science wire

This week Jayant, Professor of Surgery and Oncology at UCL Division of Surgery, shares the story of how he helped to develop a pioneering new treatment for breast cancer, which is featured as a case study in UCL's latest REF submission.

A UK-first report into the state of pregnancy medicine, which was co-commissioned by Professor Anna David (UCL EGA Institute for Women's Health), has proposed a clear roadmap to help reduce the high number of needless newborn deaths and improve maternal health.

A major success of the UK's COVID-19 response has been the use of up-to-date, publicly available data - now this approach must be widened to tackle the indirect and long-term effects of the pandemic, according to a new study by a UK-wide team led by a UCL researcher. COVID-19 has had a disastrous impact on hospital waiting lists in the UK.

Nearly nine out of 10 (86%) people in the UK want self-driving vehicles to be labelled so they can be clearly distinguished from human-driven vehicles, according to a major new survey led by UCL researchers. The research team surveyed 4,860 members of the British public in late 2021 about their attitudes to self-driving vehicles.

The diversity seen in whale skulls was achieved through three key periods of rapid evolution, reveals a new study led by researchers at UCL and the Natural History Museum. The study, published in Current Biology , gathered the most expansive 3D scan data set ever for Cetacea (whale) skulls spanning 88 living species (representing 95% of extant cetacean species) and 113 fossil species and covering 50 million years of evolution.

Thank you to everyone who participated in My UCL Experience, our all-staff survey, last month and for providing such thoughtful and informative feedback. Your views are immensely valuable in helping us understand how you feel about working at UCL right now and in identifying ways we can improve your experience of working at UCL.

The Government has removed the remaining domestic COVID-19 restrictions in England - find out about our updated advice for living safely with respiratory infections including COVID-19.

UK and international representatives from civil society and beyond are calling on the UK Government to better support refugees coming from Ukraine, in a report by UCL experts for the Independent Anti-Slavery Commissioner (IASC).

Pupils who feel particularly joyful do not do any better in their GCSEs than their peers who do not feel as happy, according to UCL research led by Professor John Jerrim. The peer-reviewed study, published in Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy and Practice, analysed data from 4,000 pupils aged 15 and 16 in England from PISA (Programme of International Assessment) 2018.

An overhaul of how legal services are regulated in England and Wales is needed to better protect consumers and ensure more people can access legal services, according to a new report prepared by Stephen Mayson, Honorary Professor of Law at UCL.

The intergenerational mental health consequences of the Windrush scandal on Caribbean and Black African families in the UK will be explored in a new project launched by UCL academic Dr Rochelle Burgess and social commentator and historian, Professor Patrick Vernon OBE.

The world may be facing a devastating "hidden" collapse in insect species due to the twin threats of climate change and habitat loss according to new research by Dr Tim Newbold and Dr Charlie Outhwaite (UCL Biosciences) Insects are critical to the future of our planet. They help to keep pest species under control and break down dead material to release nutrients into the soil.

The intergenerational mental health consequences of the Windrush scandal on Caribbean and Black African families in the UK will be explored in a new project launched by UCL academic Dr Rochelle Burgess and social commentator and historian, Professor Patrick Vernon OBE.

Scientists at UCL will examine what impact spaceflight has on the health of kidneys, as part of a unique collaboration with researchers at KBR and NASA's Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, supported by funding from the UK Space Agency.

The new power security strategy does little to help people or the planet writes Professor Jim Watson (UCL Bartlett School Environment, Energy & Resources).

Private school pupils in England do not tend to report better mental health or greater life satisfaction in early adulthood than their state-educated peers, according to UCL-led research. The research team analysed data collected from over 7,700 participants taking part in Next Steps, a longitudinal cohort study run by the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, which has been following the lives of a group of people in England, born in 1989-90, since secondary school.

The new IPCC report offers not only hope, but practical solutions. Governments that have signed off on it must now act, says Professor Simon Lewis (UCL Geography).

'Dissatisfied', 'frustrated' and 'let down' are words summing up how most people feel about the UK's democracy today, finds an in-depth report from UCL and the UK's leading public participation charity, Involve.

Only children can manage the emotional and psychological demands of caring just as well as those who share duties with siblings, according to UCL researchers.