science wire

The transition from hunter-gatherer to sedentary farming 10,000 years ago occurred in multiple neighbouring but genetically distinct populations according to research by an international team including UCL.

Levels of global biodiversity loss may negatively impact on ecosystem function and the sustainability of human societies, according to UCL-led research. 'This is the first time we've quantified the effect of habitat loss on biodiversity globally in such detail and we've found that across most of the world biodiversity loss is no longer within the safe limit suggested by ecologists' explained lead researcher, Dr Tim Newbold from UCL and previously at UNEP-WCMC.

Food-sharing is more prevalent in stable hunter-gatherer camps, shows new UCL research that sheds light on the evolutionary roots of human cooperation. The research explores patterns of food-sharing among the Agta, a population of Filipino hunter-gatherers. It finds that reciprocal food-sharing is more prevalent in stable camps (with fewer changes in membership over time); while in less stable camps individuals acquire resources by taking from others - known as 'demand sharing'.

Our ancestors evolved three times faster in the 10 million years after the extinction of the dinosaurs than in the previous 80 million years, according to UCL researchers. The team found the speed of evolution of placental mammals - a group that today includes nearly 5000 species including humans - was constant before the extinction event but exploded after, resulting in the varied groups of mammals we see today.

UCL, UCLU and UCL, Cut the Rent (UCL-CTR) have today announced they have reached an agreement that will end the current rent strike, which has been running since January this year. UCL's offer, to ma

The outcome of the referendum is now known. While UCL did not take a formal position during the referendum campaign, I have given my  personal view  and you will have heard many other voices from the UCL community.

UCL's LGBTQ+ rainbow flag has been flying at half-mast above the UCL portico as a gesture of condolence and solidarity with those affected by mass shooting in Pulse, the LGBTQ nightclub in Orlando.

A new equation, showing how our happiness depends not only on what happens to us but also how this compares to other people, has been developed by UCL researchers funded by Wellcome. The team developed an equation to predict happiness in 2014, highlighting the importance of expectations, and the new updated equation also takes into account other people's fortunes.

A model that predicts outbreaks of zoonotic diseases - those originating in livestock or wildlife such as Ebola and Zika - based on changes in climate, population growth and land use has been developed by a UCL-led team of researchers.

A striking gold flag made from foil blankets used by refugees has been raised on the flagpole above the UCL portico.

Professor Mark Lythgoe (UCL Centre for Advanced Biomedical Imaging) has been announced as the new Chair of the Times Cheltenham Science Festival.

Rates of teenage pregnancy in England have halved since the implementation of the Government's Teenage Pregnancy Strategy (TPS) in 1999, and the greatest effect is seen in areas of high deprivation and areas that received the most TPS funding, according to research published in The Lancet .

44 economists from the UCL Department of Economics, ranked first in the 2014 Research Excellence Framework, have added their voices to a warning that the economic costs of Brexit would be high.

In the Bonesetter's Waiting Room: Travels through Indian Medicine , the second book by Dr Aarathi Prasad (UCL Grand Challenges), will be BBC Radio 4's Book of the Week from 23 May.

The UCL Centre for Ethics and Law ('CEL') is delighted to endorse and release the following statement in support of the London Anti-Corruption Summit by leading professional services organisations, reflecting their commitment to tackling corruption in the global economy.

Three UCL scientists have been elected as Fellows of the Royal Society in recognition of their outstanding contribution to science.

Bad experiences can cause people to strongly remember the negative content itself but only weakly remember the surrounding context, and a new UCL study funded by the Medical Research Council and Wellcome Trust has revealed how this happens in the brain.

UCL Business, the technology transfer company of UCL, and venture capital firm F-Prime Capital Partners have launched Orchard Therapeutics, a biotechnology company specialising in gene therapies for life threatening rare childhood diseases.

Music education is still not easily accessible for all children due to a number of barriers including parental concerns about career prospects and time pressures on the curriculum, according to new research from the UCL Institute of Education (IOE).

Safer precision radiotherapies that will be able to cure more cancers with fewer side-effects will be available within five years under ambitious new plans for research and treatment at the UCL Cancer Institute and University College London Hospitals (UCLH) NHS Foundation Trust.

The school a girl attends can affect her chance of being diagnosed with an eating disorder, finds a new study co-authored by UCL researchers.

