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Nineteen out of 34 countries surveyed failed to fully meet their 2020 climate commitments set 15 years ago in Copenhagen, according to a new study led by UCL researchers. The study, published in Nature Climate Change , compared the actual net carbon emissions of more than 30 nations to their 2009 pledged emission reduction targets set during the Copenhagen Climate Summit.

Important differences in how the nasal cells of young and elderly people respond to the SARS-CoV-2 virus, could explain why children typically experience milder COVID-19 symptoms, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL and the Wellcome Sanger Institute. The study, published in Nature Microbiology , focused on the early effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the cells first targeted by the viruses, the human nasal epithelial cells (NECs).

Examining the immune cells in the environment around a tumour could help to predict how a person's cancer might progress and respond to treatment, according to new research led by UCL and the Francis Crick Institute. The study, published in Cancer Discovery and reported at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024, is part of the Rubicon project, which aims to create a detailed map of lung cancer immunology to speed up the development of new treatments.

The Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) collaboration, led by the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in the US and involving UCL researchers, has made the most precise measurements to date of how fast the universe has expanded throughout its history. The analysis, based on the largest 3D map of the cosmos ever created with just the first year of data from DESI, confirms the basics of our current best model of the universe - with some tantalising areas to explore with more data.

Comment: Measuring emotional 'emptiness' could help manage a potentially life-threatening experience Dr Shona Herron (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) explains the experience of emotional 'emptiness' and how we should measure it in The Conversation. Imagine a hollowness deep in your chest, a vacant space where feelings should be.

Smaller and newer homes use less energy than larger, older ones, confirms a new report by UCL researchers that offers unique insights into household energy consumption across the country. The report, published by UCL's Smart Energy Research Lab (SERL), analysed the gas and electricity use of more than 13,000 representative households across Great Britain over two years.

Humans pass on more viruses to domestic and wild animals than we catch from them, according to a major new analysis of viral genomes by UCL researchers. For the new paper published in Nature Ecology & Evolution , the team analysed all publicly available viral genome sequences, to reconstruct where viruses have jumped from one host to infect another vertebrate species.

Britons are five times more likely to say Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) initiatives are welcome rather than not, finds new research from UCL, More in Common and University of Oxford. Following a major cross-party policy roundtable hosted at UCL Policy Lab, the report Finding a Balance, shows that EDI initiatives command greater public support when they are rooted in people's everyday experiences.

People in lower socioeconomic positions throughout their lives have a higher risk of developing mild cognitive impairment by the age of 50, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL. The study, published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Global Health , found that individuals who moved upward or downward in terms of their socioeconomic position were also at a higher risk of impairment compared to those who maintained a constant higher socioeconomic status.

E-cigarette users with a limited smoking history experience similar DNA changes to specific cheek cells as smokers, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL and University of Innsbruck. This study is an incremental step in helping researchers to build a deeper understanding of the long-term effects of e-cigarettes on health.

Focusing on rare conditions could significantly reduce the burden of kidney disease on both patients and the NHS, according to a major new study led by UCL and the UK Kidney Association. The study, published in The Lancet to mark World Kidney Day, draws on the largest rare kidney disease dataset ever created.

A team of astronomers including UCL's Professor Paola Pinilla have conducted one of the largest ever surveys of planet-forming discs, shedding new light on the fascinating and complex process of planet formation. The research, published in three new papers in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics , brings together observations of more than 80 young stars that might have planets forming around them, providing astronomers with a wealth of data and unique insights into how planets arise in different regions of our galaxy.

One in seven adults who smoke in Great Britain report using menthol-flavoured cigarettes despite UK legislation that aimed to curb their use, according to a new study by UCL researchers. The study, published in the journal Tobacco Control and part-funded by Cancer Research UK, looked at survey responses from 66,868 adults in England, Wales and Scotland between October 2020, five months after the ban was introduced, and March 2023.

A UCL-led research team has used artificial intelligence (AI) techniques to infer the influence and properties of dark energy more precisely from a map of dark and visible matter in the Universe covering the last seven billion years. The study, carried out by the Dark Energy Survey collaboration, doubled the precision at which key characteristics of the Universe, including the overall density of dark energy, could be inferred from the map.

A new study involving UCL researchers has found that better prostate cancer treatments could reach men almost two years earlier than is currently possible. Currently, it takes around 10 years for new treatments to be studied in large-scale trials. However, the new research showed that the length of time a man lives without his cancer progressing - known as progression-free survival - reasonably predicts how long he will eventually live ('overall survival').

Adults who had amblyopia ('lazy eye') in childhood are more likely to experience hypertension, obesity, and metabolic syndrome in adulthood, as well as an increased risk of heart attack, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. In publishing the study in eClinicalMedicine , the authors stress that while they have identified a correlation, their research does not show a causal relationship between amblyopia and ill health in adulthood.

A new psychological treatment for children with epilepsy, developed by a UCL-led team of scientists, has been shown to reduce mental health difficulties compared to standard care, a new study finds. Mental health problems such as worries, low mood and behaviour problems are more common in children and young people with brain conditions such as epilepsy, than in the general population - with up to 60% of those with epilepsy having associated mental health disorders and many having more than one mental health condition.

Researchers at UCL and UCLH have successfully completed the first trial of a therapy designed to restore hearing loss. The REGAIN trial, the results of which were published in Nature Communications , was the first study of a treatment aimed at restoring lost hearing, focusing on a drug with the technical name gamma secretase inhibitor LY3056480.

A pioneering approach, developed by researchers at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH), means human development can be observed in late pregnancy for the first time, raising the possibility of monitoring and treating congenital conditions before birth. The study, published in Nature Medicine , documents the first time that complex cell models, called organoids, have been grown from human stem cells during an active pregnancy.

People at risk of Alzheimer's disease have impaired spatial navigation prior to problems with other cognitive functions, including memory, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The research, published in Alzheimer's & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer's Association , used virtual reality to test the spatial navigation of 100 asymptomatic midlife adults, aged 43-66, from the PREVENT-Dementia prospective cohort study.