Latest news with #QueensUniversityBelfast
The Independent
6 days ago
- Science
- The Independent
Warmer summers ‘could boost growth rates in European peatlands'
Warmer summers could help boost growth rates in European peatlands, new research has found. The peatlands, which contain around half of Europe's soil carbon, need a combination of warm temperatures and a water table of around 10cm to thrive, researchers at Queen's University Belfast found. Peatlands form where there is a sustained build-up of partially decomposed plant matter, and they play a very important role in locking away greenhouse gases and absorbing industrial pollution. They contain approximately five times more carbon than its forests. However, European peatlands have been damaged by human activities including pollution, draining and climate change. Professor Graeme Swindles from the School of Natural and Built Environment at Queen's University has been leading a team examining peat accumulation rates, studying cores from 28 peat bogs across Europe. The study, which has now been published in research journal PLOS One, reveals that the fastest peat accumulation – nearly 0.5cm per year – occurred around the Baltic Sea, at sites in Denmark, Poland, Sweden, and Finland which experience warm and humid summers. The slowest peat accumulation was measured in northern Sweden, which experiences cold winters and a short growing season. Across all sites, peat was found to have accumulated fastest in regions with warm summer temperatures, which improves plant growth, and a water table around 10cm below the surface. Professor Swindles said the study suggests that warmer summer temperatures could boost growth rates in European peatlands – but only if the water table stays high enough. 'We also found that maintaining a water table around 10cm below the surface is key to allowing peat to grow quickly and store carbon over the long term,' he said. 'These findings strengthen current evidence and have important implications for how we restore and rewet peatlands as part of global efforts to tackle climate change.' Professor Swindles has also suggested that previous peatland restoration programs should be evaluated to determine if their relative successes or deficiencies corroborate these findings.
TimesLIVE
20-06-2025
- Politics
- TimesLIVE
Legacy of past hangs over anti-immigrant violence in Northern Ireland
At the outset of the "Troubles", some Catholics and Protestants were violently forced from their homes in areas where they were in the minority, and sectarian attacks remained common through three decades of violence and the imperfect peace that followed. "Sectarianism and racism have never been very different from each other," said Dominic Bryan, a professor at Queens University Belfast who researches group identity and political violence. "It doesn't totally surprise me that as society changes and Northern Ireland has become a very different society than it was 30 years ago, that some of this 'out grouping' shifts," Bryan said, adding such prejudices could also be seen among Irish nationalists. Immigration has historically been low in Northern Ireland, where the years of conflict bred an insular society unused to assimilating outsiders. There are other factors at play too, said Bryan. The towns involved all have big economic problems, sub-standard housing and rely on healthcare and industries such as meat packing and manufacturing that need an increasing migrant workforce. "The people around here, they're literally at a boiling point," said Ballymena resident Neil Brammeld. The town's diverse culture was welcomed and everybody got along, he said, but for problems with "a select few". "The people have been complaining for months and months leading up to this and the police are nowhere to be seen." While around 6% of people in the province were born abroad, with those belonging to ethnic minority groups about half that, the foreign-born population in Ballymena is much higher, in line with the UK average of 16%. Northern Ireland does not have specific hate crime legislation, though some race-related incidents can be prosecuted as part of wider laws. Justice minister Naomi Long pledged last year to boost the existing provisions but said the power-sharing government would not have enough time to introduce a standalone hate crime bill before the next election in 2027. While five successive nights of violence mostly came to an end on Saturday, the effects continue to be felt. "I'm determined I'm not going to be chased away from my home," said Ivanka Antova, an organiser of an anti-racism rally in Belfast on Saturday, who moved to Belfast from Bulgaria 15 years ago. "Racism will not win."
Agriland
06-06-2025
- Health
- Agriland
Watch: Potential for vaccines to reduce methane emissions?
With the threat of global warming increasing, research around greenhouse gases (GHG) and in particular methane, is becoming increasingly important. According to Sharon Huws, professor in animal science and microbiology at Queens University Belfast there are 'huge gaps' in ruminant bacteria available for methane emission research. Speaking at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine's (DAFM) Agriculture and Climate conference this week at Dublin Castle, Huws highlighted the challenges associated with the 'complexity' of the ruminant microbiome. Huws said: 'The rumen is one of the most complex microbiomes that you will find in nature. 'And with this complexity brings quite a lot of challenges, but ultimately what we're trying to do with our methane mitigation strategies is manipulate the processes in the rumen. 'If we do not have these microbes available, it means that we cannot understand them.' Prof. Sharon Huws, Queens University Belfast Reducing methane emissions Huws told Agriland how the Rumen Gateway Project, taking place at Queen's University Belfast, aims to 'fill in' the understanding around how methane is produced. She detailed that the purpose of the project is to gather methane-producing bacteria from ruminant animals across the world and combat them with methane mitigation strategies. Huws also added that 'practical' solutions can be implemented on farms such as introducing multi-species swards and willows to reduce methane emissions. Feed additives such as Bovaer are now gaining interest among farmers, with Huws emphasising that 'we [researchers] would never put anything on farms unless we know it does not affect animal health and welfare and that the products produced won't affect human health'. 'Those are the number one things, ensuring that farmers and the general public have confidence in what we're [researchers] doing'. Huws also highlighted that the acceleration of research on methane vaccines will require a team effort by immunologists and microbiologists. 'I think probably, three or four years down the line we'll hear a lot more about methane vaccines,' Huws added.
