Interdisciplinary Research

Cooperation to better follow, understand and predict the climate
Eight institutes observe the climate together

On Thursday 23 May 2002, an agreement will be signed in Cabauw by 8 cooperating institutes situated in the Netherlands. The cooperation project is called CESAR, and is in the form of a national observatory for the atmosphere. The goal of the cooperation is to be able to better follow the development of the climate and to be able to better understand and predict it. Only a

An academic at the University of Edinburgh is attempting to solve the riddle of how jokes work — and to set up a way of analyzing the language used in jokes — as part of wider research into humour. Dr Graeme Ritchie is not investigating how funny particular jokes are, as opinions about that vary widely. Instead, he is looking at whether something is or is not a joke, about which there is more agreement. He plans to experiment, to see how much agreement there is amongst people as to what actually cons

Europe’s leading researchers on human health and wildlife impacts of endocrine disrupters will be brought together under a new research “cluster” supported by DG Research which is to contribute €20 million. This cluster project will provide a critical mass for new and existing research on endocrine disrupters and their effect on human health and on the environment. Endocrine disrupters are suspected of causing problems for human health and wildlife. For instance, cases have been reported of fish, fro

Researchers at the Universities of Warwick and Keele are being supported by the Economic and Social Research Council to watch the popular game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire? The globally broadcast show is a treasure trove of data on how all sorts of people of different ages and genders and nationalities perceive and act on risk.
One of the researchers, economist Professor Ian Walker from the University of Warwick said:

“Many decisions involve weighing up potential gains and losses w

Nowadays society is deeply concerned with the safety issues, the flight safety in particular. Despite the technological progress, people can not do without dogs` assistance, as no device is capable of replacing the dogs` scent in search of explosive substances and drugs. Dogs are indispensable for differentiating between different individuals by specific smells. To work efficiently a dog needs excellent scent and ability to learn quickly. It is only in Russia that the unique animals -dog and jackal h

Psychologists have found that colors enhance an individual’s visual memory. From a series of experiments, researchers learned that subjects were more likely to recall the color version of an image than the same scene in black and white. The results, which appear in the May issue of the journal Experimental Psychology: Learning, Memory and Cognition, also indicate that natural colors make a difference. A photo of a landscape with a green sky, for example, will not lodge as effectively in the brai