Picture this scene. It’s an English literature lesson in a UK school, and the teacher has just read an extract from Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet with a class of 15-year-olds. He’s given some of the students copies of No Fear Shakespeare, a kid-friendly translation of the original. For three students, even these… Read More »The case for mixed-ability classes
The successes and failures of the Doble brothers and their steam cars A When primitive automobiles first began to appear in the 1800s, their engines were based on steam power. Steam had already enjoyed a long and successful career in the railways, so it was… Read More »The steam car
Concrete is everywhere, but it’s bad for the planet, generating large amounts of carbon dioxide – alternatives are being developed A Concrete is the second most used substance in the global economy, after water – and one of the world’s biggest single sources of greenhouse… Read More »Materials to take us beyond concrete
Leonardo da Vinci’s ideal city was centuries ahead of its time The word ‘genius’ is universally associated with the name of Leonardo da Vinci. A true Renaissance man, he embodied scientific spirit, artistic talent and humanist sensibilities. Five hundred years have passed since Leonardo died… Read More »An ideal city
Powerful artificial intelligence (AI) needs to be reliably aligned with human values, but does this mean AI will eventually have to police those values? This has been the decade of AI, with one astonishing feat after another. A chess-playing AI that can defeat not only… Read More »Living with artificial intelligence
For centuries, historians and archaeologists have puzzled over the many mysteries of Stonehenge, a prehistoric monument that took an estimated 1,500 years to erect. Located on Salisbury Plain in southern England, it is comprised of roughly 100 massive upright stones placed in a circular layout.… Read More »Stonehenge
Satellites, rocket shards and collision debris are creating major traffic risks in orbit around the planet. Researchers are working to reduce these threats A Last year, commercial companies, military and civil departments and amateurs sent more than 400 satellites into orbit, over four times the… Read More »Conquering Earth’s space junk problem
How managing low-quality wood (also known as low-use wood) for bioenergy can encourage sustainable forest management A A tree’s ‘value’ depends on several factors including its species, size, form, condition, quality, function, and accessibility, and depends on the management goals for a given forest. The… Read More »Forest management in Pennsylvania, USA
In Paris, urban farmers are trying a soil-free approach to agriculture that uses less space and fewer resources. Could it help cities face the threats to our food supplies? On top of a striking new exhibition hall in southern Paris, the world’s largest urban rooftop… Read More »Urban farming
A Next month, a chess player named Timur Gareyev will take on nearly 50 opponents at once. But that is not the hard part. While his challengers will play the games as normal, Gareyev himself will be blindfolded. Even by world record standards, it sets… Read More »Timur Gareyev – blindfold chess champion
English