science wire

UCL has been named as a centre of excellence by national blood cancer charity Leukaemia & Lymphoma Research.

The online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today reports on the work of an international team involving UCL's Professor Hugh Montgomery that has identified a gene that allows Tibetans to live and work more than two miles above sea level without getting altitude sickness. A previous study published 13 May 2010 in Science reported that Tibetans are genetically adapted to high altitude.

Sixty-six percent of people with dementia live in low- and middle-income countries, but only ten percent of population-based research is carried out in these areas, according to Professor Steve Iliffe (UCL Primary Care & Population Health).

Since the start of the Eyjafjallajökull eruption there has been much speculation about an eruption of its larger neighbour, Katla.

It's a discovery that seems counter-intuitive but researchers from UCL and Liverpool University have found that tendons in high-stress and strain areas, like the Achilles tendon, actually repair themselves less frequently than low-stress tendons. The study, led by Dr Helen Birch (UCL Centre for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine) and published in this week's Journal of Biological Chemistry sheds some light on the increased susceptibility of certain tendons to injury during ageing.

An array of sculptures, paintings, installations and audiovisual work by this year's graduating students from the UCL Slade School of Fine Art will be on display to the public from 23 May 2010 at the Slade School, in UCL's main campus. The final year students on the BA Fine Art programme will kick off the degree show season on 22 May until 27 May 2010, followed by students on the MA/MFA programmes from 10 to 16 June 2010.

The Centre for Digital Humanities brings together research from the traditionally separate disciplines of computing and humanities to create new tools that enhance the understanding and study of the humanities and culture heritage.

UCL's Professor Alimuddin Zumla is the lead guru of the new Lancet TB Series linked to the Lancet TB Observatory, a new global initiative to address key issues around TB treatment and diagnosis.

Dr Kiril Stanilov, a Marie Curie research fellow at UCL's Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis (CASA) is developing a historical model of urban growth to explore the evolution of London.

In this short film, palaeobiologist Dr Anjali Goswami (UCL Genetics, Evolution and Environment and UCL Earth Sciences) explains what we can learn about biodiversity from the collection housed at UCL's Grant Museum of Zoology.

In this short film, Professor Volker Sommer (UCL Anthropology) discusses his work in West Africa, where he has founded a unique project to protect the area's primates.

In this short film, Professor Volker Sommer (UCL Anthropology) discusses his work in West Africa, where he has founded a unique project to protect the area's primates.

UCL scientists are researching the quality of England's lakes and ponds and asking everyone to get involved in a project led by UCL's OPAL (Open Air Laboratories) Water Centre.

To mark Cancer Prevention Week, Dr Martin Austwick (UCL's National Medical Laser Centre) demonstrates how the centre is using laser technology to detect and treat tumours.

Thirty-three artists including Susan Collins, Simon Faithful and Martin John Callanan from UCL's Slade School will send live broadcasts from fields direct to users' desktops as part of a live multimedia art project.

'The Conservatives and Liberal Democrats may seem far apart on their ideas for political reform, but they are not impossibly so,' said UCL's Professor Robert Hazell.

Where do you go to find a neuroscientist at UCL? The answer might not be as straightforward as you think.

His friend and colleague Professor Raymond Macallister (UCL Division of Medicine) pays tribute to his varied and groundbreaking work in the fields of cardiovascular medicine, alcohol studies and his close involvement with the local community.

Italy should prepare for the possibility of earthquakes larger than last year's disaster at L'Aquila and take steps to reinforce poorly constructed buildings.

Researchers from UCL have developed a digital tool that allows people to attach memories to objects in the form of text, audio or video.

Following a number of meetings last week, UCL and the UCU (in consultation with UCL's two other campus trade unions) have reviewed progress in achievement of this year's 6% budget improvement.

The articles engage with a wide range of topics, from literary ethics to immunisation policies, to the hunt for extraterrestial life on Mars, to name but a few.

As the general election approaches, UCL staff and students share their wishlist for policies from the next government affecting a range of aspects of life, from human rights and science to crime, the environment, and more.

This spring, UCL Communications ran the 'My Green Idea' video competition for students and staff at UCL and the Union to submit their ideas for how they can cut carbon emissions by 10% in 2010.