science wire

UCL has been selected to be a founding partner in the creation of a new institute that will help Britain develop battery technologies that will drive the electric vehicle (EV) revolution.

UCL Culture is launching its latest groundbreaking exhibition What does it mean to be human? Curating Heads this week in the Octagon Gallery, Wilkins Building, UCL.

The Citizens' Assembly on Brexit, a representative body of UK citizens brought together to discuss Brexit and led by the UCL Constitution Unit, has sent politicians a clear message in favour of a "soft Brexit.

Academics from UCL today joined the Prime Minister of Lebanon, Saad Hariri, to launch a new Centre for research and learning, focused on growth and prosperity in Lebanon.

Two thirds of adults over 60 rarely or never use public transport, even though it's free and brings health benefits, according to a UCL-led study.

Children under two years are more likely to be admitted to hospital with influenza if they have an older sister or brother, according to UCL-led research published today in the European Respiratory Journal. Flu can be serious in very young children because it can cause lung infections and breathing difficulties.

People with type 2 diabetes could improve their health by using a new web-based self-management tool, according to UCL-led research. The results, published in BMJ Open today, and funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR), come from the first UK-based trial of its kind and show that patients using the HeLP-Diabetes programme have better diabetes control after 12 months.

Numerous UCL academics will be presenting at New Scientist Live this week, the second annual edition of a festival of ideas taking place at ExCeL London.

Dr Hannah Fry (UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis) is involved in a new project which aims to better understand how pandemics, such as flu, can spread across the country.

Alzheimer's Research UK will invest over £2 million in four innovative new projects exploring ways to reduce the risk of dementia, one of which is led by UCL researchers. The announcement, which comes on World Alzheimer's Day (21 September), is the UK's largest charitable investment in dementia risk reduction research.

The UK is investing £65million in a US-based global science project involving UCL scientists that could change our understanding of the universe. UK Universities and Science Minister Jo Johnson signed the agreement yesterday with the US Energy Department to invest the sum in the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) and the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE), securing the UK's position as the international research partner of choice.

Men who are physically active in mid-life are more likely to continue the habit into older age as well, finds a long term tracking study led by UCL. Playing sport is the physical activity most likely to stand the test of time, according to the findings published in BMJ Open today, prompting the researchers to suggest that encouraging early and sustained participation in sports might help people to stay active in old age.

People suffering in the late stages of dementia receive most of their healthcare from GPs or emergency services rather than from specialist health care professionals, despite them having complex needs, researchers at UCL have found.

A new approach to teaching economics in universities and pioneered at UCL is spreading throughout the world and has earned plaudits from commentators, academics and students.

Twenty one leading neuroscience groups from around the world, including seven from UCL, have formed a 'virtual brain lab' to test how the brain controls learning and decision making. The £10 million International Brain Lab brings together groups from UK, USA, France, Switzerland and Portugal to uncover how complex networks of brain cells support our ability to learn and make decisions.

UCL has been ranked fifth in the world for arts and humanities in the latest league table published by The Times Higher Education.

British women living with a partner are more than twice as likely to lack interest in sex compared to men living with a partner, according to a new study published in the BMJ Open . Women in relationships lasting more than a year are more likely to report lacking interest in sex than those in relationships lasting one year or less.

Hopes for continued close research links between the UK and the EU after Brexit have risen after a top EU commissioner declared that securing a deal on it is "a no brainer".

UCL has been ranked among the best 20 universities in the world for the employability of its graduates in the QS global rankings of 500 institutions published today.

New research from UCL finds that poorer pupils in England get less help with their homework than their better-off classmates. Dr John Jerrim (UCL Institute of Education) carried out analysis of the OECD's PISA survey, which has been published by the Sutton Trust today. The research found that just half (50%) of the most disadvantaged 15-year olds said their parents regularly helped with their homework, compared to 68% of their better-off classmates.

