science wire

Private school pupils in England no longer perform better at GCSE level than state school pupils in the core subjects of English, Maths and Science when the results are adjusted for socioeconomic background, finds a study by UCL researchers.

The world's thinnest spaghetti, about 200 times thinner than a human hair, has been created by a UCL-led research team.

Clinical language used around pregnancy loss can negatively affect patients' mental health and exacerbate their grief and trauma, and should be personalised where possible, according to research led by a UCL academic. In the first study of its kind, published today, social scientists from UCL, led by Dr Beth Malory (UCL English Language & Literature), gathered data from 391 participants from across the UK with lived experience of pregnancy loss to provide guidance for mass communication around loss.

Truancy rates have risen faster in developed English-speaking countries since the Covid-19 pandemic than in non-English-speaking countries, according to a new working paper by UCL researchers. Teenage girls are also increasingly more likely to skip school than boys across Anglophone countries. In 2022, 26% of all'Year 11 pupils in England reported playing truant at least once in the last fortnight.

A new type of therapy that 'edits' a gene in patients with a rare heart condition has been shown to be safe and effective, according to research from UCL and the Royal Free Hospital.

A new index, based on measures of so-called resilience, is needed to help gauge the success of policies aimed at preserving humanity's ability to live within Earth's resources, finds a new study involving a UCL researcher. In a paper published in the journal One Earth , researchers from UCL, the University of Southampton and the University of East Anglia outlined the case for moving towards an 'holistic' approach to gauging policy success which incorporates environmental and societal wellbeing measures in addition to economic ones.

Care for stroke survivors urgently needs to focus on non-motor skill outcomes like fatigue, anxiety and reduced social participation to improve survivors' quality of life and minimise care needs, according to a new study by researchers at UCL and UCLH. The study, published in the Lancet Regional Health - Europe, is the first to comprehensively capture the wide-ranging impacts of non-motor skill outcomes in a large group of patients.

Research Fellow Alexander V. Gheorghiu (UCL Computer Science) describes in The Conversation a new method of logic developed by philosophers, mathematicians and computer scientists that has implications for how AI operates.

Comment: Researchers have invented a new system of logic that could boost critical thinking and AI Alexander Gheorghiu (UCL Computer Science) explores the concept of "inferentialism", a new understanding of logic, in The Conversation.

Unregulated experts appointed by family courts in England and Wales have caused harm to children by separating them from their mothers and forcing them to live with and have contact with fathers accused of violence and abuse, according to a new study by a UCL researcher.

The discovery at UCL of three books owned by Oscar Wilde, the acclaimed author and playwright, has provided an invaluable insight into his Asian influences and Britian's LGBTQ+ history at the turn of the 20th Century.

By making improvements to our shared working environment and improving the tools that make our work possible, we can enable our staff to continue the life-changing research and teaching that is having such a positive impact on the world.

Autolus Therapeutics, a UCL spinout company, has received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval, for a next-generation CAR-T cell therapy, developed to treat adults with an aggressive blood cancer.

A new treatment that could prevent blindness in children with the CLN2 type Batten disease has been trialled by clinicians and researchers at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH).

Adding small amounts of exercise into daily routine, such as climbing stairs or cycling errands, could help to reduce blood pressure, with just five additional minutes a day estimated to yield improvements, finds a new study from researchers at UCL and the University of Sydney.

A new £9 million research centre focused on tackling and reducing health inequalities in the UK will be led by experts at UCL.

November is Islamophobia Awareness Month, a time to learn about the impact of Islamophobia and find out how you can help challenge stereotypes and prejudices.

The first 3D images of a whole human thymus have been created using a specialised X-ray technique by researchers from UCL and the Francis Crick Institute. These highly-intricate images showed that structures called Hassall's bodies occupy a large fraction of thymic medulla, suggesting they might play a role in regulating thymic microenvironment and immunity.

People around the world are facing record-breaking health threats because of climate inaction, including continued investment in fossil fuels and lagging funding for action to protect health, finds the latest Lancet Countdown report led by UCL researchers. The  2024 Report of the Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change reveals that people in every country face record-breaking threats to health and survival from the rapidly changing climate, with 10 of 15 indicators tracking health threats reaching concerning new levels.

A novel treatment using computer-generated avatars, developed by UCL researchers, is an effective way of helping people with psychosis who hear distressing voices, according to a new study.

Lawyers should be prepared to justify their actions when claiming to act in the public interest, says a leading UCL law professor in a new report, that cites both the Post Office Horizon and Harvey Weinstein scandals.