UCL Professor Graeme Reid acted as specialist adviser for the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee's report on the influence of EU membership on UK science, published this week.

Data from location-based social networks may be able to predict when a neighbourhood will go through the process of gentrification, by identifying areas with high social diversity and high deprivation. The first network to look at the interconnected nature of people and places in large cities is not only able to quantify the social diversity of a particular place, but can also be used to predict when a neighbourhood will go through the process of gentrification, which is associated with the displacement of residents of a deprived area by an influx of a more affluent population.

Dr Katharine Giles and Professor Seymour Laxon, both of UCL Earth Sciences, have been proposed as names for a new polar research ship in a public competition run by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), which closes on 16 April.

UK toddlers are consuming more calories and protein than recommended, potentially putting them at risk of obesity in later life, according to UCL research. The study, published today in the British Journal of Nutrition, shows children's diets are lacking in fibre, vitamin D and iron but contain too much sodium, which could lead to serious future health problems.

Adults who identify as lesbian, gay or bisexual (LGB) are twice as likely as heterosexual adults to suffer from anxiety or depression, according to research from UCL, London Metropolitan University and Public Health England. The study, published today in BMC Psychiatry, highlights the need for healthcare policy to address the needs of the LGB community.

UCL has today announced that it will reduce the contract length for its rooms across its owned student accommodation from 40 to 39 weeks a year, effectively reducing the annual rent payable by 2.

UCL has strengthened its performance in the annual QS World University Rankings by Subject, with 8 subject areas ranked in the global top 10 and 4 areas in the top 5 worldwide.

Women's status in society is strongly linked with children's health and survival according to a new study from UCL and the University of Cambridge. The study, published in Global Health Epidemiology and Genomics today analysed data from 96 countries and suggests that the level of societal gender inequality, such as the number of women in employment or their levels of education relative to men, is an important factor contributing to rates of child malnutrition and mortality.

Following an initial consultation and feedback from students and other groups, UCL has confirmed its commitment to reinstating a theatre on campus.

In response to an article in the Independent, UCL would like to make clear that no disciplinary action has been taken and no student threatened with expulsion after accessing confidential information.

Pregnant women would be willing to trial maternal growth factor gene therapy to treat severe early-onset fetal growth restriction (FGR) in their unborn babies, according to a new study. If the proposed trial goes ahead it is likely to be the first time maternal gene therapy has ever been used. The study which examined ethical and legal questions raised by maternal gene therapy was carried out by University College London (UCL), Queen Mary University of London (QMUL), and 8 other leading EU higher education institutions and industrial partners who form the EVERREST* consortium.

Thomas Rogers (UCL Security & Crime Science) has been awarded the Silver medal in engineering for his research poster presented at this year's SET for Britain competition.

Children are less likely to drink if they have heightened perceptions of the harms of drinking and negative expectations towards alcohol - such as that it leads to difficulties with peers or impacts on school work - according to a new UCL-led study. Data from 10,498 children aged 11 was analysed, with the researchers finding that around one in seven had drunk more than a few sips of alcohol at least once.

Nitrous oxide administered after a traumatic event may help to prevent distressing memories from 'sticking' in the brain, suggests new UCL research. The study, published in Psychological Medicine , found that people who inhaled nitrous oxide after watching traumatic film clips experienced a much faster decline in distressing memories than those who breathed normal air.

Scientists at UCL have made a groundbreaking discovery in understanding how the genetic complexity of tumours can be recognised and exploited by the immune system, even when the disease is at its most advanced stages. The findings, by researchers funded by Cancer Research UK and the Rosetrees Trust, could guide future immunotherapies and improve the way existing immunotherapy drugs are used.

Autolus Limited, a biopharmaceutical spin-out from UCL Business, announced today that it has raised £40 million of new capital.

Why do we post selfies in England and footies in Chile? Why is social media considered a distraction to education in rural China, yet a valuable learning aid in Brazil? And how quintessentially Engli

London secondary school pupils are behind their peers in East Asian, European, Australian and North American cities and regions by the equivalent of about half a year of schooling.

Both trainee and senior GPs prescribed antibiotics without clinical need when faced with a virtual reality (VR) scenario where patients angrily demanded them, finds new UCL research. The study, authored by an interdisciplinary team from UCL Laws, UCL Institute of Cognitive Neuroscience, UCL Computer Science and ICREA-University of Barcelona, is published today in PLOS One.