science wire

This week we meet Professor Ruben Saakyan, experimental particle physicist at the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

A UCL-developed smart app, which improves the reading ability of people who have suffered a stroke, has been a 'godsend' for patients asked to rehabilitate at home during the pandemic.

A UCL-led clinical trial for patients with brain cancer has recruited more UK participants than ever before for a study of its kind.

Only a quarter of the UK public are confident that 'build back better' can be delivered after the pandemic, according to new findings published today by UCL researchers. The insights come from analysis of the results of a UCL-commissioned YouGov survey to test responses to the 'build back better' concept, favoured by politicians on both sides of the Atlantic to talk about addressing inequalities exposed and exacerbated by Covid-19.

The theory that modern society is too clean, leading to defective immune systems in children, should be swept under the carpet, according to a new study by researchers at UCL and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

There has been a four-fold increase in the Holocaust being taught in history at the lower end of Key Stage Three, but we must ensure students are old enough to fully understand it, says Professor Stuart Foster and Professor Ruth-Anne Lenga (both UCL Institute of Education).

PhD candidate Alex Crozier (UCL Biosciences) and colleagues write in the BMJ about the potential opportunities and challenges of expanding the symptom list linked to self-isolation and testing as vaccines are rolled out.

Trainee Clinical Psychologist Shona Herron (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences) co-authors an article discussing her research into feelings of 'emptiness' and what they can mean for people's mental health.

Before we build any more nuclear power stations, the industry must consider how models of future weather extremes and climate change are likely to affect them, says Honorary Senior Research Associate

The development of an investigational therapy which 'edits' a harmful gene in patients with a debilitating condition called amyloidosis could pave the way for a revolution in the treatment of genetic disorders, finds a new study led by UCL scientists.

Cosmic dawn, when stars formed for the first time, occurred 250 million to 350 million years after the beginning of the universe, according to a new study led by researchers at UCL and the University of Cambridge. The study, published in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , suggests that the NASA James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), scheduled to launch in November, will be sensitive enough to observe the birth of galaxies directly.

Claims that Russia's Border Guard ships fired warning shots at HMS Defender, reinforces the sense of Russia being not the kind of mature great power Vladimir Putin tried to present at Geneva, says Honorary Professor Mark Galeotti (UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies).

Universities in Wales have revealed plans to form a collaborative new initiative to strengthen research and innovation in Wales, set up in response to a 2020 report by UCL Chair of Science and Research Policy, Professor Graeme Reid.

The new UCL Warning Research Centre, the world's only institute researching the role of warning systems in managing hazards, risks, vulnerabilities and disasters, has been formally launched by Mami Mizutori, the head of the UN's Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR).

Humans don't perceive risk accurately, and it's important that we learn the right lessons about risk from the Covid-19 pandemic, says Professor Geoff Mulgan (UCL STEaPP).

The development of smartphone technology aimed at curbing the spread of a pandemic across the globe has exposed a fine line between individual privacy and collective welfare, says Professor Daniel Miller (UCL Anthropology). The astonishing rise of smartphones in everyday life has created many solutions (GPS maps, internet browsing and messaging, to name just a few).