Author: Rhys Gregory

Developing friendlier and more sociable robots, 40 years of Welsh language television, and historical myths about the human body are some of the subjects set to engage audiences at the 35th Hay Festival. Three Aberystwyth University academics will feature in the programme for this year’s festival, as part of the University’s ongoing partnership with the prestigious cultural and literary event. The world’s leading festival of ideas, Hay Festival 2022 will bring readers and writers together in sustainable events to inspire, examine and entertain from 26 May–5 June in Hay-on-Wye. In his talk ‘Social Computers and Conversational Robots: Imagining a new path towards…

The National Library of Wales’ chief executive and librarian Pedr ap Llwyd has been elected a Fellow of the Learned Society of Wales, the national academy for arts and sciences. Pedr is one of 66 newly elected Fellows, half of them women, which the society says show that Wales has the solutions to many of today’s challenges. Specialisms run from aerospace engineering to the history of African Europeans, ceramic microstructures to the Baroque violin, women in surgery to the National Trust and much else in between. Pedr said: “It is a privilege to be elected as a Fellow of the Learned…

Swansea BID (Business Improvement District) are bringing Rioja Day back to Swansea. Originally launched in 2018, the relaunch will take place on 9th June 2022. Bringing a little taste of Spain to Swansea, people joining the celebrations can expect much of what Beaujolais Day was in its early days. Rioja Day will provide local businesses an additional opportunity to come together every year. Swansea BID Chief Executive, Russell Greenslade said, “We have relaunched Rioja Day to complement Beaujolais Day and give the business community an additional opportunity to come together and experience the beating heart of the city. There are…

Individuals and teams across Wales have been recognised for their achievements and innovations in cancer services over the last two years with the announcement of the shortlist for the Moondance Cancer Awards. Moondance Cancer Initiative exists to find, fund and fuel brilliant people and brave ideas to make Wales a world leader in cancer survival. The awards aim to celebrate and spotlight people across NHS Wales and its partners who have maintained and innovated cancer services despite the extraordinary circumstances of the last two years. A total of 125 nominations were received, which have been shortlisted down to 62 organisations,…

As part of International Nurses Day 2022, we’ve spoken to Kelly Howell, a University of South Wales (USW) nursing graduate, about continuing her studies after a shock diagnosis. Over Christmas 2018, Kelly Howell from Bridgend, discovered a lump in her breast. She was studying to qualify as a Health Visitor at USW and was approaching the final leg of the course. Kelly was referred as an urgent case and, within a fortnight, had met her oncologist who diagnosed HER2 triple positive breast cancer – a very aggressive form so she needed to start treatment immediately, much to her and her…

THE house price surge is set to fall away as the cost of living crisis bites, a leading property association warned today. New figures recently revealed the average asking prices of a house in Britain has hit a new record of £360,000. According to RightMove the median asking price has surged by £19,082 over the past three months, reaching £360,101. Some 53% of properties are selling at or over their final advertised asking price, the highest percentage Rightmove said it had ever seen. Properties are achieving 98.9% of their final advertised asking price on average and the time taken to…

Generations of surfers know there’s nothing like catching the perfect wave, but now new research has looked at just how beneficial the power of the sea can be. The Swansea University study examined how a group of adults living with the consequences of acquired brain injury benefited from group-based surf therapy on the Gower coast. Lead researcher final year PhD student Katie Gibbs said: “Nature has long demonstrated the capacity to facilitate wellbeing. Increasingly interventions involving the natural environment are used to help aspects of wellbeing in clinical populations. “But we wanted to find out how nature-based interventions such as…

Who doesn’t love a good movie car chase? The good guy chasing the bad guy. The police in hot pursuit of the main protagonist. And of course, the “that would never happen in real life” feats of driving skill. But what about the rules of the road? Which of our favourite film car chases are in fact the most illegal? Brand new research by PassMeFast reveals the most dangerous car chases from the movies, according to an in-depth analysis of more than 70 of the most popular films with impressive chase scenes. The famous seven-minute car chase from 1971 Oscar-winning…

This week, BBC Children in Need Schools Ambassador, Joe Wicks visited school children at Howardian Primary Schoolin Cardiff as part of BBC Children in Need’s Thank You Tour to celebrate the fundraising efforts of schools across the UK following the charity’s 2021 Appeal in November. During the visit, Joe met with school children to find out more about their fundraising in 2021, and what fundraising they plan to do to support the charity’s 2022 Appeal. As part of the visit, Joe also led a mind and body fitness workout for children and teachers to help encourage positive mental wellbeing. For…

Gemma Grainger’s Cymru will take on New Zealand, next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup hosts, in an international challenge match on Tuesday 28 June (KO 18:00 BST) in the Pinatar Arena in Spain. The two sides last met in June 2019, when a Kayleigh Green goal secured the 1-0 win for Cymru in drizzly conditions at the Leckwith Stadium in Cardiff. The match will see a return to south-east Spain for Grainger’s side, after competing in the 2022 Pinatar Cup in February. New Zealand, ranked 22nd in the world, will be hosting next year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup alongside Australia.…