Despite billions of dollars spent and decades of research, computation in the human brain remains largely a mystery. Meanwhile, we have made great strides in the development of artificial neural networks, which are designed to loosely mimic how brains compute. We have learned a lot about the nature of neural computation from these artificial brains […] … learn more→

Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, an advocacy group, has joined with the American Federation of Teachers and the National Educators Association, the nation’s two biggest teachers unions, to produce a report on lockdown drills in schools. The report calls for drastic changes in how these drills are conducted today. They say that drills shouldn’t be a surprise, […] … learn more→

In 1920, psychologist John Watson described his infamous experiments on an infant in a bid to show that the human mind is a blank slate. A hundred years on, Antonio Melechi examines the rise and fall of behaviourism, and the utopian – or dystopian – reflexes that it conditione “Give me a dozen infants…and my own specified world to […] … learn more→

From time to time the Universia portal shows how the careers of the future are completely crossed by digital technology: data analyst, cybersecurity specialists, robotics, big data, artificial intelligence… they are part of a neutral tone list and infographic, although crossed by The concept of technoscience. Science and research at the service of technology and the future as much […] … learn more→

Girls consistently outperform boys on reading tests – and have done so for several decades around the world. Lack of motivation, a weak vocabulary, poor reading engagement and lack of role models have all been considered possible reasons for this disparity. But results from recent global student assessments, known as PISA, suggests the global reading gap is closing. […] … learn more→

Searching online has many educational benefits. For instance, one study found students who used advanced online search strategies also had higher grades at university. But spending more time online does not guarantee better online skills. Instead, a student’s ability to successfully search online increases with guidance and explicit instruction. Young people tend to assume they are already competent searchers. Their teachers and parents often assume this too. […] … learn more→

In November, 60 UK universities took part in eight days of industrial strike action, with thousands of staff walking out over disputes related to pensions, pay and working conditions. Another 14 days of action are scheduled for this month and next. Casualisation of the university workforce was a key theme, with union members keen to stress not […] … learn more→

Mini manuscripts and stories seem pretty engaging. Authors quickly grab the audience with the plot and lead them to a short journey they have created. People love such kind of stories. They like to read more and more when the author provides interesting content. You can also create such entertaining stories, but take care of […] … learn more→

Public engagement is usually understood as the efforts by scientists to come down from their ivory tower and engage with non-academic audiences. In other words, you explain, usually in plain in a simple language, what you do and why this is important for society. However, after years of training during which you have been domesticated […] … learn more→

Only 18% of books available in four Australian childcare centres include non-white characters. Animal characters make up around half the books available, with the animals largely leading lives, and adhering to values, of middle-class Caucasians. My study, published in The Australian Educational Researcher recently, analysed 2,413 books in four Western Australian childcare centres. Most of the small […] … learn more→