The IQ test wars: why screening for intelligence is still so controversial
John, 12-years-old, is three times as old as his brother. How old will John be when he is twice as old as his brother? Two families go bowling. While they are bowling, they order a pizza for £12, six sodas for £1.25 each, and two large buckets of popcorn for £10.86 [each]. If they are going to split the bill between the families, how much does each family owe? 4, 9, 16, 25, 36, ?, 64. What number
How drones are being used in Zanzibar’s fight against malaria
On a typically hot and humid July day in Stonetown, the capital of Zanzibar, a gaggle of children, teenagers and the odd parents watched our small drone take flight. My colleagues Makame Makame, Khamis Haji and I had finally found the perfect launch spot. With a high-pitched humming, the drone took to the air. It sounded like a big mosquito – appropriate, since we were testing the use of drones fo
How to improve children’s language awareness at primary school
Young children have a lot to fit into each school day. So making the best use of the little time allocated to learning a foreign language is paramount. In England, state primary schools have been required to offer children aged seven to 11 a foreign language since 2014. This seems to chime with the common assumption, supported by research, that the earlier we start learning a foreign language, the
Without equality of income there can be no equality of opportunity
If moving forward is the goal, it’s a not a good policy to stand still. Yet we hear little from the government about solutions to Britain’s poor record on social mobility. Earlier this year both the current administration and its predecessors were roundly condemned for their failure to make any headway. Research has repeatedly shown the clear link between high levels of income inequality and low l
How to reduce the risk of cognitive decline with age
Research into how we can keep our brains healthy as we age has gained momentum in recent years. There is now an increased focus on the changes that we can makes to our health and lifestyle, which may prevent dementia. Here are some things that research has shown reduce a person’s risk of cognitive decline with age. Sex Our latest study shows that having more sex is associated with better cognitive
How should we protest neo-Nazis? Lessons from German history
After the murder of Heather Heyer in Charlottesville, many people are asking themselves what they should do if Nazis rally in their city. Should they put their bodies on the line in counterdemonstrations? Some say yes. History says no. Take it from me: I study the original Nazis. We have an ethical obligation to stand against fascism and racism. But we also have an ethical obligation to do so in a
The brain: a radical rethink is needed to understand it
Understanding the human brain is arguably the greatest challenge of modern science. The leading approach for most of the past 200 years has been to link its functions to different brain regions or even individual neurons (brain cells). But recent research increasingly suggests that we may be taking completely the wrong path if we are to ever understand the human mind. The idea that the brain is ma
Distress, status wars and immoral behaviour: the psychological impacts of inequality
It is well known that economic inequality is rising. In most industrialised nations the distribution of wealth and income is becoming increasingly concentrated. In the United States, the top 10% of earners make more than nine times as much on average as the remainder, and in Australia the ratio approaches five. It is also well known that rising economic inequality is associated with a range of eco
Why the French presidential candidates are arguing about their colonial history
When the French presidential elections begin on April 23, the world will be watching closely. Polls are tightening up, but Marine Le Pen, of the far-right National Front (FN) Party, seems likely to get through to the second, runoff ballot on May 10. Will the xenophobic populism that brought Brexit to the U.K. and Donald Trump to the White House claim the Elysée Palace, too? Le Pen’s expected advan
Children prefer to read books on paper rather than screens
There is a common perception that children are more likely to read if it is on a device such as an iPad or Kindles. But new research shows that this is not necessarily the case. In a study of children in Year 4 and 6, those who had regular access to devices with eReading capability (such as Kindles, iPads and mobile phones) did not tend to use their devices for reading - and this was the case even
Why girls are put off studying computer science
Despite the phenomenal rise in computing over the last 50 years, the birth of the internet, and our ever increasing reliance on technology, women are still not engaging with computer science at the same rate as men. This has been outlined in a recent report from the University of Roehampton, which reveals that only 9% of girls schools offer computing at A-level, compared with 44% of boys schools,
Do we all have a right to cross borders?
In early December, British foreign secretary Boris Johnson was forced to deny reports that he’d told a group of ambassadors he was personally in favour of the free movement of people across the European Union. Given his previous negative public statements on the issue, reports of his private support for the principle, which allows all EU citizens to move freely around the bloc, came as a surprise.
These six utopian cities of the future will help you re-imagine life on Earth
Utopia, a book by English statesman, lawyer and clergyman Thomas More (1487-1535), turns 500 years old this month. A fictional rendering of social philosophy, the book describes an exemplary society on an imaginary island in an unknown place faraway across the seas. Coined by More from the Greek ou-topos, meaning no place, or nowhere, the word utopia has become adopted in the English language to m
One reason so many scientific studies may be wrong
There is a replicability crisis in science – unidentified “false positives” are pervading even our top research journals. A false positive is a claim that an effect exists when in actuality it doesn’t. No one knows what proportion of published papers contain such incorrect or overstated results, but there are signs that the proportion is not small. The epidemiologist John Ioannidis gave the best e
Brexit is not the beginning of a global security crisis
Now its people have decided to back out of the EU, Britain’s future place in the world order is more unclear than it has been for decades – but that still doesn’t mean that the world is less safe because of the British electorate’s decision. To read some reactions to the result, you might think the opposite. The journalist Charles Kaiser suggested that the UK’s vote to leave was “the worst step ba
Why is it so tough for some to exorcise the ghosts of their romantic pasts?
A friend once grumbled that, given the choice, she’d rather see her ex miserable than herself happy. Few things in life are as traumatic as the end of a long-term, romantic relationship. Nonetheless, many people are able to eventually recover and move on relatively unscathed. Others, like my friend, aren’t so lucky. Even years later, they remain mired in the pain of the experience. Any reminder of
Lessons from Greece as controversial finance minister exits stage left
Greece’s economy is in ruins. It is hard to imagine how things could have gone worse. Banks closed, no liquidity, very high unemployment, businesses closing down or fleeing the country, and the brain drain is accelerating. And now the Greek people have voted No in a referendum that some cast as being about whether they would remain in the eurozone – though many were unclear about what exactly the
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Smart cities present risks, opportunities
Physical health ignored in people with mental illness
Is technology making us dumber or smarter? Yes