Reading in the news - Fri 10 Apr

River warning signs: Dr Jess Neumann writes for  about the warning signs that indicate rivers are polluted.

Earliest 25°C day: BBC Radio Berkshire reported on observations from the Reading University Atmospheric Observatory that showed Wednesday, 8 April was the earliest temperatures have reached 25 °C on record.  featured comments from Dr Stephen Burt (Meteorology). From our expert comment: Reading experiences its earliest 25 °C day on record

Heritage and culture: 

, , , , , , ,  (republished by , , , and ), and more than 300 other outlets featured additional coverage of research by Dr Thomas Clements (Biological Sciences) about a fossil once thought to be the world’s oldest octopus. From our story: ‘Oldest octopus’ fossil is no octopus at all, scans reveal.

 featured an upcoming children’s book exhibition edited by Professor Sue Walker (Typography and Graphic Communications).

Health and wellbeing:

Professor Bhismadev Chakrabarti (Psychology and Clinical Language Sciences) was listed by  as a speaker at an upcoming talk about supporting autistic individuals. 

Food and farming:

A study co-authored by Dr Stephen Elmore (Food and Nutritional Sciences) is producing wheat with reduced levels of asparagine, a toxic compound, reports  and  (republished by and ).

Professor Gunter Kuhnle (Food and Nutritional Sciences) and Professor Parveen Yaqoob (Food and Nutritional Sciences) were quoted by  on a study about the effect of sweeteners on gut microbiomes. 

#PlanetPartners: working with global partners to protect the environment

Research by Dr Akshay Deoras (Meteorology) found Indian monsoon activity is increasing heatwaves, reports ,, , and .

Professor Andrew Charlton-Perez (Meteorology) was quoted by  on how weather forecasting played a role in the 72 hours before D-Day. From our expert comment: ‘Pressure film trailer hints at D-day forecast's true drama'

Business and society:

 mentioned Henley Business School research into creating effective team performances.

Dr Dominic Lees (Film, Theatre, and Television) was quoted by ,, and about AI use in India’s film industry.

An upcoming talk from Professor Rodney Jones (English Language and Applied Linguistics) on using AI in the workplace was featured by .

Other coverage:

 and  mentioned that student Ahmed Gilani will be taking part in the Futurebuild 2026 panel discussion.

 and  highlighted the performance of the University’s women’s rowing team in the recent British Universities and Colleges Championship Head.

Alumni:

 featured an upcoming exhibition from artist and Reading graduate Stella Sevastopoulos.

Environmental Science graduate Ty Murray was listed by  as a Green Party candidate for Popley.

 profiled Vivi Tycheropoulou, who studied Plant Biotechnology.