news

Literature/Linguistics - 16.04
Fun activities can improve language learning, Nottingham academics reveal
PA 114/13 - Playing simple games using words and pictures can help people to learn a new language with greater ease, researchers from The University of Nottingham have shown. - Their study, published by the scientific journal PLOS ONE, revealed that using fun, informal ways of learning not only helped complete novices to acquire a new language but also made more traditional methods of language learning more effective.

Literature/Linguistics - Life Sciences - 4.03
Papers of Glasgow’s pioneers of genetics included in new Wellcome Library collection
The papers of the pioneers of modern genetics, including former Glasgow professors Guido Pontecorvo, Malcom Ferguson-Smith and James Harrison Renwick, have been collected together for the first time and made freely available in a £3.9million digitisation project by the Wellcome Library.

Literature/Linguistics - 30.11.2012
Men and women explore the visual world differently
Everyone knows that men and women tend to hold different views on certain things. However, new research by scientists from the University of Bristol and published in PLoS ONE indicates that this may literally be the case.

History/Archeology - Literature/Linguistics - 21.08.2012
Gibbon’s ’earliest use of irony’ revealed by manuscript
A newly-discovered manuscript may represent Edward Gibbon's earliest experiment in the irony for which he would become famous, an Oxford University English academic has found. - - Professor David Womersley of Oxford University's English Faculty discovered the manuscript written by the 19-year old Edward Gibbon, which had been left in the attic of a house in Lausanne for many years.

Literature/Linguistics - 22.03.2012
Story behind amazing book discovery to be told at John Rylands
The fascinating story behind a 1,200-year-old book unearthed by a mechanical digger operator six years ago in an Irish bog is to be told by the man who is supervising its conservation. - John Gillis, a Senior Conservator of books and manuscripts at Trinity College Library, Ireland, will speak at The John Rylands Library on March 22 in an event jointly organised by the Manchester Centre for Anglo-Saxon Studies (MANCASS), based at The University of Manchester, and Manchester Medieval Society.

Literature/Linguistics - 20.01.2012
Voltaire’s English alter-ego unmasked by new letters
14 newly-discovered letters by Francois Voltaire have allowed an Oxford University team to shed light on his brief but important time in England. - Two of the new letters shed new light on the extent of the author's interactions with the English aristocracy and in one letter he even signs his name ‘Francis Voltaire' – something he has never before been recorded as doing.

Literature/Linguistics - 23.11.2011
Computer spots micro clue to lies
Whether you are playing poker or haggling over a deal you might think that you can hide your true emotions. - But telltale signs can reveal that you are concealing something, and now researchers at Oxford University and Oulu University are developing software that can recognise these ‘micro-expressions' - which could be bad news for liars.

Chemistry - Literature/Linguistics - 28.06.2011
Archaeological dig uncovers artefacts
Scientific equipment belonging to an Enlightenment figure has been found in an archaeological dig at the University. - The eighteenth-century items, including laboratory apparatus and brightly coloured chemicals, almost certainly were the property of Joseph Black.

Literature/Linguistics - History/Archeology - 17.02.2011
How the Cambridge Literary Review is taking on the establishment
Launched as a reaction to the lack of outlets for challenging contemporary writing, a Cambridge-based journal is finding favour in the very places it aims to be the antidote for. - One year on from its birth and with the fifth issue soon to be released, the Cambridge Literary Review continues to gain prominence, with a strong write up in the Times Literary Supplement and copies on sale in the Tate Modern bookshop amongst others.

Literature/Linguistics - 28.01.2011
Secrets of Swift's intimate letters revealed
Art - 28 Jan 11 - The crossing out of words visible in Swift's letters was actually done by Swift himself, Dr Williams has found. Image with kind permission of the British Library Board - An Oxford University academic has applied digital image analysis to intimate letters sent simultaneously by Jonathan Swift to two women, with some surprising results.

History/Archeology - Literature/Linguistics - 28.12.2010
Ancient Bible fragments reveal a forgotten history
New research has uncovered a forgotten chapter in the history of the Bible, offering a rare glimpse of Byzantine Jewish life and culture. - The study by Cambridge University researchers suggests that, contrary to long-accepted views, Jews continued to use a Greek version of the Bible in synagogues for centuries longer than previously thought.

Literature/Linguistics - 4.11.2010
Fantastic art find is Chinese puzzle
An album of 20 beautiful eighteenth century Chinese prints, found by a University of Manchester historian, has been hailed as the UK's finest example of Qing dynasty art. - However, the collection of poster-sized prints, discovered at the University's John Rylands Library, contains a mysterious unfinished colour painting.

Mathematics - Literature/Linguistics - 15.09.2010
Numbers, books & apps
Science - Pete Wilton | 15 Sep 10 - When he came to write his latest book Oxford University's Marcus du Sautoy decided he wanted to go beyond the printed page. - For The Num8er My5teries he created a series of 'apps' that enable iPhone users to explore the ideas and games within the book and recently wrote for The Guardian on what apps can bring to books.

Environmental Sciences - Literature/Linguistics - 1.06.2010
Count your chickens (and robins and pigeons...), urge researchers working to protect birds
People could help to prevent species of birds from becoming extinct by recording sightings of all kinds of birds online, including common species, according to a new study published today in PLoS Biology .

Literature/Linguistics - 28.02.2010
There and Back Again: The Hobbit at The Bodleian Library
Art - 01 Mar 10 - A small display of Tolkein's original artwork and manuscripts will be on display Thursday, 4 March - The Bodleian Library is taking part in World Book Day 2010 by exhibiting a selection of JRR Tolkien's original artwork which was used to illustrate .