science wire

A £2.8 million grant to combat health inequalities in patients having major surgery has been awarded to a team of clinicians and researchers at UCL and UCLH.

More than one million people a year are now being referred by GPs to social prescribing services, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL.

Writing in The Conversation, Dr Alexander Piel (UCL Anthropology) explains how wild mushrooms may have been a key part of the diets of early humans and primates - and highlights their significance for ecology and evolution.

A global clinical trial for a new Huntington's disease treatment has posted positive results today, announced by trial sponsor uniQure and UCL scientists.

Storing renewable energy in large batteries to help balance the energy market is technically feasible at large scale across the UK and EU, but it needs to overcome financial challenges affecting its long-term business viability, finds a new study by UCL researchers.

World-leading Alzheimer's disease experts, including UCL scientists, are calling for rapid reform in healthcare systems, public policy, and societal attitudes, in order to fully realise the potential of groundbreaking new medications.

Writing in The Conversation, Dr Irini Mavrou (UCL Institute of Education) explains how bilinguals tend to make different decisions depending on which language they use - impacting their responses to emotional decisions, rational arguments and moral dilemmas.

Children from disadvantaged backgrounds who show strong mathematical ability at primary school don't progress at the same rate as their equally skilled but more advantaged peers, finds a UCL study, raising social mobility concerns, particularly among underprivileged white boys.

A spinout co-founded by a UCL professor has built the world's first full-stack quantum computer made with the same silicon chip technology that is used in laptops and phones.

The UK could lose some of its existing renewable energy capacity in two years' time when financial support for wind farms and other renewables starts to run out, unless key changes are made to how the energy market is managed, finds new analysis by UCL researchers.

School meals, provided for free by governments around the world, could be used to curb global hunger and promote a sustainable global food system, finds a new study by UCL researchers.

The majority (64%) of young adults in Britain say they have experienced mental health difficulties, with a third (32%) expecting to need support in the coming year, according to polling commissioned from YouGov by UCL's Grand Challenge of Mental Health & Wellbeing.

A novel treatment for Leber's Hereditary Optic Neuropathy (LHON), a rare genetic disease that can lead to sudden loss of vision, has been approved for NHS patients following a successful clinical trial co-led by UCL and Moorfields researcher.

Implementing artificial intelligence (AI) into NHS hospitals is far harder than initially anticipated, with complications around governance, harmonisation with old IT systems and finding the right AI tools and staff training, finds a major new UK study led by UCL researchers. The authors of the study, published in  The Lancet eClinicalMedicine , say the findings should provide timely and useful learning for the UK Government, whose recent 10-year NHS plan identifies digital transformation, including AI, as a key platform to improving the service and patient experience.

Improved pay for NHS staff is important to prevent high numbers leaving the service, according to new data from UCL and University of Leicester researchers.

Children growing up in British cities face barriers to safe, playable spaces as financial constraints, policy misalignment and housing pressures cause planners to prioritise property over parks, finds a new study by researchers at UCL and Bradford Institute for Health Research.

A major UCL-led clinical trial, aiming to transform the diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease through a simple blood test, is now welcoming its first participants who will be recruited via memory clinics across the UK.

A quicker, cheaper MRI scan was just as accurate at diagnosing prostate cancer as the current 30-40 minute scan and should be rolled out to make MRI scans more accessible to men who need one, according to clinical trial results led by UCL, UCLH and the University of Birmingham.

The first new UK-wide long-term scientific study of babies and child development in a quarter of a century will be led by researchers at the UCL Centre for Longitudinal Studies.

Writing for The Conversation, Dr Eleftheria Kodosaki (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology) explains how a new test could help to diagnose memory issues associated with Alzheimer's disease in as little as three minutes.

Five researchers from UCL have been appointed to leading roles in the United Nation's next major climate assessment report, drawing on their expertise in climate science, governance, finance, and policy.

Scientists at UCL, Google DeepMind and Intrinsic have developed a powerful new AI algorithm that enables large sets of robotic arms to work together faster and smarter in busy industrial settings - potentially saving manufacturers hours of planning time and boosting flexibility.

The first complete activity map of decision-making in the animal brain has been unveiled by a large international collaboration of neuroscientists involving UCL researchers. The International Brain Laboratory (IBL) researchers published their findings today in two papers in  Nature,  revealing insights into how decision-making unfolds across the entire brain in mice at the resolution of single cells.

Writing in The Conversation, Joshua Elves-Powell (UCL Biosciences and UCL Geography) outlines his investigation into North Korea's illegal wildlife trade and highlights how the state itself appears to profit from this unsustainable and illegal exploitation.

Writing in The Conversation, Professor Alex Bryson (UCL Social Research Institute) outlines his new research that highlights a peak of unhappiness among the young, which then declines with age. He explains that this is due to a deterioration in young people's mental health. For years now, research studies across the world looking at happiness across our lifetimes have found a U-shape: happiness falls from a high point in youth, and then rises again after middle age.

A new treatment has been shown to significantly lower blood pressure in people whose levels stay dangerously high, despite taking several existing medicines, according to the results of a Phase III clinical trial led by a UCL Professor. Globally around 1.3 billion people have high blood pressure (hypertension), and in around half of cases the condition is uncontrolled or treatment resistant.

A widely documented rise in worry, stress, and depression that peaks in midlife and then declines may have disappeared due to worsening youth mental health, suggests a new study co-led by UCL academics. Researchers at UCL Social Research Institute, Dartmouth College and Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) studied survey data and found that the well documented trend of ill-being that peaks during  midlife before declining, known as the -unhappiness hump-, no longer stands up.

Testing the molecular profile of tumours identifies which patients with advanced prostate cancer are more likely to benefit from chemotherapy and live longer, sparing patients less likely to benefit from unpleasant side effects, according to a new study led by UCL researchers.