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UCL is a key partner in four of seven new centres announced by Health Data Research UK. The data hubs, to be set up across the UK from October this year, will speed up research for new medicines, treatments and health technologies to support quicker diagnosis and save lives. They will promote better use of health data by linking up different types of data and making it more easily accessible and user-friendly for research, while maintaining strict controls around data privacy and consent.

Some of the genes that predict the risk of high cholesterol don't apply to people from Uganda the same as they do in European populations, finds a new UCL-led study. The new  Nature Communications  study adds to evidence that genetic research involved in drug development and risk prediction testing might not apply equally to non-European populations.

People with gum disease (periodontitis) have a greater likelihood of high blood pressure (hypertension), according to a new UCL-led study. The meta-analysis of previous findings was published today in  Cardiovascular Research , a journal of the European Society of Cardiology. "We observed a linear association - the more severe periodontitis is, the higher the probability of hypertension," said senior author Professor Francesco D'Aiuto (UCL Eastman Dental Institute).

Digital computers use numbers based on flawed representations of real numbers, which may lead to inaccuracies when simulating the motion of molecules, weather systems and fluids, find UCL and Tufts University scientists. The study, published today in Advanced Theory and Simulations , shows that digital computers cannot reliably reproduce the behaviour of 'chaotic systems' which are widespread.

Modern humans evolved in Africa, and groups from all over the continent contributed to that process, so we should stop searching for a single point of origin, according to researchers led by UCL and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History. In a comment paper published in Nature Ecology and Evolution , the researchers argue that our evolutionary past must be understood as the outcome of dynamic changes in connectivity, or gene flow, between early humans scattered across Africa.

A memorandum of collaboration to be agreed by UCL and the European Space Agency (ESA) is one of the most comprehensive to date between ESA and a university and builds on existing close co-operation on missions to study space weather and other phenomena in space. The memorandum, due to be signed by Jan Woerner, Director General of ESA, and David Price, UCL Vice-Provost (Research), will cover a swathe of topics ranging from planetary science to space policy, governance and security.

Professor Mark Maslin (UCL Geography) writes about common climate change myths and explains how each can be disproven. The science of climate change is more than 150 years old and it is probably the most tested area of modern science. However the energy industry, political lobbyists and others have spent the last 30 years sowing doubt about the science where none really exists.

One of the most common antidepressants, sertraline, leads to an early reduction in anxiety symptoms, commonly found in depression, several weeks before any improvement in depressive symptoms, a UCL-led clinical trial has found. Published in The Lancet Psychiatry and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), this is the largest-ever placebo-controlled trial of an antidepressant, which has not been funded by the pharmaceutical industry.

Angelos Tsiaras (UCL Physics & Astronomy) writes about the methods used to discover water vapour in the atmosphere of K2-18 b, the first potentially habitable planet outside of our solar system. With more than 4,000 exoplanets - planets orbiting stars other than our sun - discovered so far, it may seem like we are on the cusp of finding out whether we are alone in the universe.

Professor Ruth Morgan (UCL Security and Crime Science) writes about the misinterpretation of forensic evidence and the issues that this causes for the criminal justice system. Imagine you're in court, accused of a crime that you know you didn't commit. Now imagine a scientist takes the stand and starts explaining to the court how your DNA is on the murder weapon.

Babies born by caesarean section have a reduced level of "good" gut bacteria and an increased number of pathogens linked to hospital environments, according to research co-led by UCL that is the most comprehensive study of the baby microbiome to date. In the study researchers analysed gut bacteria in stool samples taken from 596 babies born in British hospitals - 314 babies who had a natural, or vaginal, birth, and 282 who were born by caesarean.

The intensity of brain activity during the day, notwithstanding how long we've been awake, appears to increase our need for sleep, according to a new UCL study in zebrafish. The research, published in Neuron , found a gene that responds to brain activity in order to coordinate the need for sleep. It helps shed new light on how sleep is regulated in the brain.

Most British adults, including a majority of Leave voters, think existing EU rules would provide "enough control" over EU immigration, according to a UCL and University of Cambridge survey conducted by YouGov. Crucially, the survey revealed that few people are aware of restrictions the UK could enforce under existing EU free movement regulations.

Water vapour has been detected in the atmosphere of a super-Earth with habitable temperatures by UCL researchers in a world first. K2-18b, which is eight times the mass of Earth, is now the only planet orbiting a star outside the Solar System, or 'exoplanet', known to have both water and temperatures that could support life.

A dietary supplement, sarcosine, may help with schizophrenia as part of a holistic approach complementing antipsychotic medication, according to a UCL researcher. In an editorial published in the British Journal of Psychiatry , Professor David Curtis (UCL Genetics, Evolution & Environment and QMUL Centre for Psychiatry) suggests the readily available product could easily be incorporated into treatment plans, while calling for clinical trials to clarify the benefit and inform guidelines.

Using your feet like hands can cause organised 'hand-like' maps of the toes in the brain, never before documented in people, finds a new UCL-led study of two professional foot painters. These findings, published in Cell Reports , demonstrate an extreme example of how the human body map can change in response to experience.

One in five women report sex discrimination and these women are more likely to develop poorer mental health after the sexist experience, according to a new UCL study investigating links between sexism and mental health and wellbeing. The study, published today in Health Psychology, analysed data from nearly 3,000 women from T he UK Household Longitudinal Study (UKHLS) over a period of four years.

A close study of auroras has revealed new ways of understanding the physics of explosive energy releases in space, according to new UCL-led research. Auroras are an incredible light show caused by electrically charged particles in near-Earth space spiralling down Earth's magnetic field and colliding with gases in the atmosphere, causing them to glow.

A five-minute scan of blood vessels in the neck during mid-life could predict cognitive decline ten years before symptoms appear, claims new UCL research funded by the British Heart Foundation (BHF). The findings were presented at the AHA Scientific Sessions conference in Chicago. If confirmed in larger studies, the scan could become part of routine screening programme for people at risk of developing dementia.

Prospective students Current students Vaccinia virus, a poxvirus closely related to smallpox and monkeypox, tricks cells it has infected into activating their own cell movement mechanism to rapidly spread the virus in cells and mice, according to a new UCL-led study. The findings explain how the virus mimics infected cells' own proteins to kick-start the signalling pathway enabling the cell to move around.