Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · 14h

#WorldSpaceWeek 🌑 Prof Raman Prinja (UCL Physics & Astronomy) on the #SundayBrunch talking about the #moon, and his new book for the younger readers 📖 Watch on Channel 4 from 29:27: www.channel4.com/programmes/s....

Image: Channel 4 / Sunday Brunch.

#wsw2025 #SpaceScience #astronomy #universe

Professor Raman Prinja talking with the Sunday Brunch hosts

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UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · 1d

#WorldSpaceWeek 🚀 PhD student Aida Seye (UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory) and Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell discuss shared passions and challenges in chasing cosmic dreams on BBC's Sky at Night programme (from 20 mins 23 secs): bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis....

#wsw2025 #WomenInScience #SkyAtNight #STEM

PhD student Aida Seye (UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory) and Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell shaking hands

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UCL Innovation & Enterprise @uclenterprise.bsky.social · 2d

We're celebrating #WorldSpaceWeek! ☄️🚀

UCL student startup Interstellar Space Technologies, founded by Mohit Joshi, (MSc Technology Management), is building factories in space to harness microgravity and make products of higher quality than is possible on Earth: bit.ly/48R5zuH

#WSW2025

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UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · 8d

The interior of the mysterious far side of the moon may be colder than the interior of the side constantly facing Earth, suggests a new study co-led by Professor Yang Li @es-ucl.bsky.social @uclmaps.bsky.social @pku1898.bsky.social of rock samples collected by China's Chang'e 6 mission

Far side of the moon may be colder than the near side

The interior of the mysterious far side of the moon may be colder than the side constantly facing Earth, suggests a new analysis of rock samples co-led by a UCL and Peking University researcher.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · 9d

Stunning images show for the first time how life-saving antibiotics disrupt the armour of an E. coli bacterium, as part of a study co-led by Professor Bart Hoogenboom and Carolina Borrelli @uclmaps.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/se...

Startling images show how antibiotic pierces bacteria’s armour

A team led by UCL and Imperial College London researchers has shown for the first time how life-saving antibiotics called polymyxins pierce the armour of harmful bacteria.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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UCL-Birkbeck Planetary Science @ucl-bbk-cps.bsky.social · 15d

This study, published recently in the Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society @royalastrosoc.bsky.social and led by Snehalata Sahu of the University of Warwick, includes co-author and UCL/Birkbeck Centre for Planetary Sciences colleague, Professor Jay Farihi @uclmaps.bsky.social 🔭🧪🪐

ESA Space Science @science.esa.int · 20d

🍝 The NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope has spotted a white dwarf eating a piece of a Pluto-like object in our nearby stellar neighbourhood 👉 esahubble.org/news/heic2511/ 🔭 🧪

Hubble sees white dwarf eating piece of Pluto-like object

In our nearby stellar neighbourhood, a burned-out star is snacking on a fragment of a Pluto-like object. With its unique ultraviolet capability, only the NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope could identify...

esahubble.org

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UCL Innovation & Enterprise @uclenterprise.bsky.social · 15d

UCL has been recognised as one of the top universities in England for knowledge exchange in Research England’s Knowledge Exchange Framework (KEF).

Read more: bit.ly/46tDarL

#KEF5

@ucl.ac.uk @profgeraintrees.bsky.social

A leading university for knowledge exchange 5 years in a row

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UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · 15d

A spinout co-founded by UCL's Professor John Morton @uclmaps.bsky.social has built the world’s first full-stack quantum computer made with the same silicon chip technology that is used in laptops and phones www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/se...

First quantum computer built using silicon chips

A spinout co-founded by a UCL professor has built the world’s first full-stack quantum computer made with the same silicon chip technology that is used in laptops and phones.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · Sep 3

Synthetic cells that could be activated to release medicines whilst deep in the body have been created by chemists at @uclchemistry.bsky.social @uclmaps.bsky.social and the University of Oxford. Researchers say the technique could be used to deliver medicines more precisely

Synthetic cells could be a new way to deliver drugs in the body

A synthetic cell that can be activated by a magnetic field to release a medicine whilst deep in the body has been created by chemists at UCL and the University of Oxford.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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UCL Risk & Disaster Reduction @uclrdr.bsky.social · Sep 5

Starting an undergraduate course @uclmaps.bsky.social this September?

“Meet Your Classmates” is a virtual meeting hosted by student adviser Helena Ahmed. 🤝

Get to know fellow students, swap tips, and build connections before term starts.

Book here: outlook.office.com/book/MeetYou...

© James Tye

Three studets sit together on a couch, smiling and looking at a laptop. The setting is cozy, with warm lighting, conveying a relaxed atmosphere.

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UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · Aug 21

In recognition of Prof @luciegreen.bsky.social's (UCL Mullard Space Science Laboratory) research in #solar #physics and her activities to engage the wider public with the latest discoveries in this area, #asteroid 2005 LG31 has been renamed Luciegreen! 👏

@uclnews.bsky.social

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UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · Aug 20

📣 Apply by 27 Oct for the fully funded Martingale Foundation Scholarships to pursue Master's and PhDs at leading UK research universities, including UCL's Institute for Mathematical & Statistical Sciences: martingale.foundation.

All fees and expenses are covered, including a living wage stipend.

Martingale Scholarships for fully-funded postgraduate degrees

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UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · Aug 12

🖋️"It’s chilling to consider the possibility of returning to a pre-vaccine era."

Prof Christina Pagel @chrischirp.bsky.social @uclmaps.bsky.social warns that the US Secretary of Health and Human Services’ efforts to undermine vaccines risk spreading globally. theconversation.com/how-rfk-jr-i...

