A new social media trend has recently emerged in response to the materialistic nature of influencer culture: deinfluencing. This trend involves influencers discouraging their followers from buying overpriced or ineffective products. Influencing is a highly profitable form of marketing, reaching a market value of US$16.4 billion in 2022. But by its nature, influencing can also be disingenuous. […] … learn more→

In the past few weeks, climate records have shattered across the globe. July 4 was the hottest global average day on record, breaking the new record set the previous day. Average sea surface temperatures have been the highest ever recorded and Antarctic sea ice extent the lowest on record. Also on July 4, the World Meteorological Organization declared El Niño had begun, […] … learn more→

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently filed a complaint stating that, for years, Amazon has “knowingly duped” consumers into signing up for Prime subscriptions and then complicated their attempts to cancel. The FTC alleges that Amazon “tricked and trapped people into recurring subscriptions without their consent” through manipulative, coercive or deceptive interface design tactics, known […] … learn more→

Hundreds of scientists protested government efforts to restrict educational access to Western science theories, including Darwin’s theory of evolution, in June 2023 in India. Similarly, scientists in Mexico participated in a research strike in May 2023 to protest a national law they claimed would threaten the conditions for basic research. And during the same month in Norway, three scientists […] … learn more→

The rise of ChatGPT and similar artificial intelligence systems has been accompanied by a sharp increase in anxiety about AI. For the past few months, executives and AI safety researchers have been offering predictions, dubbed “P(doom),” about the probability that AI will bring about a large-scale catastrophe. Worries peaked in May 2023 when the nonprofit research […] … learn more→

On Wednesday the federal government released a consultation paper looking at how to make the school system “better and fairer”. This is part of ongoing consultations over the next National School Reform Agreement between the Commonwealth and states, due to begin in 2025. One of the questions the consultation paper asks is how to attract and retain teachers, and […] … learn more→

Students are struggling financially. A 2022 survey from the Office for National Statistics found that half of students in England felt they were facing financial difficulties, and that one-quarter of students had borrowed more to cope with the cost of living crisis. In England, tuition fees for bachelor’s programmes are the highest among OECD countries. In addition to […] … learn more→

His name is little known to the general public. However, Émilie Brandt (1879-1963) had a decisive role in early childhood care and its development in the first half of the 20th century in France. Her unique journey invites us to follow her from Alsace to Nice, passing through Paris and Haute-Marne, sowing in her path a number of kindergartens and schools […] … learn more→

Generative AI tools such as Midjourney, Stable Diffusion and DALL-E 2 have astounded us with their ability to produce remarkable images in a matter of seconds. Despite their achievements, however, there remains a puzzling disparity between what AI image generators can produce and what we can. For instance, these tools often won’t deliver satisfactory results for […] … learn more→

I  didn’t expect to find myself crying. I don’t tend to study emotional topics. I’ve studied ‘troubles talk’, administrative systems and post PhD employability, but this research on neurodiversity and the PhD experience is different. This is definitely the first time I’ve been moved to tears by a piece of academic writing. I guess it’s because this research feels, […] … learn more→