science wire

The first animal model of recent human evolution reveals that a single mutation produced several traits common in East Asian peoples, from thicker hair to denser sweat glands, an international team of researchers report. The team, led by researchers from Harvard Medical School, Harvard University, the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital, Fudan University and University College London, also modeled the spread of the gene mutation across Asia and North America, concluding that it most likely arose about 30,000 years ago in what is today central China.

A photography exhibition opening this week in Gunnersbury Park Museum in Ealing is the outcome of a remarkable collaboration between senior citizens from six different faith communities in West Ealing and Hanwell.

The European Commission has chosen the Graphene Flagship as one of Europe's first 10-year FET flagship projects.

More than 80 per cent of cancer patients' close friends and family think that doctors should give their cancer patients lifestyle advice on eating habits, weight-loss and exercise, according to a new study in the British Journal of Cancer . Cancer Research UK scientists at UCL asked over 1,200 people who knew someone close with cancer a number of questions to assess their attitudes towards giving cancer patients lifestyle advice.

In an exciting joint venture, scientists from UCL will play a leading role in the development of a UK catalysis research hub.

Funding totalling £12.9 million has been awarded to researchers at UCL by the European Research Council (ERC) under the Advanced Grants programme, which supports research leaders to develop ground-breaking projects and support pioneering research with far-reaching impact.

The Human Brain Project has been officially selected as one of the European Commission's two FET Flagship projects.

UCL is opening a new department focused on the interface between science, technology, engineering, maths (STEM) and policy, as well as an associated interdisciplinary research institute, in September 2013.

At the 2013 UCL School of Pharmacy annual lecture, Sue Sharpe, the Chief Executive of the Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee (PSNC), presented a blue-print for community pharmacies to serve as a 'third tier' in the NHS, alongside GP practices and hospitals.

Modern cardiovascular surgery is being transformed by virtual imaging, according to a talk given at the Yale-UCL Cardiovascular Device Innovation Summit.

UCL researchers in a successful academic-industrial collaboration have been awarded an EU Framework Programme 7 Grant of almost €6 million to develop a therapy for fetal growth restriction.

A new exhibition about plaster and the casting process, highlighting the sculpture models of the neo-classical artist John Flaxman (1755-1826), starts at the UCL Art Museum this month.

A coherent pathway which starts from no more than rocks, water and carbon dioxide and leads to the emergence of the strange bioenergetic properties of living cells, has been traced for the first time in a major hypothesis paper in Cell this week.

Each week, we test our Facebook followers' knowledge of the UCL with a cryptic photograph. How many of the following objects and locations can you identify? Each week, we test our Facebook followers' knowledge of UCL with a cryptic photograph.

New genetic analysis has revealed that many Amazon tree species are likely to survive man-made climate warming in the coming century, contrary to previous findings that temperature increases would cause them to die out.

UCL and the Japanese pharmaceutical company Eisai, have entered into a new agreement to establish a major drug discovery and development collaboration today. The alliance will involve researchers from both organisations working together to investigate radical new ways of treating neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and other related disorders.

Michael Arthur, currently Vice-Chancellor of the University of Leeds, has today been confirmed as the new President and Provost of UCL.

Sir Stephen Wall, Chair of UCL Council, talks about the selection process that has led to the appointment of Michael Arthur.

Academics from the UCL Bartlett School of Planning have welcomed the completion of the final section of London's orbital railway in south London, which they first proposed in 1999 in a report commissioned by the London Development Partnership.

6 December Prime Minister David Cameron today announced IDEALondon in London's Tech City, an innovation 'hot-house' established by UCL and partners Cisco and DC Thomson as the Innovation and Digital Enterprise Alliance (IDEA).

The number of babies born before 27 weeks' gestation who survive and leave hospital increased between 1995 and 2006, but the proportion who experience serious health problems into childhood remained largely unchanged, according to new research published in the British Medical Journal. Two papers from the EPICure cohorts suggest that while the number of very pre-term babies who survive may continue to rise, it is likely that the number of children and adults with long-term disability caused by complications of premature birth will rise in parallel.