Trolley prank kills drunk student
A student who hoped to become a professional footballer died after he fell out of a speeding supermarket trolley in a drunken jape that went wrong, an inquest was told yesterday. Martyn Filder, 22, was “drunk and merry” after drinking five or six pints of lager and three or four bottles of alcopops all afternoon with friends in the Bournemouth University student bar, on the last day before the Easter holidays. He then climbed into the trolley with three friends and they raced down a hill. The trolley crashed at about 20mph and they were thrown out.
The Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Scotsman
Trust me, I’m spraying you with hormones
Giving people a whiff of a key chemical can make them more inclined to trust strangers with their cash, a new study reveals. Just three puffs of a nasal spray containing a hormone called oxytocin increased the chance that people would part with their money. The research centred a game in which an “investor” player gives part or all of his money on blind trust to an anonymous “trustee” player who earns interest on the combination of his own money and the invested sum. But the investor is told there is no obligation for the “trustee” to give any money back at all - they risk losing any money they choose to invest.
New Scientist, The Scotsman, The Times, The Guardian
Hay fever hits grades of 1 in 4 students
Around one in four students sitting exams this summer will achieve lower than expected grades due to the effects of hay fever, researchers have said. A study by the National Pollen and Aerobiology Research Unit at University College Worcester found a "dramatic" link between hay fever and under-performance. Students suffering from the allergy produced lower scores than anticipated on days with a medium or high pollen count. The research focused on more than 1,300 students at four universities - Napier University in Edinburgh, Cambridge University, University College Worcester and London Metropolitan University.
The Scotsman, The Evening Standard
Mobiles under the microscope
Scientists are planning a £10 million government research programme to establish whether mobile phones harm the health of children and long-term users. Their study comes after a report in January that linked heavy use to ear and brain tumours, and warned parents not to allow children under eight to use mobile phones. Professor Lawrie Challis, chairman of the Mobile Telecommunications Health Research programme committee, said more research was necessary because little research had been focused on the risks to children, and diseases such as cancer could take more than ten years to develop after first exposure.
The Times
Student thinking outside the box
A university design student has given a new meaning to the term “thinking outside the box” by creating a range of recyclable cardboard furniture. Lewis Barnes came up with the idea after getting fed-up with having to pack and unpack his belongings at the start and end of every term at Coventry University. The 22-year-old, from Milton Keynes, said: “I’ve designed the furniture to help out students who live in rented accommodation who often have to buy basic furniture for their studies such as a desk and storage units.
The Scotsman
Scientists go back to the very beginning
Scientists unveiled yesterday the most detailed model yet produced of the development of the universe. The Millennium Run simulation shows how galaxies and quasars are thought to have evolved following the Big Bang 13.7 billion years ago. It is the result of 500,000 trillion calculations made by one of the biggest supercomputers in Europe after it was given information on the current composition of the universe, the microwave radiation left over after the Big Bang and the laws of physics.
The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian
Letter
Questioning the mathematics of Howard Davies on students' funding.
The Independent