption, cold period, cultural chasm, david cobden, energy-efficient, Germany, graphene, juristin, karin seyfried, korruption, korruptionsstrafrecht, leds, one atom, problemfall, raf rios, rice basket, terry quinn, university of manchester, university of washington

Most modern electronics, from flat-screen TVs and smartphones to wearable technologies and computer monitors, use tiny light-emitting diodes, or LEDs. These LEDs are based off of semiconductors that emit light with the movement of electrons. As devices get smaller and faster, there is more demand for such semiconductors that are tinier, stronger and more energy efficient.

University of Washington scientists have built the thinnest-known LED that can be used as a source of light energy in electronics. The LED is based off of two-dimensional, flexible semiconductors, making it possible to stack or use in much smaller and more diverse applications than current technology allows. (more…)

ANALYSIS: small is beautiful when it comes to flood protection

By Guest PostFebruary 18, 2014Environmentangela connelly, david cameron, England, flood doors, flood guards, flood protection, flood risk, small is beautiful, storm, university of manchester

As a series of unprecedented storms continue to wreak havoc on the country, Dr Angela Connelly, from The University of Manchester who has just completed research into innovative new flood technologies, argues we can no longer rely on large scale flood defences.

“The appalling storms battering Britain are bringing flood misery to people living in many parts of the country. But when the clean-up really does start, those people so badly affected will want to know if there is more that can be done to deal with future threats. Long term actions may be some way off, but these are important questions which should be raised now, particularly in light of David Cameron’s commitment to offer 5, 800 households up to £5000 to make their homes more resilient. (more…)

Mein Kampf worries fuel debate

By Guest PostFebruary 13, 2014PoliticsAmazon, anti semitism, atreyee sen, copyright, diagram lajard, german, hindu nationalist, hitler, holocaust historian, jean marc dreyfus, jews, mein kampf, political leader, social anthropologist, state of bavaria, turkey, university of manchester

More needs to be done to understand Hitler’s infamous autobiographical manifesto “Mein Kampf” to avoid a resurgence of anti-Semitism when its copyright expires in 2016, according to a holocaust historian.

Dr Jean-Marc Dreyfus, from The University of Manchester, says not enough is known about the book which preaches hatred against Jews, and why it is still popular in some parts of the world.

E-book sales of “Mein Kampf”, which gives a racist account of world history, have made the top spot on Amazon’s propaganda and political psychology chart and entered the top 20 bestselling iTunes politics and events titles. (more…)

Cancer deaths higher in Greater Manchester compared to rest of UK

By Guest PostFebruary 9, 2014Healthallan jordan, breast cancer, cancer case, cancer deaths, greater manchester, mcrc, nell barrie, the christie, uk, university of manchester

Every day 18 people die from cancer in Greater Manchester – around 6,500 a year – making the death toll around 10 per cent higher than the UK average, according to the latest figures published by Cancer Research UK – part of Manchester Cancer Research Centre.

The main reason for the higher death rates is that that people in Greater Manchester are more likely to be diagnosed with cancer compared to the UK average, with rates of cancer cases also around 10 per cent higher.* This is likely to be partly due to higher numbers smoking in the city, smoking rates are around seven per cent higher than the national average. (more…)

Does it pay to be a lover or a fighter? It depends on how you woo females

By Guest PostJanuary 28, 2014Natureanimal, canine teeth, control of females, fall, fighter scale, john fitzpatrick, lover, male mammals, mating, new york, primates, sexual behaviours, sperm, stefan luepold, syracuse university, university, university of manchester, western australia

As mating season approaches, male animals are faced with a question that can make or break their chances at reproducing: does it pay to be a lover or a fighter? Or both?

Researchers from The University of Manchester and Syracuse University in New York working with the University of Western Australia, found that where animals fall on the lover/fighter scale depends on how much they are able to ensure continued mating rights with females.

In species where fighting for the right to mate means greater control of females, such as in the elephant seal, males invest more in weapons and less in testes size. (more…)

German speaking Jews were force behind European unity

By Guest PostJanuary 7, 2014Politicsanti semitism, atlanta, austria, berlin, cafe central, cathy gelbin, eduard bernstein, elfriede jelinek, emory university, european identity, European Union, european unity, german industrialist, german speaking jews, Germany, identity as european, jewish culture, jewish zionists, literature winner, nobel prize, political theorist, politicians, prague, sander gilman, stefan zweig, university of manchester, vienna, walther rathenau

A little-remembered Jewish culture in Germany and Austria between the 1870s and 1930s was a hotbed of ideas which drove the formation of the European Union, according to new research.

Literary and film scholar Dr Cathy Gelbin from The University of Manchester says cosmopolitan German speaking Jewish intellectuals, many of whom met in the coffee houses of Berlin, Vienna and Prague, were among the first to see their identity as European.

Her co-author on the Arts and Humanities Research Council funded study is the eminent cultural and literary historian Professor Sander Gilman from Emory University in Atlanta. (more…)

Personal reflection triggers increased brain activity during depressive episode

By Guest PostNovember 17, 2013Healthanxiety, brain imaging technology, british queen, depression, depressive episode, fmri, frontal cortex, increased brain activity, laura parkes, may sarsam, neuroimaging, personal reflection, peter kinderman, psychological theory, university of liverpool, university of manchester

Research by the Universities of Liverpool and Manchester has found that people experiencing depressive episodes display increased brain activity when they think about themselves.

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain imaging technologies, scientists found that people experiencing a depressive episode process information about themselves in the brain differently to people who are not depressed.

Researchers scanned the brains of people in major depressive episodes and those that weren’t whilst they chose positive, negative and neutral adjectives to describe either themselves or the British Queen – a figure significantly removed from their daily lives but one that all participants were familiar with. (more…)

The final nail in the Jurassic Park coffin

By Guest PostSeptember 16, 2013Sciencecontaminating modern molecules, copal, david penney, dna expert, dna from ambers, dna from insects, dna molecules, dna sequencing, final nail, jurassic park coffin, jurassic park scenario, pcr, polymerase chain reaction, recreating dinosaurs, sub fossilized insects, terry brown, university of manchester

It is hardly possible to talk about fossil insects in amber without the 1993 movie Jurassic Park entering the debate.

The idea of recreating dinosaurs by extracting DNA from insects in amber has held the fascination of the public for two decades. Claims for successful extraction of DNA from ambers up to 130 million-years-old by various scientists in the early 1990s were only seriously questioned when a study at the Natural History Museum, London, was unable to replicate the process. The original claims are now considered by many to be a text-book example of modern contaminant DNA in the samples. Nonetheless, some scientists hold fast to their original claims.

Research just published in the journal The Public Library of Science ONE (PLOS ONE) by a team of researchers from the Faculty of Life Sciences at The University of Manchester can now confirm that the existence of DNA in amber fossils is highly unlikely. The team led by amber expert Dr David Penney and co-ordinated by ancient DNA expert Professor Terry Brown used highly-sensitive ‘next generation’ sequencing techniques – the most advance type of DNA sequencing – on insects in copal, the sub-fossilized resin precursor of amber. (more…)

Tag Archives: university of manchester