Review of the Year: Five things we learned in 2018
Posted on 20 December 2018
Culture
The ability to focus on detail, a common trait among people with autism, allowed realism to flourish in Ice Age art, according to researchers in the Department of Archaeology.
Around 30,000 years ago realistic art suddenly flourished in Europe. Extremely accurate depictions of bears, bison, horses and lions decorate the walls of Ice Age archaeological sites such as Chauvet Cave in southern France.
Individuals with “detail focus”, a trait linked to autism, kicked-off an artistic movement that led to the proliferation of realistic cave drawings across Europe, says archaeologist, Dr Penny Spikins.
Society
A study revealed an estimated 237 million medication errors occur in the NHS in England every year, and avoidable adverse drug reactions (ADRs) cause hundreds of deaths.
Researchers from the Centre for Health Economics reported that an estimated 712 deaths result from avoidable ADRs. They say, however, that ADRs could be a contributory factor to between 1,700 and 22,303 deaths a year.
Of the total estimated 237 million medication errors that occur, the researchers found that almost three in four are unlikely to result in harm to patients, but there is very little information on the harm that actually happens due to medication errors.
Animal Kingdom
Scientists at the Department of Psychology showed that using ‘dog-speak’ to communicate with dogs is important in relationship-building between pet and owner, similar to the way that ‘baby-talk’ is to bonding between a baby and an adult.
Speech interaction experiments between adult dogs and humans showed that this particular type of speech improves dog attention and may help humans to socially bond with their pets.
They found that adult dogs were more likely to want to interact and spend time with the speaker that used dog-directed speech with dog-related content, than they did those that used adult-directed speech with no dog-related content.
Health
Exposure to secondhand smoke is causing thousands of still births in developing countries, according to research at the Department of Health Sciences.
The study reveals that more than 40% of all pregnant women in Pakistan are exposed to secondhand smoke – causing approximately 17,000 still births in a year.
The team looked at the number of pregnancies alongside smoking exposure data in 30 developing countries from 2008 to 2013. The analysis revealed that in Armenia, Indonesia, Jordan, Bangladesh and Nepal more than 50% of pregnant women reported exposure to household secondhand smoke. The authors believe this led to over 10,000 still births in Indonesia alone.
Environment
Scientists at the Department of Environment and Geography detected 29 different pharmaceutical drugs in York’s two rivers – with some levels higher than previously observed across parts of Europe and Asia.
Samples were taken from the Foss and Ouse and revealed the presence of a range of drug compounds, including antidepressants, antibiotics, antihistamines and medicines to treat epilepsy and diabetes.
The study, one of the most detailed ever undertaken with samples taken from 11 sites over a 12 month period, has raised concerns about the possible environmental impact.
To read more research news stories from 2018, visit our news pages: https://www.york.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/