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Evidence of planetary debris surrounding a double sun, 'Tatooine-like' system has been found for the first time by a UCL-led team of researchers. Published today in Nature Astronomy and funded by the Science and Technology Facilities Council and the European Research Council, the study reports on the remains of shattered asteroids orbiting a double sun consisting of a white dwarf and a brown dwarf roughly 1000 light-years away in a system called SDSS 1557.

People who suffer long-term stress may also be more prone to obesity, according to research by scientists at UCL which involved examining hair samples for levels of cortisol, a hormone which regulates the body's response to stress. The paper, published in the journal Obesity , showed that exposure to higher levels of cortisol over several months is associated with people being more heavily, and more persistently, overweight.

New UCL research has found no link between cat ownership and psychotic symptoms, casting doubt on previous suggestions that people who grew up with cats are at higher risk of mental illness. Recent research has suggested that cat ownership might contribute to some mental disorders, because cats are the primary host of the common parasite Toxoplasma Gondii (T.

Evidence of chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a potential cause of dementia caused by repeated blows to the head, has been found in the brains of former association football (soccer) players examined at the UCL Queen Square Brain Bank. The study, funded by The Drake Foundation and published in the journal Acta Neuropathologica , looked at 14 retired footballers with dementia who were referred to the Old Age Psychiatry Service in Swansea, Wales, between 1980 and 2010.

Close friendships facilitate the exchange of information and culture, making social networks more effective for cultural transmission, according to new UCL research that used wireless tracking technology to map social interactions in remote hunter-gatherer populations. The research demonstrates how increased network efficiency is achieved through investment in a few strong links between non-kin friends connecting unrelated families, as well as showing that strong friendships are more important than family ties in predicting levels of shared knowledge among individuals.

E-cigarettes are less toxic and safer to use compared to conventional cigarettes, according to research published in Annals of Internal Medicine . Scientists at UCL found that people who swapped smoking regular cigarettes for e-cigarettes or nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) for at least six months, had much lower levels of toxic and cancer causing substances in their body than people who continued to use conventional cigarettes.

Antibiotics can still kill drug-resistant bacteria if they 'push' hard enough into bacterial cells, finds new UCL-led research funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. The study opens up a promising new way of overcoming antibiotic resistance and could help scientists to design even more effective drugs.

A new test for bladder cancer could enable GPs to test a urine sample and spare patients the discomfort of a cystoscopy in hospital, according to UCL research published today in Clinical Epigenetics. The test, called UroMark, has been developed by UCL researchers and uses cutting edge genomic sequencing to detect abnormal cancer DNA in a urine sample.

Scientists have discovered the gene essential for chemically reprogramming human amniotic stem cells into a more versatile state similar to embryonic stem cells, in research led by UCL and Heinrich Heine University. The finding is an important step towards deriving reprogrammed cells that could be stored and used in therapies and research, providing an ethical alternative to human embryonic stem cells.

A team led by UCL researchers has identified how HIV is able to infect macrophages, a type of white blood cell integral to the immune system, despite the presence of a protective protein. They discovered a treatment that can maintain macrophage defences which could be a key part of the puzzle of reaching a complete cure for HIV/AIDS.

When hospitalised, people can become acutely confused and disorientated. This condition, known as delirium, affects a quarter of older patients and new research by UCL and University of Cambridge shows it may have long-lasting consequences, including accelerating the dementia process. The study, published today in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, is the first to show the multiplying effects of delirium and dementia in these patients.

The global map of alien bird species has been produced for the first time by a UCL-led team of researchers. It shows that human activities are the main determinants of how many alien bird species live in an area but that alien species are most successful in areas already rich with native bird species.

The main changes in our brains as we get older are in the brain cells with a supporting role, called glial cells, British scientists have found. The surprising finding in a study by researchers at UCL and the Francis Crick Institute is published in the journal Cell Reports. The researchers also found that the greatest changes in glial cells as we age are in the brain regions most often damaged by neurodegenerative disease, like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

Flies with a history of eating a high sugar diet live shorter lives, even after their diet improves. This is because the unhealthy diet drives long-term reprogramming of gene expression, according to a UCL-led team of researchers. The study, published today in Cell Reports , discovered that the action of a gene called FOXO is inhibited in flies given a high sugar diet in early life, causing long-term effects.

A new model to predict when people are most likely to try different products has been developed by scientists at UCL and dunnhumby, a customer science company. The research could help to direct public health interventions aimed at encouraging healthier choices. The team analysed anonymous purchase data from over 280,000 shoppers who regularly bought products in six categories: beers, breads, coffees, toilet papers, washing detergents and yogurts.

UCL researchers have discovered a new genetic cause for dystonia, a movement disorder, enabling treatment with Deep Brain Stimulation which has been so successful that children have been able to walk again. The team of researchers from UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, University of Cambridge and the NIHR Rare Disease Bioresource have identified mutations in a gene, called KMT2B, in 28 patients with dystonia.

People who suffer neglect and abuse in childhood are much more likely to have time off work due to long-term sickness and less likely to own their own homes when they reach middle age than their peers, according to new research undertaken at UCL. The study, which is published in U.S. journal Pediatrics and undertaken as part of the Public Health Research Consortium, showed that the potential socioeconomic impact of child neglect and abuse may persist for decades.

Signs of powerful changing winds have been detected on an exoplanet 16 times larger than Earth, according to a team involving UCL scientists. It's the first time that weather systems have been found on a gas giant outside the solar system. Led by the University of Warwick, the researchers discovered that the gas giant HAT-P-7b, which is located over 1000 light years away, is affected by large scale changes in strong winds moving across the planet, likely leading to catastrophic storms.

How ice forms on the surfaces of mineral dust particles in the atmosphere has been revealed by a team from UCL and the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) in Germany. More than 90% of precipitation over land relies on the formation of ice crystals on airborne aerosol particles but why only a tiny fraction of all atmospheric particles can initiate ice growth is unknown.

Women with dementia have fewer visits to the GP, receive less health monitoring and take more potentially harmful medication than men with dementia, new UCL research reveals. The study, published in Age and Ageing, also found that only half of all dementia patients had a documented annual review even though GP surgeries are offered financial incentives to carry these out.