Reading in the news - Thu 19 Sep

Rising cases of slapped cheek: Daily Mail highlights the alarming rise in parvovirus B19, or ‘slapped cheek virus’, which poses a risk of miscarriage in pregnant people. Professor Ian Jones (Biomedical Sciences) suggested pandemic restrictions may have contributed to the surge. At the same time, Dr Simon Clarke (Biomedical Sciences) cautioned that the reported case numbers might underestimate the virus’s actual prevalence and its risks to pregnant women. Republished by Mahasla UK, WhatsNew2Day and MSN.

#PlanetPartners: working with global partners to protect the environment 

• Archyworldys and IFRC’s Podcast reports on the severe flooding in Central Europe featuring comments from Professor Hannah Cloke (Meteorology & Geography) and Liz Stephens (Meteorology). Republished by, Yahoo! News, BBC Radio 4, Izmu and BNN Bloomberg.
• BusinessGreen reports on the launch of SmartestEnergy's Traceable Renewable Supply service, which the University of Reading and real estate firm, JLL, successfully trialled.
• Konkret24 highlights the growing issue of simultaneous floods and droughts. Dr Rob Thompson (Meteorology) demonstrated an experiment showing how water behaves on wet, normal, and dry soil, illustrating the dangers of heavy rainfall following a drought.
• Ruetir and CNN Indonesia report on a Reading study, in collaboration with CICERO, revealing that 70% of the global population could face extreme weather events during the next 20 years. Read our news story.

Health and wellbeing:

• Dazed Digital features Dr Ciara McCabe (Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences) in an article about dopamine and current trends on TikTok.

Food and farming:

• NewsChannel 21 highlights research by Chris Wyver (Agriculture, Policy and Development) showing that Bramley apples bloom earlier in the UK due to warmer springs and increased rainfall. Republished by Kvia-TV.
• Evening News 24 highlights the £3 million Defra funding awarded to the Pulse Crop Genetic Improvement Network (PCGIN), led by the John Innes Centre, in collaboration with the University of Reading. Yahoo! News and Eastern Daily Press Online also report.

Business and society:

• Research Professional News features Parveen Yaqoob (Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Pro-Vice-Chancellor, Research and Innovation) discussing the need for long-term research funding to address global challenges.

Other Coverage:

• Jutarnji. hr continues to highlight research by archaeologist Professor Mary Lewis (Arechology), who developed a method to assess puberty stages in individuals who lived 25,000 years ago. Read our news story.
• Amateur Photographer features an image taken in the University of Reading's Harris Garden as part of their AP Picture of the Week 2024.

Alumni:

• MyRepublica reports on students selected for the Chevening Scholarship this year, mentioning that among the first recipients was Ram Krishna Prasai, who studied at the University of Reading.
• Peterborough Today highlights the retirement of a dedicated nurse, Mary Donaldson, who graduated from Henley Business School with an MBA.
• New Law Journal features an alumna who discovered her passion for law unexpectedly while studying geography at the University of Reading.