Durham expert says 'Big Cat roamed Britain'
An expert from the University of Durham says there's evidence that a big cat prowled the countryside more than a century ago.
Comet soars over region
Star gazers were treated to an astronomical spectacle over the weekend as the comet PanSTARRS was in good view over the region's skies.
Black Widow spiders on Teesside
Workers at a Teesside based business got a bit of shock this week when they discovered a number of Black Widow spiders.
Live updates
Durham expert says 'Big Cat roamed Britain'
An expert from the University of Durham says there's evidence that a big cat prowled the countryside more than a century ago.
Read the full storyFull Report: Gateshead teen named 'Young Scientist of the Year'
A student from Gateshead has been named Young Scientist of the Year.
18-year-old Emily O'Reegan secured the title with research that could help save the endangered Chilean flamingo.
You can watch the full report from Ben Chapman below.
Advertisement
Uplifting music 'boosts alertness'
Uplifting music can boost mental alertness according to University of Northumbria researchers who studied the effect of Vivaldi's The Four Seasons.
A group of volunteers listened to the concertos while performing a difficult mental task and scientists measured the electrical activity of their brains.
The findings, published in the journal Experimental Pyschology, showed that participants carried out the task faster and more accurately while listening to the uplifting strains of the Spring concerto - and slowed down during the more sombre Autumn passage.
– Psychologist Dr Leigh Riby, from the University of Northumbria"The current study provides evidence that there is an indirect effect of music on cognition that is created by mood, alertness and emotion.
"This experiment shows that cognitive capacity is enhanced when pleasant and arousing stimuli are introduced."
The Spring movement has previously been used successfully in marketing to alter mood and influence behaviour.
– Psychologist Dr Leigh Riby, from the University of Northumbria"The Spring movement enhanced overall activity within the brain but had an exaggerated effect on the area of the brain that's important for emotional processing.
"It seemed to give rise to particular imagery in the brain and evoke positive, contented feelings which translated into higher levels of cognitive functioning."
Comet soars over region
by Richard Wilson
Star gazers were treated to an astronomical spectacle over the weekend as the comet PanSTARRS was in good view over the region's skies.
Read the full storyFull Report: Durham student's science space experiment
A talented young scientist has won the chance to have an experiment she designed tested in space.
19-year-old Ioana Ciuca wants to learn more about how metals react in low gravity environments, and so her project will be strapped onto a rocket and launched from Sweden next March.
The young scientist now has a busy year ahead of her at Durham University preparing for the launch.
Watch the full report from Helen Pearson below.
Space shuttle pictures courtesy of NASA.
Almost £1million is spent on researching dogs
Scientists at Durham University are using a £950,000 NERC grant to find out when and where dogs first became domesticated. They are examining bones of wolves and dogs.
The earliest conclusive evidence showed dogs have been pets for about 14,000 years, but theories now suggest it could have been for as long as 35,000 years.
– Professor Keith Dobney, Sixth Century Chair of Human Palaeoecology at the University of Aberdeen"Just about everything associated with domestication is really about the beginnings of farming. Except dogs.
"Dogs were domesticated by hunter-gatherers at least 3,000-5,000 years before agriculture and possibly tens of thousands of years earlier."
The three year project starts in October.
Advertisement
Black Widow spiders on Teesside
by Richard Wilson
Workers at a Teesside based business got a bit of shock this week when they discovered a number of Black Widow spiders.
Read the full storyPoisonous spiders discovered on Teesside
Black Widow spiders have been recovered from a business on Teesside.
They were discovered by employees at a company which does not want to be named.
It's thought that the highly poisonous North American spiders may have travelled to the UK in a freight shipment.
They were caught by wildlife expert Jack Fenwick from Guisborough-based Naturally Wild Consultants.
Mr Fenwick said that, while the Black Widow is highly venomous, fatalities from bites are rare.
Black Widow spiders discovered on Teesside
North American Black Widow spiders have been discovered at a business on Teesside.
They are thought to have hidden in an industrial freight shipment.
Slow-motion video of explosion in train carriage
Researchers at Newcastle University have released this footage of controlled explosions in London Underground carriages.
The first explosion shows a decommissioned carriage similar to that targeted by terrorists on the London Underground in 2005.
The second explosion is on a prototype carriage that has been redesigned by engineers to provide better protection for passengers.
Today's top stories
