Schools and media literacy critical for teen refugees’ social wellbeing

A quarter of the refugees who entered Europe in 2018 were children, and 40% of these were unaccompanied by adults. Image credit - Kylo/ Unsplash

by Gareth Willmer For a teenage refugee starting a new life in Europe, going to school and using digital media form a big part of navigating an unfamiliar society. But appropriate interventions at school and online could help them feel more at home in a new country. A quarter of the migrants and refugees who entered Europe … Read more

Can artificial intelligence help end fake news?

Artificial intelligence can be used to create deep fakes - audio, pictures and videos that make people say and do things they never did. Image credit - PxHere

by Tom Cassauwers Fake news has already fanned the flames of distrust towards media, politics and established institutions around the world. And while new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) might make things even worse, it can also be used to combat misinformation. Want to make yourself sound like Obama? In the past, that might have required physically … Read more

In a picture: Hunting down guerrilla tumour cells – Prof. Rolf Bjerkvig

Brain tumours contain many different types of cells, here stained different colours, which makes them complex to treat.

Professor Rolf Bjerkvig, a specialist in brain cancer research, tells us why guerrilla cells make the disease so hard to treat. Brain tumours are hard to treat completely with surgery because they leave behind cells that invade the brain. In this video, which covers 72 hours, you can see cells breaking off from a tumour to invade other … Read more

Why are children so good at learning languages?

Image Credit - Pixabay License

When it comes to learning languages small children beat machines hands down, even though they are exposed to only a fraction of the vocabulary fed into algorithms. So what exactly makes them so good? In 2003, an influential study showed that children from rich families were exposed to around 30 million more words before the age of … Read more

Noise and motion links to dyslexia pave way for early diagnosis

Image credit - Jay Inslee, CC BY-ND 2.0

Most children are able to learn language almost effortlessly. But for those with communication disorders such as dyslexia, mastering their native tongue can be a challenge. Researchers are exploring how links with noise, language and motion could help diagnose problems earlier and pave the way for better treatment. Dyslexia is a learning disorder affecting 5% … Read more

Our top 10 science facts from 2018

Image credit - Horizon

By Jack Cowls From arsenic candies to underground winter forest fires, Horizon uncovered some fascinating facts while researching our articles. Here are our ten favourites from 2018. 1. Sleep-deprived brains may be asleep and awake at the same time. 2. Sea anemone sting cells accelerate faster than bullets. 3. Prehistoric caves were chosen for their echoes. 4. The outermost part of the … Read more