UCL in the media
What Marjorie Taylor Greene's committee role means for homeland security
Dr Thomas Gift (UCL Political Science) says Americans "shouldn't feel safer" with a GOP hardliner in a position which can influence America's defence and border security policies and highlights Greene's shaky record of "off-the wall statements and unhinged conspiracy theories".
Should dry January go all year?
“The safest amounts of alcohol to drink is zero. There’s no absolute safe level of consumption – the data is good on that,” said Dr Gautam Mehta (UCL Medicine), adding that consuming alcohol contributes to cancer, heart disease, stroke and liver disease.
The gender gap in ACL injuries
“Every time an injury happens, it kind of breaks my heart a bit because the fact is we’re missing a data point that could help the next generation,” said Dr Georgie Bruinvels (UCL Surgery & Interventional Science), on the menstrual cycle’s potential effect on sports injuries.
Interacting with AI makes humanity more formulaic
“Each time we spontaneously react to AI or one of its many manifestations, we do our bit to advance not just the predictive accuracy of AI, but the sterilisation of humanity,” said Professor Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic (UCL Psychology & Language Sciences).
Italy slowly winning the war against the Mafia
“The fight against Cosa Nostra hasn’t been headline grabbing, but it’s been very successful… Thirty years ago, the Sicilian mafia controlled territory and the state was an alien force,” said Professor John Dickie (UCL School of European Languages, Culture & Society).
Not enough biofuels for the aviation industry
Professor Andreas Schäfer (UCL Bartlett School Environment, Energy & Resources) said there isn’t enough used cooking oil and biomass residues in the world to convert into sustainable airplane fuels at a level that could support the air travel industry.
Warning over potential post-Covid norovirus boom: Cases are 10% above pre-pandemic levels
Professor Francois Balloux (UCL Genetics Institute) said it is "not implausible cases [of norovirus] may go up further in the short term".
Mafia boss Matteo Messina Denaro arrested after 30 years on the run
Professor John Dickie (UCL School of European Languages, Culture & Society) describes Sicilian Mafia boss, Matteo Messina Denaro, as "symbolically significant" and explains why it it took the Italian authorities such a long time to arrest him.
Catastrophic cost of living crisis damages health
Professor Sir Michael Marmot (UCL Epidemiology & Health) said, "The stress of the struggle to try and make ends meet will damage health. It'll damage physical health, and it will damage mental health. So, the cost-of-living crisis is indeed a humanitarian catastrophe".
Charity launches survey to reveal the 12 key risk factors for dementia
Professor Gill Livingston (UCL Psychiatry), who led a seminal 2020 paper on the modifiable risk factors for dementia, comments on the launch of a new brain health check-up tool she helped to develop.