science wire

If travellers behave selfishly there will be more congestion and everyone will end up taking longer to get where they need to be, argue postdoctoral researcher, Rafael Prieto Curiel (UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis) and Juan Pablo Orejuela from the University of Oxford.

Solar Orbiter, a European Space Agency (ESA) spacecraft carrying instruments proposed, designed and built at UCL, is returning to Earth for a flyby passing through clouds of space debris before starting its main science mission exploring the Sun.

Social scientists are making powerful practical contributions to 'Levelling up' cities, regions, or countries in the UK - improving economic growth, services and quality of life - finds a major new report, which showcases the impact of UCL-partnered projects. "The Place to Be" , published by the Academy of Social Sciences in partnership with SAGE Publishing, highlights the breadth and depth of work being done across the social sciences to address national and regional inequalities and illustrates the vital role social sciences will need to play in the 'levelling up' agenda.

A total of 48 UCL academics have been identified as "one in 1,000 Citation Elite" on Clarivate's annual 'Highly Cited Researchers List' 2021, which recognises authors of the most influential research papers around the world. With 38 primary and 10 secondary affiliations, UCL has the 3rd most in the UK behind the universities of Oxford and Cambridge - and ranks 4 th in Europe and 26 th  in the world overall.

UCL is very concerned about reports of spiking of drinks and by injection across the UK. Find out what UCL and Students' Union UCL are doing to help you stay safe when you're on a night out, and what support is available to you.

Amur leopards were able to co-exist with people within the city walls of Seoul, South Korea, in the 19th century, reports a study led by a UCL and ZSL researcher.

Richard Ratcliffe has remained calm and determined during his hunger strike but going without food can have both a physical and psychological effect, says Professor Lucy Serpell (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences).

At least 8.7 million early adult deaths could have been avoided in a single year if countries had already abandoned fossil fuels, say Dr Eloise Marais and researcher Karn Vohra (both UCL Geography).

People who were struggling financially before the pandemic are more than twice as likely, compared to people who were already living comfortably, to say they are now even worse off, find UCL researchers as part of the Covid-19 Social Study. Among people who were finding it difficult before the pandemic, 55% said in October 2021 they were worse off than before the pandemic, compared to 19% of people who were living comfortably before the pandemic.

There needs to be a concerted effort to ensure all young people are protected against HPV, say Professor Helen Bedford (UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health) alongside Professor Carol Dezateux and Nicola Firman (both Queen Mary University of London).