All posts tagged: understanding

Understanding Our Mothers – The Atlantic

Understanding Our Mothers – The Atlantic

Published by Daniella Wilson

This is an edition of The Wonder Reader, a newsletter in which our editors recommend a set of stories to spark your curiosity and fill you with delight. Sign up here to get it every Saturday morning. As I grew older, I began wondering about the version of my mother that existed before I did. Not just the parent who raised me, but the younger person she once was: the life she’d imagined for herself, the experiences that shaped her, the parts of her history that I will never fully know. Many of us know our mothers in practical roles first: caretakers, disciplinarians, emergency contacts, occasional embarrassments. But the earlier versions of them often survive only in fragments. They might share an old photograph or make a fleeting comment about a life that existed before ours. Mothers can watch us become ourselves, but we rarely get to witness who they were before we arrived. Over time, we begin to see our moms less as fixed parental figures and more as full people: loving and flawed, …

Half Man stars unpack episode 3 scene with key to understanding Ruben

Half Man stars unpack episode 3 scene with key to understanding Ruben

Published by Daniella Wilson

*Warning – contains spoilers for Half Man episode 3.* The third episode of Half Man is available to watch on BBC iPlayer now, and it sees Niall facing a dilemma. His mother, Ruben and Ruben’s mother Maura all want Niall to testify that Alby groped Ruben before he beat him to a pulp. Given Niall’s own feelings towards Alby, and his guilt at what happened this proves complicated, with the decision made even more murky by the fact that Ruben has reportedly changed of late, volunteering at a children’s centre. As Ruben and Niall are in the car together, the former senses the latter’s conflicted nature on the matter. Growing angry, he suddenly pulls the car off the road on to a field, and pulls Niall out of the car to confront him. He makes Niall say over and over that Alby groped him, as the pair have an all out confrontation. It’s a powerful scene, and one which Niall star Mitchell Robertson and Ruben star Stuart Campbell say is both of their favourites of …

The Secret to Understanding AI

The Secret to Understanding AI

Published by José Betancourt

In the before times—before machines could hallucinate, before compute was a noun—it was not uncommon to go several weeks without someone telling me the world was about to end. Similarly, a whole season might pass without anyone assuring me that it was also, simultaneously, about to become perfect. That particular luxury died on November 30, 2022, when OpenAI released ChatGPT to the public. What followed was less a news cycle than a weather event—a tropical depression that would not budge. Within weeks, millions of people had their first experience with generative AI. Within months, every major technology company had announced its own version of a large language model, or a partnership, or a pivot. Venture capital arrived drooling. Most people in tech think about money, but AI-profit projections are different—like CFO fan fiction, written in Excel. In 2023, the McKinsey Global Institute estimated that $4.4 trillion in annual corporate profits could be up for grabs from generative AI alone. Morgan Stanley estimated $40 trillion more in operational efficiencies. The words artificial intelligence went from obscurity …

understanding how Ofsted inspections risk suicidal thoughts in teachers

understanding how Ofsted inspections risk suicidal thoughts in teachers

Published by skeptic

Ofsted, the schools inspectorate in England, was the subject of a UK parliamentary inquiry after the death by suicide of Ruth Perry, headteacher of Caversham Primary school in Berkshire, in 2023. The coroner’s report had concluded that Perry’s death was “suicide, contributed to by an Ofsted inspection”. The parliamentary inquiry called for submissions of evidence about Ofsted from members of the public. Our recent research has analysed the 233 published submissions, many of which were from teachers. One submission to the inquiry included an impact statement by a headteacher written in 2022. It read: The manner in which the inspection was conducted and the lack of integrity from the Lead Inspector has meant that my family have had to support me through suicidal thoughts and through countless occasions of being in floods of tears as soon as I think back to that day. “It seems incredible that an issue like the conduct of school inspection should be a life-and-death matter, but so indeed it has become,” the submission from her school stated. Theory of suicide …

DAMPE telescope reshapes understanding of cosmic rays

DAMPE telescope reshapes understanding of cosmic rays

Published by skeptic

A multinational team of scientists working with the Dark Matter Particle Explorer (DAMPE) space telescope has uncovered a consistent pattern in cosmic rays, offering new insight into their origin and behaviour. The research, involving experts from the University of Geneva, identifies a shared feature across multiple types of high-energy particles. The findings have been peer-reviewed and published in Nature. The study focuses on cosmic rays, which are highly energetic particles that travel through space and occasionally strike Earth. Despite being discovered over a century ago, their precise origins remain unresolved. By analysing detailed measurements from the DAMPE satellite, researchers have now observed a phenomenon known as “spectral softening” occurring consistently across different particle types. The result is significant: it strongly supports theories that the acceleration and movement of cosmic rays depend on a property called rigidity, rather than energy per particle. This narrows the field of viable explanations and marks a meaningful step toward understanding how these particles are generated and propagate through the galaxy. What are cosmic rays? Cosmic rays are among the most …