Music is identified as a key influence on great poets and novelists of the past century in a landmark book by Professor Dominic Wyse (UCL Institute of Education).

A number of UCL academics will be delivering presentations at the British Science Festival taking place in Brighton this week.

UCL has confirmed its position among the top 20 "super-elite" universities in the world, according to the Times Higher Education 's ( THE ) annual rankings published today.

Global rankings will show this week that the UK's leading universities are among the best in the world but it is a position that will be threatened if, as a result of Brexit, we lose these very academics who have helped put us there.

Staying in education is associated with a lower risk of developing heart disease, finds a study published by The BMJ today.

UCL has congratulated the students and staff of UCL Academy after they achieved an impressive set of GCSE results.

Brief training in mindfulness strategies could help heavy drinkers start to cut back on alcohol consumption, finds a new UCL study. After an 11-minute training session and encouragement to continue practising mindfulness - which involves focusing on what's happening in the present moment - heavy drinkers drank less over the next week than people who were taught relaxation techniques, according to the study published in the International .

Wasps are widely hated but are useful predators, controlling garden pests and pollinating flowers. Now their abundance and diversity in the UK is being investigated by a team from UCL and the University of Gloucestershire.

The UCL Constitution Unit today launches an Independent Commission on Referendums, bringing together a group of very senior figures to deliberate on the use and conduct of referendums in the UK.

A new drug delivery system that autonomously navigates the body using its own glucose molecules has been developed and tested by a UCL-led team of scientists.

UCL, the only UK university with a Modern Foreign Language (MFL) requirement for all UK undergraduates, has set a precedent by recognising British Sign Language (BSL) as a 'foreign' language option - a move it hopes will increase awareness of and access to BSL.

The elemental composition of the Sun's hot atmosphere known as the 'corona' is strongly linked to the 11-year solar magnetic activity cycle, a team of scientists from UCL, George Mason University and Naval Research Laboratory has revealed for the first time. The study, published and funded by the NASA Hinode program, shows that an increase in magnetic activity goes hand in hand with an increase of certain elements, such as Iron, in the solar corona.

A transparent ranking system for measuring the socio-economic impact of plants and animals that are introduced by humans to areas where they do not naturally occur (termed "aliens") has been develope

Professor Graeme Reid (Chair of Science & Research Policy at UCL) has been appointed Specialist Advisor to the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee for its inquiry into Life Sciences and the Industrial Strategy.

Most cameras just record colour but now the 3D shapes of objects, captured through only a single lens, can be accurately estimated using new software developed by UCL computer scientists.

Disability charity Contact a Family and UCL are launching a national clinical trial - the first of its kind in the UK - that aims to reduce behaviour that challenges in very young children with learning disabilities. The intervention, which has shown positive outcomes outside the UK, aims to increase parents' confidence and skills so they can manage their child's behaviour effectively.

One in three cases of dementia could potentially be prevented if brain health is improved throughout life by targeting nine risk factors, including continuing education in early life, reducing hearing loss in mid-life, and reducing smoking in later life.

Treating people who start HIV treatment late with a package of low-cost drugs to prevent serious infections saves three lives for every 100 people treated, according to the findings of a trial led by the Medical Research Council (MRC) Clinical Trials Unit at UCL.

Aquatic plants in 'ghost ponds' are able to survive more than 100 years buried beneath cropped agricultural fields, according to new UCL research. Ghost ponds are abundant across many agricultural regions, often visible as damp depressions, areas of poor crop cover, or changes in soil colour. Many UK ponds were filled-in during agricultural land intensification that took place after the 1950s.

Fear of crime is perpetuated by the opinion of others, and often doesn't correlate to the actual likelihood of experiencing crime, according to new UCL research. The findings of the study, published in Proceedings of the Royal Society A , help to explain how a generalised fear of crime exists in cities and countries in which crime rates are low.  'The fear of crime can be considered contagious, because social interaction is the mechanism through which fear is shared and chronically worried populations are created.