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What the papers say..

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The findings of a study by Jennifer Platt (GRCiSS) into the experiences of Hungarian refugees were reported in the Higher (1 November). The study focusses on the experiences of 297 refugees, many of them intellectuals, of whom 81 fled to Britain after the Soviet invasion. It found that their experiences differed from the standard models of intellectual migration inasmuch as many were readily assimilated into British life and moved successfully into professional careers. Contributing to this success, was the fact that many of the refugees were well qualified. Also most were young. According to Jennifer Platt, people had only about theee weeks to get out of Hungary "... it was very difficult for anyone with ties in the country to go. So the group was very skewed to young males."

Eyes are the windows on the mind. At least that is the verdict of a recent article in the Independent on Sunday (3 November) which looks at research into eye movements and how we see. The article cites the well-known work of Mike Land (Biols) into the relationship between where drivers look and where they steer, and also the work of other members of his team into the eye movements of pianists and table tennis players. According to Mike Land, tracking the eye movements of people carrying out such specific tasks is new and fascinating territory. "In every skilled action, we tend to concentrate on motor activity - steering or playing table tennis. But there's a whole other strategy we have to learn about which we know nothing. There is an intermediate level of getting information - the interaction between eye and brain - which has a world of its own. That, to me is the most exciting part of this work."

In a recent report in the Daily Mail (4 November) Erik Millstone (SPRU) takes issue with NutraSweet Kelco, the makers of a widely used articifical sweetener. The company rejects as "bad science", recent research linking the low calorie sweetener, aspartame, to brain tumours. But, according to Erik Millstone, "The prudent course of action would be at the very least to advise people to reduce or avoid consuming aspartame...If this is allowed to remain on the market there should be a lot more research in independent laboratories."

An article in the Daily Telegraph (5 November) looks at the development of noise cancellation technology and car manufacturers' strenuous efforts to find ways of reducing, or even eliminating engine noise. Apparently in their attempts to improve quality they are turning to psychoacoustics, which presents a new challenge for this emerging field of physiological research into hearing and psychology. "It's a small field" as Chris Plack (BIOLS) explains in the article. "In Britain only Sussex, Cambridge and Nottingham universities have any psychoacousticians. One of the main applications is hearing-aid design, although there have been studies looking at sounds that irritate people."

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Friday November 22nd 1996