People Who Use Emojis Have An Unusually Perceptive Understanding Of Emotions, Finds Study

People Who Use Emojis Have An Unusually Perceptive Understanding Of Emotions, Finds Study

Published by Jenni Sidey

Smiley face, winky face, thumbs up. In the modern world, emojis are just as meaningful as words. Sometimes, we can convey entire messages using a small string of emojis. If you don’t practice the emoji habit, you might want to consider starting. People who do are a whole lot more perceptive when it comes to emotions, and that’s not just lip service. It’s science. Research has found that people who use emojis often may have an advantage over others: they’re much more in tune with detecting emotions on human faces. A new study reveals that people who use emojis when texting are highly perceptive of emotions. Whether it be an emoji face on a screen or a human face IRL, it turns out that we interpret emotions in practically the exact same way. A research team at Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom has discovered that our brains process expressions on emojis in similar regions and patterns as we do with real human emotions. Krakenimages.com | Shutterstock The study included two separate experiments, with nearly …

When the World Feels Too Much: Understanding “Oscillanguish”

When the World Feels Too Much: Understanding “Oscillanguish”

Published by Jenni Sidey

There are moments in history when emotional life cannot be understood at the level of the individual alone. We often ask, “What’s going on with me?” but a more accurate question might be: “What am I responding to?” Because right now, many people are not just dealing with personal stress. They are living inside a world that is moving faster, expanding further, and destabilizing at the same time. We are witnessing extraordinary advancements. Artificial intelligence is transforming medicine, research, and daily life, accelerating discoveries that once took years into months. Weight-loss medications are reshaping how we understand the body, even as new and unexpected side effects continue to emerge. Space exploration is expanding rapidly, with technologies pushing the boundaries of what is possible beyond Earth. We are building tools that can predict disease, simulate reality, and extend human reach far beyond what was imaginable just decades ago. At the same time, we are living through political polarization, wars in multiple regions, economic instability, job uncertainty, and a constant stream of conflicting information. One day, something …

Understanding Why Your Child Does Not Listen

Understanding Why Your Child Does Not Listen

Published by Jenni Sidey

If you’ve already said “Put your shoes on” five times today, you’re not alone. For many parents, daily life can feel like an endless loop of reminders, escalating frustration, and, eventually, raised voices. Somewhere between the third and tenth repetition, a familiar question arises: Why does my child only listen when I yell? The answer may be surprising—and relieving. In most cases, your child is not being defiant. They are not intentionally trying to disrespect you. And their behavior is not a sign that your child is “difficult.” More often, it’s a mismatch between what we expect and what children are developmentally able or motivated to do. Listening Is a Skill, Not a Trait One of the most important mindset shifts for parents is this: Listening is a learned skill. Children are not born knowing how to process instructions, prioritize tasks, or respond immediately. These abilities develop over time and require consistent teaching. When children don’t listen, it’s typically due to one (or more) of three reasons: 1. They didn’t fully process what you said. …

Understanding incel culture – and if schools should be responsible for addressing it

Understanding incel culture – and if schools should be responsible for addressing it

Published by Daniella Wilson

Get the Well Enough newsletter with Harry Bullmore for tips on living a healthier, happier and longer life Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Get the Well Enough email with Harry Bullmore Incels – involuntary celibates – believe they have been unconditionally excluded from the dating market and are doomed to remain virgins. This has negative implications for their mood and self-esteem, as well as the women and girls they grow to resent. For this reason, schools in England are now required to address incel communities, among other sources of online misogyny, in relationships, sex and health education. This is a challenging task when many teachers are already overstretched, and schools are increasingly expected to deal with problems that begin beyond the school gates. Addressing gender based discrimination and violence requires experts who are well prepared and able to support discussion around these sensitive topics in a manner that does not further stigmatise young people. Many young people worry about falling behind their peers socially and sexually. Sociological research shows this pressure is …

Understanding incel culture – and how schools can address it

Understanding incel culture – and how schools can address it

Published by skeptic

Incels – involuntary celibates – believe they have been unconditionally excluded from the dating market and are doomed to remain virgins. This has negative implications for their mood and self-esteem, as well as the women and girls they grow to resent. For this reason, schools in England are now required to address incel communities, among other sources of online misogyny, in relationships, sex and health education. This is a challenging task when many teachers are already overstretched, and schools are increasingly expected to deal with problems that begin beyond the school gates. Addressing gender based discrimination and violence requires experts who are well prepared and able to support discussion around these sensitive topics in a manner that does not further stigmatise young people. Many young people worry about falling behind their peers socially and sexually. Sociological research shows this pressure is observable from high school onward, with pupils mocking each other if they do not appear sufficiently experienced or interested. Survey data finds inexperienced adults are seen as less desirable, even by those who share …