University College London news stories on Newser

Foiled Bomber Turned Radical at UK College

Will McCahill — Tue, 29 Dec 2009 19:28:00 CST

The suspect in the foiled Christmas airliner bombing found radical Islam while in college in London, becoming president of the school’s Islamic society. Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab helped organize “War on Terror Week,” the Times reports, bringing in human-rights lawyers and former Guantanamo Bay detainees as speakers for such programs...

Stone Age Humans Found Wisdom in Crowds: Study

Harry Kimball — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 15:11:02 CDT

The jump in human ingenuity during the Stone Age could have resulted not from a biological change but from closer, more populous communities, NPR reports. “Anything that we teach is going to be susceptible to loss, or to decay,” said the British scientist who cooked up the theory. “So if...

Gene Raises AIDS Risk in Africa

Peter Fearon — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 22:14:12 CDT

A gene extremely common among Africans but almost unknown other ethnic groups may be rendering people of sub-Saharan Africa more susceptible to HIV and AIDS, the Times of London reports. The gene variant—common because it provides malaria protection—makes carriers 40% more likely to contract HIV and could be...

Architects Vie for Best Wobble

Clay Dillow — Sat, 07 Jun 2008 05:28:12 CDT

Don’t accuse them of playing with their food; the finalists in the 2008 London Festival of Architecture’s Jelly Design Contest aren’t fooling around. Using what Americans would call gelatin, “a vast range of architectural motifs and techniques have been used to spectacular effect,” an event organizer tells Building Design. Entries...

China May Drop 1-Baby Law

Peter Fearon — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 07:32:00 CST

China, faced with an aging population and too few women, may end its controversial one- child-per-family policy. The law that allowed urban couples only one child and rural families two is credited with preventing 400 million births over three decades. But cultural preferences for males has also created a troubling...

Study Shows Your Office Job Could Kill You

Katherine Thompson — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 15:09:26 CST

Researchers at University College London have found that stressful working conditions interfere with the body's ability to deal with high-pressure situations, the Daily Telegraph reports. Company cogs under 50 with high workloads and little control over their situations had a 68% greater chance of succumbing to heart disease than more-relaxed...