Tag: UCL

Coal pollution is cutting solar power output

Stuart Mitchell

Pollution from coal-fired power plants is significantly reducing the energy output of solar photovoltaic (solar PV) installations, particularly where these are expanding side by side, according to new research led by UCL and the University of Oxford. The new study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, mapped and assessed more than 140,000 solar PV installations worldwide using satellite data. By combining this with atmospheric data on air pollution, the researchers calculated how much sunlight is lost and how this reduces electricity generation. They found that aerosols – tiny particles suspended…

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Climate change inaction costing a life a minute from excessive heat globally

Stuart Mitchell

The annual number of preventable heat-related deaths globally has soared to more than half a million, a UCL-led report says. The ninth annual Lancet Countdown on Health and Climate Change report reveals that the continued overreliance on fossil fuels and failure to adapt to climate change is being paid in people’s lives, health and livelihoods. It reveals that heat-related mortality per 100,000 has risen 23 per cent since the 1990s, with total heat-related deaths reaching an average of 546,000 annually between 2012 and 2021.  The scientists are calling for governments…

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Growing up in rural or suburban areas improves spatial navigation

Stuart Mitchell

People who grew up in rural or suburban areas have better spatial navigation skills than those raised in cities, particularly cities with grid-pattern streets, finds a new study led by researchers at UCL, University of Lyon and the University of East Anglia (UEA). The researchers also found that people whose home cities had grid layouts were slightly better at navigating similarly organised street patterns, despite having poorer performance overall, as early childhood environments influence not only navigation ability, but navigation styles as well. The study, published in Nature, involved nearly…

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UCL and the National Trust announce long-term partnership to promote heritage science, sustainable conservation and cultural value

Stuart Mitchell

UCL has signed a long-term strategic partnership with the National Trust to help conserve their historical sites and address important heritage challenges. This new flagship partnership brings together UCL’s world-leading, multidisciplinary research capabilities with the Trust’s expertise on the ground and its inspiring places, sites and collections.  Focusing on the Trust’s properties, land and collections in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, the partnership will see staff from the two organisations pooling resources and expertise to explore critical issues including heritage science, sustainable conservation and cultural value. The collaboration will open…

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Unilever Explores Science against stereotyping

Stuart Mitchell

Academics at University College London (UCL) have conducted an unprecedented experiment to attempt to disrupt the way leaders in advertising think about their consumer audiences, giving them a fresh view of how to commission creative ideas that advance progressive, inclusive and unstereotypical portrayals of people.   The project – part of Unilever’s Unstereotype initiative – explored whether DNA analysis, aimed at giving participants a greater insight into their origins, coupled with a workshop on behavioural change, could help to broaden the way people see themselves and the world around them.…

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