news 2018

People who are more emotionally stable spend more during the Christmas season, while those who are high in neuroticism spend less, according to new research by UCL and Northwestern University. Those with more artistic interests, more active imaginations and who are more open minded spend less, whereas those who are more conscientious, plan ahead and are organised spend more in the lead-up to Christmas.

Using a combination of AI and weather forecasting can help scientists to predict the movements of millions of birds and support their conservation goals, according to new Oxford University research. Conducted in collaboration with Cornell University, the study published , reports that scientists can now reliably predict these waves of bird migration across the United States, up to seven days in advance.

Astronomers have captured a spectacular image of a massive galaxy cluster embedded among nearly thousands of previously unseen galaxies scattered across space and time. The image of the Abell 370 galaxy cluster and its surroundings was made as part of the Durham University-led Beyond Ultra-deep Frontier Fields And Legacy Observations (BUFFALO) survey.

A simple blood test can detect the earliest changes caused by Huntington's disease, even before scans can pick up any signs in the brain, a new UCL-led study has found. The study, published today in Science Translational Medicine , builds on recent evidence by the same research team, which found that a novel blood test can predict the onset and track the progression of the disease in people who carry the gene responsible for the incurable and fatal brain disorder.

Research from Oxford University published in the journal  Genome Research  has found that a special combination of epigenetic modifications crucial to stem cell growth evolved in animals much earlier than previously appreciated. These findings imply that our stem cells, and those of simple animals such as planarian worms, have much more in common at the epigenetic level than previously thought.

The academic advantages associated with a faith school education are short lived, and are mainly explained by home background, new research from UCL shows. UCL Institute of Education (IOE) researchers analysed data on more than 10,000 people born in England and Wales in a single week in 1970, who are taking part in the 1970 British Cohort Study.

MATT Hancock, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, met Cancer Research scientists at the University of Birmingham today (Thursday, 23 August) to learn about their life-saving work. The minister saw first-hand the pioneering research taking place at the Cancer Research UK Centre , particularly in the fields of bowel and lung cancer.

Scientists at the University of Bristol's second Animal Welfare and Research 3Rs symposium, held earlier this year, had the opportunity to find out about current research and share best practice of the '3Rs': Replace, Reduce and Refine. The principles of 3Rs, developed over 50 years ago as a framework for humane animal research, are embedded in European and UK law.

The proportion of children and young people saying they have a mental health condition has grown six fold in England over two decades and has increased significantly across the whole of Britain in recent years, finds a new study co-led by UCL researchers. In 1995, just 0.8% of 4-24 year olds in England reported a long-standing mental health condition.

The biggest ever trial for secondary progressive multiple sclerosis (SPMS) in the UK has begun under UCL research leadership. With around 30 sites across the UK and Ireland, the MS-STAT2 trial will involve 1,180 people with SPMS - a form of the condition that currently has little effective treatment.

England has a North-South 'pain divide', with a clear geographical split in the prevalence and intensity of chronic pain and the use of potentially addictive opioid pain killers, shows new research. The study involving researchers from Durham University is published in the online journal BMJ Open. Opioid epidemic The team behind the research warns that better guidance for clinicians to manage chronic pain is essential if an 'opioid epidemic' similar to the one in the US is to be avoided.

Parenting interventions for helping children with behavioural problems are just as effective in school age, as in younger children, according to new Oxford University research. There is a predominant view amongst scientists and policy-makers that, for greatest effect, interventions need to be applied early in life, when children's brain function and behaviour are thought to be more malleable.

People who are more emotionally stable spend more during the Christmas season, while those who are high in neuroticism spend less, according to new research by UCL and Northwestern University. Those with more artistic interests, more active imaginations and who are more open minded spend less, whereas those who are more conscientious, plan ahead and are organised spend more in the lead-up to Christmas.

The database brings together plans from around the world, enabling researchers to improve future plans and save species from extinction. The number of protected areas for conservation is rising rapidly, and this trend is set to continue as international policy targets are set in the face of a 'biodiversity crisis': the rapid loss of species and degradation of ecosystems.

An academic from the University of Birmingham has developed a novel method for high accuracy Question Answering which is believed to be the most accurate in the world. Question answering software automatically answers questions posed by users much like Siri, Alexa and Google Now. Harish Tayyar Madabushi, a PhD student in Computer Science, has integrated information extracted from the analysis of language with deep learning to achieve this result.

People in wealthy countries are less concerned about the reliability, vulnerability and affordability of their energy supplies, a new study has shown. An international team led by researchers from Cardiff University has revealed that across Europe, national social and economic factors play a key role in how people feel about the security of their energy sources.

A first of its kind study, led by Dr Claire Horwell of the Department of Earth Sciences and Institute of Hazard, Risk and Resilience , has found that industry-certified particle masks are most effective at protecting people from volcanic ash, whilst commonly used surgical masks offer less protection.

Mentoring of junior colleagues can reduce anxiety and improve the mental health of the mentors themselves, finds a new study. The mentoring of junior colleagues can reduce anxiety and improve the mental health of the mentors themselves in high-pressure occupations, concludes a new study co-authored at Cambridge Judge Business School involving an English police force.

A University of Nottingham academic has won a prestigious five-year fellowship to explore the use of harmless sound waves to view deep inside living cells to aid early diagnose in diseases such as cancer. Royal Academy of Engineering Fellow, Dr Fernando Perez-Cota, from the Faculty of Engineering, is building a unique imaging instrument that uses sub-optical-wavelength sound (or phonons).

Thousands of worms will be launched into space later this year to help scientists find out why astronauts experience significant muscle loss in zero-gravity during spaceflight. The Worms in Space project is the first UK experiment to take place on the International Space Station and involves teams of scientists from the Universities of Nottingham, Exeter and Lancaster.