science wire

In a piece published by The Conversation, Professor Haim Yacobi (Bartlett Development Planning Unit at UCL) and Dr Irit Katz, from the University of Cambridge, argue that the tools of urban planning are being used to reinforce Israeli dominance of a contested city.

As pressure mounts on the UK prime minister, Boris Johnson, members of his party are considering their options.

Smaller nurseries in England are being bought up by profit-focused companies, without necessarily creating more places or investing more in staff, according to a major new study led by UCL researchers.

The UK public want politicians who are honest, have integrity, and operate within the rules, over and above delivering outcomes, finds a new report by the UCL Constitution Unit.

For the second time in its mission so far, the Sun-observing spacecraft Solar Orbiter has flown through the tail of a comet, generating a wealth of science data - helped by an early prediction of the event by a UCL PhD researcher. For several days in mid-December, the European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft - which carries instruments designed and built at UCL - found itself flying through the ion tail of Comet C/2021 A1 Leonard, analysing particles from the comet and the way its tail interacted with the solar wind.

In an age of ubiquitous disinformation and misinformation, it is no longer enough for governments simply to hint at having intelligence in support of their claims, says Professor Mark Galeotti (UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies).

The main approach used to teach young children how to read in England needs urgent reform and does not follow the most robust evidence, say UCL academics who have led work on the most comprehensive paper ever published about teaching phonics and reading.

A well designed policy could have huge benefits for both the climate and the country involved, says Professor Michael Grubb (UCL Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources).

Children are not learning to read as effectively as they should be as the current method is not underpinned by the latest robust evidence, say Professor Dominic Wyse and Professor Alice Bradbury (both IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education & Society).

Renewables and nuclear make up half of UK power but a new market that cuts energy bills at the same time as decarbonising the system is needed, says Professor Michael Grubb (UCL Bartlett School of Environment, Energy & Resources).

Machine learning company, Rahko, has been bought by US-based biotechnology firm, Odyssey Therapeutics, in a move that will bring together artificial intelligence and drug-discovery software to improve medical development for patients with cancer and inflammatory diseases.

People feel frustrated, dissatisfied and concerned about how democracy is working in the UK today, according to a UK-wide citizens' assembly, hosted by UCL.

Managing the mosquito population is increasingly important as infections related to the insect are expected to rise due to climate change, argue Professor Joerg Albert, Dr Alex Alampounti (both UCL Ear Institute) and PhD candidate Marcos Georgiades (UCL division of Biosciences).

A new CAR T-cell therapy developed by scientists at UCL has fewer 'toxic' side-effects and is more durable, targeting and killing cancer cells for longer, concludes a Phase I clinical trial of patients at University College London Hospitals (UCLH).

Sign up for an online Town Hall on Monday 17 January 2022, 2.30-4pm.

The UK's Covid-19 Alert Level system* is close to meaningless to the public and adds to confusion about what people should or shouldn't be doing, according to a new report by UCL researchers.

Switching from cigarettes to heated tobacco lowers levels of exposure to harmful chemicals but more evidence is needed, say PhD candidate Harry Tattan-Birch, Professor Jamie Brown (both UCL Epidemiology & Health) and Professor Jamie Hartmann-Boyce (University of Oxford).

The changes made to our urban environments as a result of Covid-19 may help us to tackle other crises, argue Visiting Professor Dan Hill (UCL Institute for Innovation & Public Purpose) and Professor Michele Acuto (University of Melbourne).