Four-year-olds don’t need to sit still to be ‘school ready’
Lucy Sors, York St John University and Louise Whitfield, York St John University The UK government’s strategy for early years education in England aims to get children in reception “school-ready”.…
The hidden sources of forever chemicals leaking into rivers – and what to do about them
Gemma Ware, The Conversation As one of the birthplaces of the industrial revolution, the River Mersey in northern England is no stranger to pollution flowing into its waters. “It’s gone…
As social media age restrictions spread, is the internet entering its Victorian era?
Getty Images Alex Beattie, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington A wave of proposed social media bans for young people has swept the globe recently, fuelled by mounting…
Banks retreat from climate change commitments – but it’s business more than politics
David L Levy, UMass Boston and Rami Kaplan, Tel Aviv University Another business-led effort to fight climate change is unraveling. On Aug. 27, 2025, the Net-Zero Banking Alliance suspended its…
Cuba’s leaders see their options dim amid blackouts and a shrinking economy
Joseph J. Gonzalez, Appalachian State University The lights went out in Cuba again. For the fifth time in a year, all of Cuba plunged into darkness on Sept. 10, 2025.…
What a newly discovered gas bridge between galaxies tells us about the cosmic cycle of matter
Lister Staveley-Smith, The University of Western Australia Most of the ordinary matter in the universe is hydrogen. But surprisingly, less than 20% of this hydrogen sits inside galaxies. The rest…
We teach young people to write. In the age of AI, we must teach them how to see
T.J. Thomson, RMIT University; Daniel Pfurtscheller, University of Innsbruck; Katharina Christ, National Institute for Science Communication; Katharina Lobinger, Università della Svizzera italiana, and Nataliia Laba, University of Groningen From the…
Our quest to find a truly Earth-like planet in deep space
Christopher Watson, Queen’s University Belfast and Annelies Mortier, University of Birmingham On October 6 1995, at a scientific meeting in Florence, Italy, two Swiss astronomers made an announcement that would…
A new treatment for Huntington’s disease is genuinely promising – but here’s why we still need caution
Bryce Vissel, UNSW Sydney Imagine knowing in your 20s or 30s that you carry a gene which will cause your mind and body to slowly unravel. Huntington’s disease is inherited,…