In the media
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Unearthed: the cannibal sharks of a forgotten age
August 2016
Scientists have discovered macabre fossil evidence suggesting that 300 million-year-old sharks ate their own young, as fossil poop of adult Orthacanthus sharks contained the tiny teeth of juveniles. These fearsome marine predators used protected coastal lagoons to rear their babies, but it seems they also resorted to cannibalising them when other food sources became scarce.
Extensive international coverage included articles in:
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Astrophysicists bring Mercury Transit to Irish public
May 2016
Astrophysicists from Trinity College Dublin offered the public a unique opportunity to observe and learn about the 2016 Mercury transit, when our solar system’s smallest planet became visible moving across the Sun on Monday, May 9.
Extensive coverage included broadcast and print coverage on/in:
UTV News
TV3 News
News2Day
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Comet craters — literal melting pots for life on Earth
May 2016
Geochemists from Trinity College Dublin’s School of Natural Sciences may have found a solution to a long-debated problem as to where – and how – life first formed on Earth.
Extensive coverage included a radio interview on Newstalk’s Futureproof and articles in:
R & D Magazine
CBC Radio Canada
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Scientists Reveal Origin of Earth’s Oldest Crystals
April 2016
New research from scientists at Trinity College Dublin suggests that the very oldest pieces of rock on Earth – zircon crystals – are likely to have formed in the craters left by violent asteroid impacts that peppered our nascent planet, rather than via plate tectonics as was previously believed.
Extensive international coverage of this finding included articles with:
Malaysia Sun
International Business Times Australia
Nigeria Sun
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Scientists Sequence First Ancient Irish Human Genomes
December 2015
A team of geneticists from Trinity College Dublin and archaeologists from Queen’s University Belfast has sequenced the first genomes from ancient Irish humans, and the information buried within is already answering pivotal questions about the origins of Ireland’s people and their culture. Read more here and watch a video here.
The team sequenced the genome of an early farmer woman, who lived near Belfast some 5,200 years ago, and those of three men from a later period, around 4,000 years ago in the Bronze Age, after the introduction of metalworking.
Extensive international media coverage included:
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Botanists discover critically endangered new species
November 2015
Botanists from Trinity College Dublin have discovered a beautiful new tree species from the coffee family. They were conducting an ecological survey in Honduras when making the find, but, sadly, the species has been immediately placed under the critically endangered banner of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
Coverage included an interview on RTE's Radio One's News at One, and articles in:
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Scientists fill in the gaps of human hunter-gatherer history
November 2015
An international team led by scientists in Trinity College Dublin, University College Dublin and Cambridge University, has, for the first time, sequenced ancient genomes from the Late Upper Palaeolithic period. In doing so, the team has discovered a new strand of European hunter-gatherer ancestry.
Extensive international coverage included articles in:
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Soft Robotics ‘Toolkit’ Features Everything a Robot-Maker Needs
A new resource unveiled by researchers from several Harvard University labs in collaboration with Trinity College Dublin provides both experienced and aspiring researchers with the intellectual raw materials needed to design, build, and operate robots made from soft, flexible materials.
The news was highlighted in a feature article in The Irish Times, as well as on a variety of international tech websites such as Gizmag, the Washington Post, and PC Magazine. An accompanying video was also embedded in many of these sites.
High-profile print and online coverage included:
- The Irish Times, October 2
- Odisha Sun Times, September 20
- Hindustan Times, September 20
- Business Standard, September 20
- Washington Post, September 24
- Gizmag, September 24
- Gizmodo India, September 24
- Gizmodo Australia, September 24
- PC Magazine, September 25
- Tech Times, September 27
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‘Hello Brain’ Awareness Campaign Launched
‘Hello Brain’, an innovative website promoting brain health, was launched in Trinity College Dublin as part of a new EU Commission initiative to increase the societal impact of brain research. The campaign is the public face of the ASAPS project (A Sharing Approach to Promoting Science). The project was led by Trinity College Dublin and was co-ordinated by Principal Investigator at the Institute of Neuroscience and Assistant Director of Trinity’s NEIL (Neuro-Enhancement for Independent Lives) Programme, Sabina Brennan.
The news of this campaign was covered on RTE radio by Morning Ireland and on the Marian Finucane Show and the story was also covered in feature interviews on Dublin South Radio, Dublin City Radio and Midland Radio. News of the campaign was also picked up by several national publications including the Irish Times and the Irish Examiner. In addition, the campaign was featured in specialist/online publications including the Lancet, the Medical Independent, the Irish Medical News and Science.ie
High-profile print and online coverage included:
- Science.ie, Wednesday, January 7th, 2015
- The Lancet, Wednesday, December 3rd, 2014
- Irish Times, Monday, October 13th 2014
- The Marian Finucane Show, RTE One, Saturday, October 4th, 2014
- Irish Examiner, Monday, September 29th, 2014
- Irish Medical Independent, Thursday, September 25th, 2014
- Irish Health. Com, Wednesday, September 24th, 2014
- Irish Times, Tuesday, September 23rd, 2014
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TILDA Study Finds 4 out of 5 Over 50s in Ireland are Overweight or Obese
A new report by the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA), led by Trinity College Dublin, was recently released showing that nearly four out of five adults over the age of 50 are overweight or obese. The report also highlighted the increased health risks and health services burden in older adults due to high rates of obesity.
The news was picked up extensively by RTE with coverage on radio news bulletins, the One, and Six TV News, Morning Ireland and Drivetime. Newstalk’s Breakfast and George Hook shows also covered the report’s findings in depth as did TV3’s Midday Show.
In print, the report was covered throughout all national newspapers, was front page of the Irish Times and featured in editorials, comment pieces and follow up features in a number of papers including the Irish Times.
- RTE, Morning Ireland, Friday July 18th, 2014 (scroll to 7.35)
- RTE News (radio news bulletins) and online, July 18th, 2014
- Newstalk, The Breakfast Show, Friday July 18th, 2014 (scroll to 51 mins)
- RTE News at One, Friday July 18th, 2014
- RTE Six One News, Friday July 18th, 2014
- RTE Radio 1, Drivetime, Friday July (News report at 35mins; interview at 1.48)
- RTE News, Friday July 18th, 2014
- Newstalk, The Right Hook, Friday July 18th, 2014 (scroll to 11.35)
- TV3, The Midday Show, July 21st, 2014 (scroll to 11.00 and 34.00 mins)
- Irish Times, July 18th, 2014
- Irish Times Editorial, July 21st, 2014
- Irish Times, Fintan O’Toole, July 22nd, 2014
- Irish Examiner, July 18th, 2014
- Irish Independent, July 18th, 2014
- TheJournal.ie, Friday July 18th, 2014
- TheJournal.ie Poll, Friday July 18th, 2014