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A mechanism that cells use to group together and move around the body - called 'chase and run' - has been described for the first time by scientists at UCL. Published , the new study focuses on the process that occurs when cancer cells interact with healthy cells in order to migrate around the body during metastasis.

Scientists at UCL have developed new technology which reveals that blood pressure measured close to the heart is much higher during sleep than previously thought. Night time blood pressure is a strong predictor of both heart disease and stroke, with previous studies establishing that blood pressure measured over the arm falls at night during sleep.

Women at a particular stage in their monthly menstrual cycle may be more vulnerable to some of the psychological side-effects associated with stressful experiences, according to a study from UCL. The results suggest a monthly window of opportunity that could potentially be targeted in efforts to prevent common mental health problems developing in women.

With just a few days of non-harmful brain stimulation and brain training, scientists have improved people's ability to manipulate numbers for up to six months. In new research, scientists at the University of Oxford and UCL suggest that applying non-invasive stimulation, called transcranial random noise stimulation (TRNS), to the brain can improve its function.

Using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and blood tests to establish the cause of death in fetuses and newborn babies is virtually as accurate as a standard autopsy, according to a paper published in The Lancet . The study, led by Dr Sudhin Thayyil and Professor Andrew Taylor of UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital, found that full-body MRI scans combined with non-invasive investigations were as effective as a standard autopsy in detecting major abnormalities that led to a young child's death.

Almost a quarter of jurors (23 per cent) are unclear about the rules surrounding internet use during a trial, according to preliminary research led by Professor Cheryl Thomas (UCL Laws).

Different brain areas are activated when we choose for ourselves to suppress an emotion, compared to situations where we are instructed to inhibit an emotion, according a new study from the UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience and Ghent University. In this study, published in Brain Structure and Function , the researchers scanned the brains of healthy participants and found that key brain systems were activated when choosing for oneself to suppress an emotion.

An international team led by researchers at the UCL Institute of Neurology has identified a set of tests that could help identify whether - and how - Huntington's disease (HD) is progressing in groups of people who are not yet showing symptoms. The latest findings from the TRACK-HD study are published in The Lancet Neurology and could be used to assess whether potential new treatments are slowing the disease up to 10 years before the development of noticeable symptoms.

When children with conduct problems see images of others in pain, key parts of their brains under-react, according to new research published today in Current Biology. The study, led by researchers at the UCL Division of Psychology and Language Sciences, found these children show reduced responses in three areas of the brain associated with empathy for pain when looking at pictures of others in pain.

The behaviour of seabirds during migration - including patterns of foraging, rest and flight - has been revealed in new detail using novel computational analyses and tracking technologies. Using a new method called 'ethoinformatics', described as the application of computational methods in the investigation of animal behaviour, scientists have been able to analyse three years of migration data gathered from miniature tracking devices attached to the small seabird the Manx Shearwater ( Puffinus puffinus ).

Predicting the winner of a sporting event with accuracy close to that of a statistical computer programme could be possible with proper training, according to researchers. In a study published today, experiment participants who had been trained on statistically idealised data vastly improved their ability to predict the outcome of a baseball game.

Light drinking during pregnancy is not linked to adverse behavioural or cognitive outcomes in childhood, suggests a new study published today. Authors of the study, from UCL Epidemiology & Public Health, collated data from the Millennium Cohort Study, a national study of infants born in the UK between 2000-2002, to assess whether light drinking (up to two units of alcohol per week) in pregnancy was linked to unfavourable developmental outcomes in 7-year-old children.

Scientists have discovered how bacteria transport the tiny hair-like strands, called pili, which cover their outer surface from the inside of the cell, where they are assembled, to the exterior. Pili are a key target for a new generation of antibiotics, as without them the bacteria are unable to group together and to stick to human cells causing infection.

A huge pool of warm water that stretched out from Indonesia over to Africa and South America four million years ago suggests climate models might be too conservative in forecasting tropical changes.Present in the Pliocene era, this giant mass of water would have dramatically altered rainfall in the tropics, possibly even removing the monsoon.

By introducing individual silicon atom 'defects' using a scanning tunnelling microscope, scientists at the London Centre for Nanotechnology have coupled single atoms to form quantum states. , the study demonstrates the viability of engineering atomic-scale quantum states on the surface of silicon - an important step toward the fabrication of devices at the single-atom limit.

Childhood body weight is strongly influenced by genes according to new research published today in the International Journal of Obesity . Previous research has shown that obesity runs in families, and twin studies suggest that this is largely due to genetic factors, with heritability estimates over 50%.

A dedicated team of intensive care doctors, nurses and scientists are taking over 200 people to the Himalayas to study how our bodies respond to low levels of oxygen. Researchers from UCL Centre for Altitude, Space and Extreme Environment Medicine (CASE) will lead the team on a trek to three locations in the Himalayas: Everest Base Camp, Namche Bazaar and Kathmandu.

New research, published in Neuron , gives insight into how single mutations in the VCP gene cause a range of neurological conditions including a form of dementia called Inclusion Body Myopathy, Paget's Disease of the Bone and Frontotemporal Dementia (IBMPFD), and the motor neuron disease Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS).

Archeologists have found that the original Stonehenge was a graveyard for a community of elite families built 500 years earlier than the site we know today. The new discovery has finally solved many of the mysteries surrounding Stonehenge, overturning the accepted view on construction and use of our greatest prehistoric monument.

Bowel cancer cells missing one of three genes can rapidly reshuffle their genetic 'pack of cards' - the chromosomes that hold the cell's genetic information. This reshuffling has been previously shown to render tumours more resistant to treatment. New research shows that this genetic 'card trick' can be caused by the deletion of three genes found on one particular chromosome, a region known as '18q'.