Reading in the news - Fri 12 Feb

COVID-19: expert comment on the pandemic 

• Dr Simon Clarke (Biological Sciences) spoke to Heart Berkshire about holiday plans for this year; and TalkRADIO about updated advice from scientists about mask wearing.
• Dr Clarke was also quoted in The Sun, Yahoo! News and a range of regional titles including GetReading via PA on a further variant identified in Bristol; in Mail Online (and here) about quarantine hotels, and Yahoo! News about holiday plans.
• Prof Ian Jones (Biological Sciences) spoke to BBC World Service about issues with the supplies of materials for producing Covid vaccines. The interview was reproduced on a number of local radio stations including Michigan Radio. Comments from Prof Jones appear in a Times article about Covid mutations  quoted in a Mail Online article about Covid and strokes.
• Dr Tom Oliver (Biological Sciences) writes for BBC Science Focus about the human virome and how viruses form part of the body’s ecosystem.
• An article for the Conversation by Dr Ciara McCabe (Psychology) looks at the positive effect of hobbies on mental health. The article is reproduced in Big News Network.
• India Education Diary cover a public lecture given by Prof James Reade (Economics) about Covid and sport. Read our news story here.

Planet Partners: working with global partners to protect the environment 

• Hamzala report on the relationship between cold snaps and global warming, and quotes PhD researcher Chloe Brimicombe on how climate change may increase the chances of extreme weather events.
• An interview with Gloriose Nsengiyumva for Columbia University’s State of the Planet blog notes that Nsengiyumva worked on the rollout of the University of Reading’s PICSA programme in Rwanda.

Four day week: Business Reporter look at how businesses can establish a four day week working pattern. The article cites the Henley Business School report on the benefits to businesses.

Other coverage

• Further coverage of comments by Dr Cathy Hughes (Henley Business School) on the impact of lockdown on commercial lease agreements, in Singapore Times of News.
• Building Construction Design and ADF further report that plans developed by architecture practice Scott Brownrigg, for a TV studio at the Thames Valley Science Park, were submitted to Wokingham Borough Council last month.
• IFST carries an article about International Day of Women and Girls in Science, and interviews members including a UoR Food Sciences graduate Badroonesha Aumjaud.