wire

Temporary measures introduced in a pandemic panic should have been phased out a long time ago, says Professor Meg Russell (UCL Constitution Unit).

PhD candidate Osnat Katz (UCL Science & Technology Studies) explains what a supermoon is, as well as discussing the mystery of why we sometimes perceive the Moon to be bigger than it actually is.

Over a third of people (34.4%) reported a change in their drinking habits over the last year, and of those nearly half (49.1%) say they are currently drinking more alcohol compared to March/April 2020, find UCL researchers as part of the Covid-19 Social Study.

A new study co-led by UCL is being launched today to follow the outcomes - educational, career and wellbeing - for 12,000 Year 11 students across England to find out how the pandemic has affected them.

UCL Earth Sciences students, unable to take part in their normal field-based classes due to the Covid-19 pandemic, are instead using virtual reality headsets to learn about Britain's oldest rocks from northwest Scotland.

With political pressure and smart policy goals, a new sense of the common good could be within reach, says Professor Simon Lewis (UCL Geography).

Fitness devices and children's smart toys, as well as other connected devices, can be easily manipulated by domestic abusers seeking to access private information and control victims, finds a report by UCL researchers. As the use of fitness trackers during subsequent lockdowns has surged, experts are raising concerns about their safety and ability to reveal personal information about people's bodies, homes and their movements.

It is hard to know what is most surprising about the revelation that Russia was behind a Czech depot explosion: the timing, the scale of the Czech response, or the operation itself, says Honorary Professor Mark Galeotti (UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies).

Computers can drive our cars and beat us at chess. What they lack is our ability to know when we don't know, says Dr Steve Fleming (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences).

Farmers need to be prepared to take action now in order to achieve Net Zero in the agriculture sector by 2050, according to UCL researchers. The report, UK Agriculture: Pathways to Net Zero, commissioned by HSBC, examines the importance of reducing net agriculture emissions of greenhouse gases and how farmers can achieve this through changes to farm management.

Emotional recognition technology (ERT) is a growing industry which aims to use AI to detect emotions from facial expressions, but it's controversial and biases can be built into the system, says an article co-authored by Dr Alexandra Albert (UCL Geography). Imagine you are in a job interview. As you answer the recruiter's questions, an artificial intelligence (AI) system scans your face, scoring you for nervousness, empathy and dependability.

Professor Marie Scully (UCL Cardiovascular Science) is interviewed about her about her work identifying a new rare blood clotting syndrome linked to the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine & established the correct test & treatments for patients, helping save lives.

UCL researchers will be at the heart of an initiative to bring the best possible expertise to the ethical challenges policy makers face tackling COVID-19.

Paramilitary groups continue to have an influence in Northern Ireland, and questions should focus on why this is the case, instead of denying that they do, say Professor Kristin Bakke and PhD Candidate Kit Rickard (both UCL Political Science).

A build-up of Russian troops at the Ukrainian border could signal an escalation in the conflict between the two nations, and analysing the escalation in 2014 gives clues as to how it might unfold, says PhD Candidate Jakob Hauter (UCL School of Slavonic & East European Studies).

There has been a great deal of interest in the report of the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities (Cred), which reviewed pertinent evidence on discrimination in education, the labour market and elsewhere. My focus, unapologetically, is on the health chapter, which prominently cites my own work.

Research into the potential link between the AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine and blood clots is urgently needed, but the benefits of the vaccine far outweigh the risks even if a causal link is established, says Professor David Werring (UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology).

Together, the USA and Britain are sabotaging their own efforts to curb China's advances in the South China Sea, says Professor Philippe Sands (UCL Laws).

Levels of adherence to the UK's test, trace, and isolate system, and people's understanding of the main symptoms of COVID-19 are low, according to a new analysis involving researchers at UCL. The analysis, published in The BMJ , looked at online survey data and found that the lowest levels of adherence and understanding is found among men, younger age groups, people with a dependent child in the home, key workers, and those experiencing financial hardship.

Just over half of teaching assistants in schools stepped-up to manage classes on their own during the winter lockdown ensuring vulnerable and key worker children could attend lessons, according to a new study by UCL researchers.