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Pioneering technology developed by UCL and Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) researchers could transform the ability to accurately interpret HIV test results, particularly in lowand middle-income countries. Academics from the London Centre for Nanotechnology at UCL and AHRI used deep learning (artificial intelligence/AI) algorithms to improve health workers' ability to diagnose HIV using lateral flow tests in rural South Africa.

An international research team involving UCL scientists has described a new species of Oculudentavis, providing further evidence that the animal first identified as a hummingbird-sized dinosaur was actually a lizard. The new species, named Oculudentavis naga in honor of the Naga people of Myanmar and India, and was studied using a partial skeleton that includes a complete skull, exquisitely preserved in amber with visible scales and soft tissue.

The spin of the Milky Way's galactic bar, which is made up of billions of clustered stars, has slowed by about a quarter since its formation, according to a new study by UCL and University of Oxford researchers. For 30 years, astrophysicists have predicted such a slowdown, but this is the first time it has been measured.

Biodegradable microspheres can be used to deliver heart cells generated from stem cells to repair damaged hearts after a heart attack, according to new findings by UCL researchers. This type of cell therapy could one day cure debilitating heart failure, which affects an estimated 920,000 people in the UK and continues to rise as more people are surviving a heart attack than ever before.

Consuming large amounts of daily caffeine may increase glaucoma risk for those with a genetic predisposition to higher eye pressure, finds a new study involving a UCL researcher. The international, multi-centre study, led by the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, US, is the first to demonstrate a link between diet and genes in glaucoma.

COVID-19 is associated with a wide range of neurological and psychiatric symptoms, writes Dr Jonathan Rogers (UCL Psychiatry), who has authored a new review paper. Although COVID-19 was first described as a disease of the lungs, as its relentless march has continued we've realised that it has a far wider reach in the human body.

Neurological and psychiatric symptoms such as fatigue and depression are common among people with Covid-19 and may be just as likely in people with mild cases, according to a new review study led by a UCL researcher. By reviewing evidence from 215 studies of Covid-19, the meta-analysis published in the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry reports a wide range of ways that Covid-19 can affect mental health and the brain.

The risk of being infected with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19, is substantially reduced for up to 10 months following a first infection, according to new findings from the Vivaldi study led by UCL researchers. For the study, published in Lancet Healthy Longevity , researchers looked at rates of Covid-19 infections between October and February among more than 2,000 care home residents and staff, comparing those who had evidence of a previous infection up to 10 months earlier, as determined by antibody testing, with those who had not been previously infected.

Sea ice in the coastal regions of the Arctic may be thinning up to twice as fast as previously thought, according to a new modelling study led by UCL researchers. Sea ice thickness is inferred by measuring the height of the ice above the water, and this measurement is distorted by snow weighing the ice floe down.

The main risk factors associated with the significantly higher numbers of COVID-19 infection in dialysis patients, have been revealed in a study led by UCL researchers. In the UK, around 30,000 people with kidney failure or disease must visit a medical centre several times a week for dialysis treatment, which helps filter waste products from the blood.

The mass of human chromosomes, which contain the instructions for life in nearly every cell of our bodies, has been measured with X-rays for the first time in a new study led by UCL researchers. For the study, published in Chromosome Research , researchers used a powerful X-ray beam at the UK's national synchrotron facility, Diamond Light Source, to determine the number of electrons in a spread of 46 chromosomes which they used to calculate mass.

Ancient El Niño-like weather patterns were the primary drivers of environmental change in sub-Saharan Africa when humans were evolving, according to research involving UCL. Scientists have shown that over the last 620,000 years these alternately wet and dry patterns had more profound impacts in sub-Saharan Africa than  the great ice age cycles, which until now have been more commonly linked to human evolution.

A breast cancer therapy that requires just one shot of radiotherapy is as effective as traditional radiotherapy, and avoids potential damage to nearby organs, according to a paper by UCL experts. The results, published in the British Journal of Cancer, mean that eight out of ten patients who receive the treatment, TARGIT-IORT, will not need a long course of post-operative external beam radiotherapy (EBRT).

Older adults with more natural teeth are better able to perform everyday tasks such as cooking a meal, making a telephone call or going shopping, according to researchers from UCL and the Tokyo Medical and Dental University. The study published in the Journal of American Geriatrics Society , analysed data from 5,631 adults from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) aged between 50 and 70.

Noise complaints in London increased by nearly 50% during the first lockdown in Spring 2020 compared with the same period in 2019, finds a report by UCL researchers. Complaints about neighbourhood noise - mainly from residents - and construction increased the most, at 36% and 50% respectively. Areas with higher unemployment rates, more residents with no qualifications and lower house prices saw the biggest rise in complaints.

The largest ever map of dark matter - invisible matter thought to account for 80% of the total matter of the Universe - has been created by a team co-led by UCL researchers, as part of the international Dark Energy Survey (DES). As matter curves space-time, astronomers are able to map its existence by looking at light travelling to Earth from distant galaxies; if the light has been distorted, this means there is matter in the foreground, bending the light as it comes towards us.

Scientists and clinicians at UCL and Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) studying the effectiveness of CAR T-cell therapies in children with leukaemia, have discovered a small sub-set of T-cells that are likely to play a key role in whether the treatment is successful. Researchers say 'stem cell memory T-cells' appear critical in both destroying the cancer at the outset and for long term immune surveillance and exploiting this quality could improve the design and performance of CAR T therapies.

The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the risks associated with seeing journals as authoritative voices on the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, says Dr Chris Van Tulleken (UCL Infection & Immunity). A superficial reading of the history of vaccination might lead you to believe that it is simple.

Young people have a general decision-making ability, distinct from IQ, which is associated with good social function, and may be linked to poor mental health, finds a new study led by UCL and Karolinska Institutet researchers. The decision-making ability, called 'decision acuity', is a novel construct and may be underpinned by how strongly certain brain networks are connected, according to the findings published in Neuron .

Using a robotic 'Third Thumb' can impact how the hand is represented in the brain, finds a new study led by UCL researchers. The team trained people to use a robotic extra thumb and found they could effectively carry out dextrous tasks, like building a tower of blocks, with one hand (now with two thumbs).