Most people think that empathy – the ability to put yourself in another person’s shoes – is fixed, but it’s not. Empathy can be taught. Research has shown that reading can help children develop empathy. Through reading, children can experience the situations of others that are very different to their own, and reflect on that experience. Further […] … learn more→

Ernst Kuipers, the Dutch health minister, recently announced that regulations were being modified to allow doctors to actively end the lives of children aged one to 12 years who were terminally ill and suffering unbearably. Previously, assisted dying was an option in the Netherlands in rare cases in younger children (under one year) and in some older […] … learn more→

People need to be part of our community, to be accepted and recognized by the group, to have a support network, to have our interests and opinions valued, and to be able to define our life realities with others. It is what is known as the right to social participation, but not all people have this […] … learn more→

As public concern about the ethical and social implications of artificial intelligence keeps growing, it might seem like it’s time to slow down. But inside tech companies themselves, the sentiment is quite the opposite. As Big Tech’s AI race heats up, it would be an “absolutely fatal error in this moment to worry about things […] … learn more→

The school inspectorate in England, Ofsted, has faced criticism recently following the death of headteacher Ruth Perry. According to her family, Perry’s death was a “direct result” of the pressure resulting from the Ofsted inspection process which resulted in her school being judged as “inadequate”. This has sparked debate about whether the current Ofsted framework should be […] … learn more→

Care is an essential right to sustain life. All people need it to have a decent life. In Spain, more than 75% of the people who provide care to dependent people are women . In the rest of the world the proportions are similar . In a social and cultural context based on inequality, care is understood as women’s work. In addition, it […] … learn more→

Have you spotted what distinguishes this hand from the ones you usually see? Count the number of fingers… The hand wears a robotic “artificial sixth finger” that we developed with our collaborator , Professor Yoichi Miyawaki of Tokyo University of Electro-communication in Japan. Users can control this sixth finger independently of their other fingers. Indeed, we can isolate, with […] … learn more→

These days, people of all ages seem more stressed than ever. In the 2020s, everything from social media, to your college curriculum, to the threat of IA taking over your job has everyone on edge, whether they realize it or not. People tend to show their stress in different ways. Some get headaches, and others […] … learn more→

“I’m going down to play!” This is a phrase that many of us have often said during our childhood. Today, it is becoming rarer in the daily lives of families: according to some studies, children play less than before – an hour and a half a day – and they stop playing with classic toys earlier . From the age […] … learn more→

Compulsory tests, essays, regular grades and timed exams are considered a given in university life. But the Universities Accord should change this. Rigid, traditional assessments need to make way for a more flexible, personalised way of working out what students know and can do. The current system is not only vulnerable to cheating, it also disadvantages those […] … learn more→