How RFK Jr is systematically undermining vaccines around the world

Vaccines saved 154 million lives. But as fear of disease fades, so does protection – raising the chilling prospect of a return to the pre-vaccine era.

theconversation.com

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UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · Aug 11

An international team led by Dr Mojtaba Abdi-Jalebi and Siming Huang @uclmaps.bsky.social has developed durable solar cells that can efficiently harvest energy from indoor light, meaning devices such as remote controls, alarms and sensors could soon be battery free www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/au...

Dr Mojtaba Abdi-Jalebi and PhD candidate Siming Huang

Indoor solar panel with the new solar cells

Dr Mojtaba Abdi-Jalebi with the indoor solar cells

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UCL-Birkbeck Planetary Science @ucl-bbk-cps.bsky.social · Jul 15

CPS colleague Prof Jonathan Tennyson @uclmaps.bsky.social "was honoured for a lifetime of ground-breaking research in molecular physics, as well as for his pioneering leadership of the ExoMol project, which aims to provide molecular line lists for exoplanets and other worlds with hot atmospheres." 👏

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UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · Jul 9

July Spotlight on Dr Ben Walker, Lecturer in Applied #Mathematics 🔦 Ben shares his experience at UCL as a young academic, and talks about an online tool he co-developed for interactively exploring a topic present in almost every undergraduate mathematics curriculum: www.ucl.ac.uk/mathematical...

Dr Benjamin James Walker

Dr Benjamin James Walker, though he almost always goes by Ben, is a Lecturer in Applied Mathematics in the Department of Mathematics at UCL.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · Jul 8

For decades, scientists have considered the main type of ice in space to be completely disordered, like liquid water. A new study by Prof Christoph Salzmann, Dr Michael B Davies @uclmaps.bsky.social @uclchemistry.bsky.social and colleagues upends that assumption, finding it contains tiny crystals

‘Space ice’ is less like water than we thought

“Space ice” contains tiny crystals and is not, as previously assumed, a completely disordered material like liquid water, according to a new study by scientists at UCL and the University of Cambridge.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · Jun 28

Some shots from #OpenDay two! Featured: @uclchemistry.bsky.social odour #experiment, @statisticsucl.bsky.social taster on #Bayesian #statistics, learning about angular #momentum with UCL Physics & Astronomy, and exploring #maths for #finance with UCL Mathematics 💡

#UCLOpenDays @ucl.ac.uk

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UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · Jun 27

A few snaps from Open Day one! Featured: @es-ucl.bsky.social and their cool gadgets, @uclrdr.bsky.social and #AI's role in it, @stsucl.bsky.social info session, and our #student ambassadors at the end of a long day! 🫰

#UCLOpenDays @ucl.ac.uk #EarthSciences #humanitarian #science #technology

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UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · Jun 25

Congratulations to Professor Zoë Waller @drzoewaller.bsky.social and Dr Guanjie He on being honoured by the @rsc.org for work on unusual but important DNA structures and for developing safer, greener batteries @ucllifesciences.bsky.social @uclchemistry.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...

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UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · Jun 24

Dazzling first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory mark the start of a 10-year mission to build a high-definition time-lapse record of the Universe and help pin down what dark energy might be. The mission involves Dr Ellen Hang, Prof Benjamin Joachimi and Prof Jason McEwen @uclmaps.bsky.social

Dazzling first images from Vera C. Rubin Observatory

The newly released first images from the Vera C. Rubin Observatory in Chile mark the start of a ten-year mission involving UCL researchers to create an ultra-high-definition time-lapse record of the U...

www.ucl.ac.uk

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UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · Jun 24

Learn all about how exciting an #OpenDay can be with @uclchemistry.bsky.social student Mayukh. Find out more about #lab tours and exploring the #campus. Be sure to wear your comfy shoes, and see you this Fri/Sat! www.ucl.ac.uk/mathematical...

#UCLOpenDays

Lighting the Spark at UCL Open Days

Learn all about how exciting an Open Day can be with UCL Chemistry Digital Student Ambassador Mayukh. Find out more about lab tours and exploring the campus - be sure to wear your comfy shoes!

www.ucl.ac.uk

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UCL News @uclnews.bsky.social · Jun 19

New studies reveal for the first time how gas evolves in planet-forming discs – an "essential step” in understanding how planets form. Co-authors include Dr Paola Pinilla and Dr Anibal E. Sierra Morales of the Mullard Space Science Laboratory @uclmaps.bsky.social www.ucl.ac.uk/news/2025/ju...

Lives of planet-forming discs revealed

Gas in planet-forming discs, which provides fuel for giant planets to form, disperses in just a few million years, according to new research by an international team including UCL astronomers.

www.ucl.ac.uk

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UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · Jun 20

A few snaps from the @uclmaps.bsky.social Innovation Showcase this week, an event celebrating #Innovation and #Enterprise activities across the faculty and Professor Nguyen TK Thanh’s (UCL Physics & Astronomy) UCL Provost’s Spirit of Innovation Award 2025 💡
@uclenterprise.bsky.social

Jonah Ciccone (UCL Chemistry) presenting on nanopore and membrane technology

Liudmyla Storozhuk (UCL Physics & Astronomy) presenting on contrast agent

Andy Beale (UCL Chemistry) presenting on Finden Ltd

Alexia Rottensteiner (UCL Chemistry) presenting on newest tech on a molecular machine to probe disease-relevant cell membrane nanomechanics

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UCL Mathematical & Physical Sciences @uclmaps.bsky.social · Jun 19

🏆 UCL is ranked 9th globally in the 2026 QS World University Rankings for the third year in a row.

This marks our 14th year in the global top 10, reflecting the strength of our academic and employer reputation.

🔗 Learn more: www.ucl.ac.uk/mathematical...

#QSWUR

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