Gizmodo
05-06-2025
- Science
- Gizmodo
Upcoming Telescope Predicted to Discover Millions of Hidden Solar System Objects
With 3.2 billion pixels and a decade-long search, the Rubin Observatory will reveal what's been hiding in plain sight. A new observatory perched high in the Chilean Andes is about to blow the lid off our solar system—and scientists say it's going to be like switching from a black-and-white TV to 4K color. The National Science Foundation and Department of Energy project, the Vera C. Rubin Observatory, is slated to begin operations later this year. Armed with the largest digital camera ever built for astronomy and a sweeping, ultra-sensitive telescope, the observatory is expected to discover millions of previously unknown asteroids, comets, and other planetary leftovers—some of which venture uncomfortably close to our own planet. Now, researchers led by Meg Schwamb at Queen's University Belfast have developed an open-source software program, Sorcha, that predicts the discoveries that Rubin may make. The papers describing the software and the associated predictions are available on the preprint server arXiv. The team estimates that Rubin will triple the number of known near-Earth objects (NEOs) from about 38,000 to 127,000, detect ten times more trans-Neptunian objects than currently cataloged, and provide colorful, detailed observations of over 5 million main-belt asteroids (up from about 1.4 million). 'With this data, we'll be able to update the textbooks of solar system formation and vastly improve our ability to spot—and potentially deflect—the asteroids that could threaten Earth,' said Mario Juric, a member of the team and an astronomer at the University of Washington, in a university release. Sorcha models the solar system's current structure, then projects what Rubin is likely to see, based on its planned observations. It's the first end-to-end simulator for Rubin, meaning that it models expectations from simulated photons of light from distant sources to the expected science to come from those findings. The Rubin Observatory's secret weapon is its 3.2-gigapixel LSST camera, which can scan an area roughly 45 times the area of the full Moon each night. In less than a week, the camera can survey the entire night sky, and over the next decade, it'll produce a cosmic time-lapse comprising 20 terabytes of nightly data. Rubin's data will help scientists piece together how our solar system formed and evolved. The predicted stats are staggering: 127,000 NEOs, 109,000 Jupiter Trojans, 37,000 distant Kuiper Belt objects, and more. Rubin will find them all in color and motion, revealing spin rates, surface types, and more. In turn, these observations will help space agencies and scientists land on their next observational targets. The Sorcha code, along with simulated sky maps and orbital animations, is available now at so researchers can prepare for the LSST data to come. The first public images from Rubin's 'First Look' event will be revealed on June 23.
Belfast Telegraph
02-06-2025
- Health
- Belfast Telegraph
Dark chocolate and tea among foods that could lead to longer life, Queen's University study finds
New research conducted by Queens University Belfast (QUB) has found that consuming a diverse range of foods rich in flavonoids like dark chocolate and tea may help extend your life. The study tracked over 120,000 people aged between 40 and 70 for over a decade. It's research was led by a team of academics from QUB, alongside Edith Cowan University Perth (ECU), and the Medical University of Vienna and Universitat Wien. Their findings revealed that diversifying the consumption of plant compounds called flavonoids could help prevent diseases such as cancer, heart disease and type-2 diabetes. Flavonoids are a group of naturally occurring substances found in plant foods like tea, berries, oranges, grapes, dark chocolate and even red wine. It is the first study to suggest that there is a benefit for those who eat a wide range of these foods beyond consuming a high quantity of them. Co-leading the research was Professor Adeín Cassidy who called the findings 'significant' in helping to increase the chance of reducing ill-health. Professor Cassidy from the Co-Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and Institute for Global Food Security at QUB said: 'We have known for some time that higher intakes of dietary flavonoids, powerful bioactives naturally present in many foods and drinks, can reduce the risk of developing heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and neurological conditions like Parkinson's. 'We also know from lab data and clinical studies that different flavonoids work in different ways, some improve blood pressure, others help with cholesterol levels and decrease inflammation. 'This study is significant as the results indicate that consuming a higher quantity and wider diversity has the potential to lead to a greater reduction in ill health than just a single source.' He added that the results provide 'a clear and public health message' for basic dietary swaps which can help improve health in the long-term. Also co-leading the paper was ECU Research Fellow Dr Benjamin Parmenter who explained how just two cups of tea was enough to reduce all-cause mortality by 16%. 'However, those who consumed the widest diversity of flavonoids, had an even lower risk of these diseases, even when consuming the same total amount.' Dr Parmenter explained: 'So for example, instead of just drinking tea, it's better to eat a range of flavonoid-rich foods to make up your intake, because different flavonoids come from different foods.' Professor Tilman Kuhn from QUB and the partnering Austrian university's highlighted the diversity aspect of flavonoid consumption has never been explored until now. The study co-lead said: 'The importance of diversity of flavonoid intake has never been investigated until now, so our study is very significant as the findings align with popular claims that eating colourful foods are invaluable to maintain good health. 'Eating fruits and vegetables in a variety of colours, including those rich in flavonoids, means you're more likely to get the vitamins and nutrients you need to sustain a healthier lifestyle.'
