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International scientists are one step closer to answering the most fundamental question of our existence, 'why are we here'', as part of a global collaboration involving UCL researchers. The Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is led by scientists at CERN, Switzerland and Fermilab, USA, and is dedicated to unlocking the mysteries of neutrinos, the most abundant and most mysterious matter particles in the universe.

Intergenerational power relations may be just as important as male-female power relations for women's economic empowerment, according to new UCL research. The study, published in  World Development , was conducted in rural Nepal where mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law often have fraught relationships, as their survival and well-being depend on gaining favour with male family members.

Humans did not accelerate the decline of the 'Green Sahara' and may have managed to hold back the onset of the Sahara desert by around 500 years, according to new research led by UCL. The study by a team of geographers and archaeologists from UCL and King's College London, published , suggests that early pastoralists in North Africa combined detailed knowledge of the environment with newly domesticated species to deal with the long-term drying trend.

A unique source of stem cells in blood helps to build blood vessels according to new UCL-led research with mouse embryos. The findings change scientific understanding of how blood vessels are made and bring scientists one step closer to using stem cells to grow new blood vessels and repair damaged ones.

A diet of fruits, vegetables, nuts, plant-based food and fish, typical of a traditional Mediterranean diet, could help lower depression risk, according to new research from UCL. The study, published today in Molecular Psychiatry , is a comprehensive, systematic overview of the current evidence regarding a link between the quality of people's diets and the risk of depression.

Researchers at UCL Cancer Institute have shown for the first time that immune cells found within the urine mirror those found in cancerous bladder tumours. This discovery could potentially help doctors to track patient responses to bladder cancer treatment in the future, in a quick and easy way with a urine test.

The ears of male mosquitoes amplify the sound of an approaching female using a self-generated phantom tone that mimics the female's wingbeats, which increases the ear's acoustic input by a factor of up to 45,000, finds a new UCL-led study. The researchers were studying disease-carrying mosquitoes, and hope their findings, published , could help design acoustic lures to control the spread of deadly diseases.

A new outbreak of a rare but preventable eye infection that can cause blindness, has been identified in contact lens wearers in a new study led by UCL and Moorfields Eye Hospital researchers. The research team found a threefold increase in Acanthamoeba keratitis since 2011 in South-East England. Reusable contact lens wearers with the eye infection are more likely to have used an ineffective contact lens solution, have contaminated their lenses with water or reported poor contact lens hygiene, according to the findings published today in the British Journal of Ophthalmology .

Land-based bird populations are becoming confined to nature reserves in some parts of the world - raising the risk of global extinction - due to the loss of suitable habitat, according to a report led by UCL. Researchers analysed biodiversity in the area known as Sundaland, which covers the peninsula of Thailand, Borneo, Malaysia, Sumatra, Java and Bali, one of the world's most biologically degraded regions.

A lack of understanding of the important role of wasps in the ecosystem and economy is a fundamental reason why they are universally despised whereas bees are much loved, according to UCL-led research. Both bees and wasps are two of humanity's most ecologically and economically important organisms. They both pollinate our flowers and crops, but wasps also regulate populations of crop pests and insects that carry human diseases.

Medication use to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has significantly increased across the world, however prescription rates are still far below diagnosis rates in most Western countries, a major new study co-led by UCL has found. This study, published in the journal Lancet Psychiatry , provides the most comprehensive analysis yet of trends in ADHD medication use.

People who are more emotionally stable spend more during the Christmas season, while those who are high in neuroticism spend less, according to new research by UCL and Northwestern University. Those with more artistic interests, more active imaginations and who are more open minded spend less, whereas those who are more conscientious, plan ahead and are organised spend more in the lead-up to Christmas.

A simple blood test can detect the earliest changes caused by Huntington's disease, even before scans can pick up any signs in the brain, a new UCL-led study has found. The study, published today in Science Translational Medicine , builds on recent evidence by the same research team, which found that a novel blood test can predict the onset and track the progression of the disease in people who carry the gene responsible for the incurable and fatal brain disorder.

The academic advantages associated with a faith school education are short lived, and are mainly explained by home background, new research from UCL shows. UCL Institute of Education (IOE) researchers analysed data on more than 10,000 people born in England and Wales in a single week in 1970, who are taking part in the 1970 British Cohort Study.

The proportion of children and young people saying they have a mental health condition has grown six fold in England over two decades and has increased significantly across the whole of Britain in recent years, finds a new study co-led by UCL researchers. In 1995, just 0.8% of 4-24 year olds in England reported a long-standing mental health condition.

The biggest ever trial for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) in the UK has begun under UCL research leadership. With around 30 sites across the UK and Ireland, the MS-STAT2 trial will involve 1,180 people with SPMS - a form of the condition that currently has little effective treatment.

People who are more emotionally stable spend more during the Christmas season, while those who are high in neuroticism spend less, according to new research by UCL and Northwestern University. Those with more artistic interests, more active imaginations and who are more open minded spend less, whereas those who are more conscientious, plan ahead and are organised spend more in the lead-up to Christmas.

The brains of professional beatboxers and guitarists respond to music differently when compared to each other and non-musicians, finds a new UCL-led study. The study, published in Cerebral Cortex and funded by Wellcome, sheds light on how learning and making music can affect mental processes. The researchers found that the area of the brain that controls mouth movements was particularly active when beatboxers listened to a previously unheard beatboxing track, while the 'hand area' of the guitarists' brains showed heightened activity when they listened to guitar playing.

One in seven operations in UK hospitals are cancelled on the day of surgery, a new study led by the UCL Surgical Outcomes Research Centre and the Royal College of Anaesthetists. Published in the  British Journal of Anaesthesia , the study looked at 26,171 inpatient operations scheduled to take place between 21 and 27 March 2017, in 245 NHS hospitals across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Children living in greener urban neighbourhoods may have better spatial working memory, according to new research by UCL Institute of Education (IOE). Spatial working memory is a measure of how effective people are at orientation and recording information about their environment. It enables us to navigate through a city or remember the position of objects and is strongly inter-related with attentional control.