A groundbreaking announcement for the recovery of lost ancient literature was recently made. Using a non-invasive method that harnesses machine learning, an international trio of scholars retrieved 15 columns of ancient Greek text from within a carbonized papyrus from Herculaneum, a seaside Roman town eight kilometres southeast of Naples, Italy. Their achievement earned them a US$700,000 grand […] … learn more→

The COVID pandemic transformed our lives in ways many of us are still experiencing, four years later. One of these changes was the significant uptake in gaming as a hobby, chief among them being “cosy games” like Animal Crossing: New Horizons (2020). Players sought comfort in these wholesome virtual worlds, many of which allowed them to socialise […] … learn more→

For four years, we’ve been teaching a class on music and the mind. We’ve asked the students at the start of each semester to complete a short, informal survey on their music education and favorite songs and artists. Our students’ musical education backgrounds always range from none to more than a decade of lessons and […] … learn more→

Today, who has never heard of “HPI” – or high intellectual potential? Recently popularized by a television series , this acronym has been used since the 2010s to designate what were previously called “gifted” or, in the 19th century  , child prodigies. This “high potential”, even new viewers of the series know that it is measured by an intelligence test, […] … learn more→

Every now and then, an elected official will suggest bringing in the National Guard to deal with violence that seems out of control. A city council member in Washington suggested doing so in 2023 to combat the city’s rising violence. So did a Pennsylvania representative concerned about violence in Philadelphia in 2022. In February 2024, officials in […] … learn more→

The online financial products and services known as “fintech” have become deeply embedded in the economic and social life of many African countries over the past decade. Headlines across the continent often extol fintech’s virtues. Technology is “driving financial inclusion” and “making life better for people”. It’s helping “consumers to manage inflation”. Fintech is “too […] … learn more→

Mobile phones are currently banned in all Australian state schools and many Catholic and independent schools around the country. This is part of a global trend over more than a decade to restrict phone use in schools. Australian governments say banning mobile phones will reduce distractions in class, allow students to focus on learning, improve student wellbeing and reduce cyberbullying. But previous research has […] … learn more→

Claim is a difficult word. Dictionaries offer Meaning One –  claims are assertions that something is true, that something is a fact, but there is no proof or evidence. We just have to take the claim at face value and as being ‘right’, or not. Dictionaries also offer Meaning Two. A claim is a statement or action […] … learn more→

Australian politicians and major government reports keep emphasising the importance of STEM (or science, technology, engineering and maths) skills for our economy and society. As the Universities Accord report noted last month, engineering and and science are experiencing “significant skill shortages”. Then there is a federal goal to have 1.2 million tech-related jobs by 2030. This comes amid […] … learn more→

Recent advances in generative artificial intelligence (these tools which make it possible to produce text, sound, images or videos completely automatically) raise fears of a resurgence of false information. This fear is exacerbated by the fact that many elections will take place in the coming months, starting with the European elections. What is it really ? Generative AI, a […] … learn more→