When humans begin our life journey as infants, our only form of communication is through body language, which includes expressive movement and gestures, as well as the sounds that accompany these gestures. When we acquire other languages, expressive movement becomes unintentional, so speech can be clear without its support. Although this bodily expression is innate […] … learn more→

Even though it seems highly rule-bound, the English language changes all the time. Every year new words are added to the dictionary. These days a lot of new words come from popular culture and new technologies. And they spread online. New words are made by  changing existing words, adding to them, abbreviating them or they are spoken […] … learn more→

“I did revise… it just didn’t go in!” Sound familiar? What about “I turned over the exam paper and my mind just went blank…” It’s worrying to feel like everything you’re doing to prepare for an exam somehow isn’t working. But you can harness the science behind how memory works to make your revision more […] … learn more→

What do you think of when it comes to extra terrestrial life? Most popular sci-fi books and TV shows suggest humanoid beings could live on other planets. But when astronomers are searching for extra-terrestrial life, it is usually in the form of emissions from bacteria or other tiny organisms. A new research paper in the […] … learn more→

When the men’s and women’s boats took to the water for the 2025 Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race, a few students who would have hoped to be part of the crews were missing. Matt Heywood, Molly Foxell and Kate Crowley, all of Cambridge, did not take part after a complaint from Oxford University Boat Club over their eligibility was […] … learn more→

In the 21st century, information circulates at unimaginable speeds, and with it, the power to influence public opinion has become concentrated in the hands of a few. Big tech companies and their billionaire owners have assumed the role of puppeteers on the digital stage, orchestrating the global narrative and often deciding who has a voice […] … learn more→

Although some have spoken of the “end” of the teaching profession with the emergence of generative artificial intelligence, what this technology has actually meant is the definitive endorsement of a transformation in the role of the teacher, especially at the university level. And one of its most important functions is to facilitate critical thinking . Today’s university professor must […] … learn more→

Gaining research funds is always tough, but some people are having it tougher than usual at the moment. In late 2024, the New Zealand government cut all Humanities and Social Science funding from the Marsden Fund, their main research funding program. Since coming to office in the United States, Donald Trump has cut funding in a […] … learn more→

As teachers, but also when we need to explain anything to anyone, we are interested in approaching topics in a simple and direct manner. Dialogue is a valuable tool not only for teaching, but also for inquiry, discovery, and dialogue. We call Socratic maieutics the method by which the teacher, through questions, helps the student […] … learn more→

Earlier this year, scientists discovered a peculiar term appearing in published papers: “vegetative electron microscopy”. This phrase, which sounds technical but is actually nonsense, has become a “digital fossil” – an error preserved and reinforced in artificial intelligence (AI) systems that is nearly impossible to remove from our knowledge repositories. Like biological fossils trapped in rock, these […] … learn more→