news 2021

There are clear and enduring regional divides across Great Britain, finds an intergenerational assessment of the social mobility of British families between 1851 and 2016, carried out by UCL researchers at the Consumer Data Research Centre (CDRC). Professor Paul Longley, Dr Justin Van Dijk and Dr Tian Lan (all UCL Geography) created GB Names which allows users to chart exactly where their family group has been based across Britain from 1851 to the present day.

Findings suggest governments should re-examine their use of 'optimism bias' in large-scale projects Last updated on Thursday 28 October 2021 A new study casts doubt over claims that people are 'optimistically biased' about the future, a tendency that is thought to contribute to financial crises, people's failure to look after their health, or inaction over climate change.

The European Pulsar Timing Array (EPTA) is a scientific collaboration bringing together teams of astronomers around the largest European radio telescopes, as well as groups specialized in data analysis and modelling of gravitational wave (GW) signals. The international research team has today published in, Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society , a detailed analysis of a candidate signal for the since-long sought gravitational wave background (GWB) due to in-spiralling supermassive black-hole binaries.

Combining three existing drugs - a commonly-used anti-epileptic, a contraceptive steroid and a cholesterol-lowering agent - could form an effective and non-toxic treatment for a range of aggressive blood cancers, a new study reveals. The discovery by University of Birmingham scientists has led to a £1 million funding award from Blood Cancer UK to run a randomised clinical trial to test the new drug combo against another experimental agent (Danazol) in patients living with Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS).

Scientists have identified a new mechanism to account for the drastic aridification in eastern Africa over the past two million years, with likely implications for understanding the evolution and dispersal of our early human ancestors. In a study , a team led by scientists at Cardiff University propose that roughly 2.1 million years ago, changes in the speed of Indian Ocean waters through the Mozambique Channel were synchronized with the onset of the east-to-west atmospheric circulation pattern along the Pacific Ocean.

Wound infections are the most common problem after surgery, particularly in developing countries, but promised innovations to tackle the issue do not work and global guidance needs changing, a new study reveals. Both World Health Organisation (WHO) and the UK's National Institute of Health Research guidelines recommend that surgeons use alcoholic chlorhexidine skin preparation and triclosan coated sutures to prevent Surgical Site Infection (SSI).

Cambridge scientists have used downscaled laboratory models to show how sand dunes move through a landscape, revealing the conditions that determine whether they will pass through hurdles in their path - like pipelines or walls - or get stopped in their tracks.

A new study led by the and based on public attitudes expressed in 36,000 Facebook posts, has found that consumer uptake of electric vehicles (EVs) can be boosted by promoting the social justice and health aspects of the technology. The researchers found that effective communication of social and health benefits of EV ownership can be a motivating factor for influencing higher EV uptake.

Specific cell population plays a key role in the affect arthritis has on the body and the pain patients feel, study finds Scientists at the University of Birmingham have led a study which has identified a new specific population of cells that plays a key role in the affect arthritis has on the body and the subsequent pain felt by patients.

Climate 'tipping points' can be better understood and predicted using climate change data taken from the ancient past, new research shows. Current understanding of tipping points, in which the climate system exceeds a threshold beyond which large and often irreversible changes occur, is limited. This is because such an event has not occurred in recent times and certainly not since scientists started to record climate data.

Researchers involved in a major COVID-19 study - launched in Scotland earlier in the year to understand the long-term health of people who have had COVID-19 - are encouraging the public to participate if they receive a new invitation.

Scientists identify a new link between certain molecules produced by the microbiome and the function of a protein that impacts gut inflammation. Last updated on Tuesday 2 November 2021 An international team of scientists has identified a new connection between certain molecules produced by the microbiome and the function of a protein that impacts gut inflammation.

New research by University of Warwick researchers highlights the challenges faced by hospices in West Midlands Early findings of a new research project have found that hospices in the West Midlands felt they were "overlooked" at key moments during the pandemic. Researchers from the Universities of Warwick, Sheffield and Hertfordshire, alongside end of life charity Marie Curie, are investigating the impact of the pandemic on hospices across the West Midlands region, in a bid to use the findings to improve clinical practice for people dying now and in the future.

The sharpest images ever of living bacteria have been recorded by UCL researchers, revealing the complex architecture of the protective layer that surrounds many bacteria and makes them harder to be killed by antibiotics. The study, published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA and done in collaboration with scientists at National Physical Laboratory, King's College London, University of Oxford and Princeton University, reveals that bacteria with protective outer layers - called Gram-negative bacteria - may have stronger and weaker spots on their surface.

There were nearly twice as many unplanned pregnancies during the first lockdown compared to before, finds a major study led by researchers from UCL and University College London Hospital. The study, published today in BMJ Sexual and Reproductive Health, is the first to assess changes in women's self-reported access to contraception as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic in the UK.

What happens to all the sensitive personal information our smart devices collect from us? Where does the data picked up by our smart watches, speakers and TVs go, who has access to it and how is it used? It's often unclear what happens with the data these devices collect: where that data goes and how it is used.

Politicians and businesses must treat pandemics as if their country is preparing for war - they are too focused on the current pandemic and not paying enough attention to developing strategies to lessen the impact of the next one, researchers reveal.

Cambridge researchers have developed 'mini brains' that allow them to study a fatal and untreatable neurological disorder causing paralysis and dementia - and for the first time have been able to grow these for almost a year.

Astronomers at the University of Warwick have joined partners around the world in launching a new online initiative, calling for volunteers to come forward and help to search for extrasolar planets. The online citizen project, Planet Hunters Next-Generation Transit Search (NGTS), is enlisting the help of the public to examine five years' worth of digital footage showing some of the brightest stars in the sky.

Sexual conflict in fruit flies is governed by specifically wired neurons in the brain which have been pinpointed by scientists at the University of Birmingham, UK. The research uncovers a gene directing development of these neurons and sheds new light on how certain behaviours - in this case sexual behaviours - are 'hardwired' into the brain.