Latest research news

Tight ties may be bad for eyes
Men who tie their neckties too tightly could be increasing their risk of a sight-destroying disease, new research suggests. Scientists found that a tight necktie caused an increase in pressure in the eye, which is one of the leading risk factors for the disease.
(New Scientist, Times, Guardian, Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph)

Scientists postpone labour
Scientists from the University of Texas have found a way to postpone labour, which they hope could eventually be used to prevent premature births. At present the technique has only been tested in mice - but they say there is no reason why it should not also work in humans.
(BBC)

Grass pollen link to fatal asthma
Common grass pollen may be responsible for severe and life threatening asthma outbreaks. The discovery was made by researchers in Madrid, which has high levels of different types of airborne pollen.
(Sky)

Virus threatens Tasmanian Devil with extinction
The Tasmanian Devil is being killed off by an unidentified cancer-forming virus. It has killed 85 per cent of devils in the state’s east coast holiday region of Coles Bay, and farther north, at Epping Forest, researchers have found a 90 per cent population loss. Scientists and conservationists are hurriedly establishing quarantine measures to stem the spread, but they are not certain how the disease is transmitted.
(The Times)

The equation where BBQ = perfect
Mathematicians at the University of Greenwich have devised a formula for barbecuing the perfect hamburger. All you need to know is the mass of the burger, its thermal conductivity, heat capacity, convective heat transfer coefficient, and the temperature of the grill. What you really need to know, in plain English, is that double the thickness requires four times the cooking.
(Times)