UCL MEDIA RELATIONS

Dr Tali Sharot (UCL Cognitive, Perceptual and Brain Sciences) talks about why we are more likely to be receptive to good news than bad. Read: Guardian More: Wired UK

Dr David Werring (UCL Brain Repair & Rehabilitation) talks about how Botox injections and physiotherapy can help improve post-stroke tightness and allow patients to recover some movement in their arms and hands. Read: Daily Mail

Dr Mark Ellerby (UCL Physics & Astronomy) comments on a new paper which claims to be able to turn graphite into a superconductor at room temperature by simply treating it with water. Read: Chemistry World

UCL’s iGEM team and the London Biohacking group have come together to create the world's first "public BioBrick". Comprised of two genes, the BioBrick can degrade mercury and make antifreeze compounds. Read: Wired UK

“Research suggests that levels of fatty acids in the blood remain more stable with frequent eating of smaller amounts — peaks and troughs in fatty acids have been linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease,” says Dr Vasant Hirani (UCL  Epidemiology & Public Health). Read: Daily Mail

Dr Jason Rihel (UCL Cell & Developmental Biology) comments on a new artificial-enzyme method which could make model organisms more useful in study of diseases. Read: Nature

Professor John Martin (UCL Cardiovascular Medicine) says the UK has "failed in its potential to produce wealth from science over the last 20 years” due to the funding and peer review system. Read: THE

Dr Brian Balmer (UCL Science & Technology Studies) comments on Operation Cauldron, which involved testing novel biological warfare agents on animals off the coast of the Isle of Lewis in 1952. Read: Daily Mail

Sarah Chaney (UCL Psychology and Language Sciences) talks about the history of the foreign bodies, and its links to surgery. Read: Lancet

Dr Matthew Pope (UCL Archaeology) comments on an upcoming meeting to discuss the Piltdown Man controversy, 100 years after the faked fossils were presented to the world. Read: BBC News