University College London

Pigeons' navigation skill not down to iron-rich beak cells: study

The theory that pigeons' famous skill at navigation is down to iron-rich nerve cells in their beaks has been disproved by a new study published in Nature.

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Apr 11, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 11 | with audio podcast

Etch-a-sketch with superconductors

Reporting in Nature Materials this week, researchers from the London Centre for Nanotechnology and the Physics Department of Sapienza University of Rome have discovered a technique to 'draw' superconducting shapes ...

Physics / Superconductivity

created Aug 22, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (4) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Herschel Space Observatory discovers source of cosmic dust in a stellar explosion

(PhysOrg.com) -- ESA's Herschel Space Observatory is helping unravel the mystery of where cosmic dust comes from. Thanks to the resolution and sensitivity of Herschel, astronomers have been able to detect ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Jul 07, 2011 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (11) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

First telecommunications wavelength quantum dot laser on a silicon substrate

A new generation of high speed, silicon-based information technology has been brought a step closer by researchers in the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering at UCL and the London Centre for Nanotechnology. ...

Physics / Optics & Photonics

created Jun 13, 2011 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Beams of electrons link Saturn with its moon Enceladus

(PhysOrg.com) -- Data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft have revealed that Enceladus, one of Saturn's diminutive moons, is linked to Saturn by powerful electrical currents - beams of electrons that flow back ...

Space & Earth / Space Exploration

created Apr 20, 2011 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (14) | comments 10 | with audio podcast

The first single-fingered dinosaur

(PhysOrg.com) -- A new species of parrot-sized dinosaur, the first discovered with only one finger, has been unearthed in Inner Mongolia, China.

Other Sciences / Archaeology & Fossils

created Jan 24, 2011 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (8) | comments 20 | with audio podcast

Love: it's all the same to the brain

(PhysOrg.com) -- There are no differences between heterosexuals and homosexuals or between women and men in terms of the brain systems regulating romantic love, according to new UCL research published in the ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Jan 04, 2011 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (19) | comments 6 | with audio podcast

Mysterious pulsar with hidden powers discovered

Dramatic flares and bursts of energy - activity previously thought reserved for only the strongest magnetized pulsars - has been observed emanating from a weakly magnetised, slowly rotating pulsar. The international ...

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Oct 14, 2010 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (24) | comments 3 | with audio podcast

Children and adults see the world differently

Unlike adults, children are able to keep information from their senses separate and may therefore perceive the visual world differently, according to research published today.

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Sep 13, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (12) | comments 2 | with audio podcast

A butterfly effect in the brain

Next time your brain plays tricks on you, you have an excuse: according to new research by UCL scientists published today in the journal Nature, the brain is intrinsically unreliable.

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Jun 30, 2010 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (23) | comments 15 | with audio podcast

'Quantum computer' a stage closer with silicon breakthrough

The remarkable ability of an electron to exist in two places at once has been controlled in the most common electronic material - silicon - for the first time. The research findings - published in Nature by a U ...

Physics / Quantum Physics

created Jun 23, 2010 | popularity 4.7 / 5 (22) | comments 8 | with audio podcast

Neutrino mass: 'Ghost particle' sized up by cosmologists

(PhysOrg.com) -- Cosmologists at UCL (University College London) are a step closer to determining the mass of the elusive neutrino particle, not by using a giant particle detector, but by gazing up into space.

Physics / General Physics

created Jun 22, 2010 | popularity 4.5 / 5 (18) | comments 13 | with audio podcast

Hand study reveals brain's distorted body model

Our brains contain a highly distorted model of our own bodies, according to new research by scientists at UCL (University College London). A study published today, which focussed on the brain's representation ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Jun 14, 2010 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (11) | comments 4 | with audio podcast

Nano-motors facilitate communication between brain cells

(PhysOrg.com) -- MRC-funded scientists led by Dr Josef Kittler (University College London Neuroscience) have identified how nano-sized motors in nerve cells help to regulate the balance of communication in ...

Medicine & Health / Neuroscience

created Jan 22, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (5) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Seeing a diagnosis: How an eye test could aid Alzheimer's detection

A simple and inexpensive eye test could aid detection and diagnosis of major neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's at an earlier stage than is currently possible, according to new research by UCL scientists.

Medicine & Health / Medical research

created Jan 14, 2010 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 0 | with audio podcast