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A new study has added an interesting layer to the debate around screentime. Researchers assessed a group of children aged four to eight on their ability to understand that others can hold different beliefs and desires to their own. Half the group were given a tablet computer and the other half a doll to play with. When tested again a few weeks later, the latter group had shown the most growth in their understanding of others. The findings suggest that playing with dolls is therefore potentially quite meaningful to a child’s emotional development.
Parents may be facing difficult conversations with children in the wake of the violent attack in Golders Green this week. How do we explain frightening acts of violence to young people? Some advice from a psychologist here.
And following their amazing discovery in a Rome library, a pair of medieval literature experts reveal what it took to uncover the oldest poem written in English.
Do you have a curious kid in your life? Season 2 of our award winning podcast The Conversation’s Curious Kids is coming soon, and we want to hear from you. We’re looking for children with intriguing questions about the world who want to pose them to an expert. Email curiouskids@theconversation.com with your kids’ questions.
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Siriol Griffiths
Wales Editor
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Vach cameraman/Shutterstock
Sarah Gerson, Cardiff University; Ross E Vanderwert, Cardiff University; Salim Hashmi, King's College London
Playing with dolls may help children build empathy and better understand other people’s thoughts and feelings.
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Tolga Akmen/EPA
Trudy Meehan, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences
After a violent attack shakes a community, children absorb the fear. Here’s how to talk to them honestly, calmly and in ways that help them feel safe.
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Elisabetta Magnanti and Mark Faulkner with a copy of Bede’s Ecclesiastical History of the English People.
Courtesy of the authors
Elisabetta Magnanti, Trinity College Dublin; Mark Faulkner, Trinity College Dublin
The manuscript had long been presumed lost and, as a result, had never previously been examined in detail by Bede scholars.
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World
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Eliza Bechtold, University of Oxford
The White House says criticism of the Trump administration encourages political violence. But this presidency has a track record of attacking free speech.
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David B Roberts, King's College London
While the UAE and Saudi Arabia can at least partly circumvent the Strait of Hormuz, other Gulf states are less fortunate.
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Clodagh Harrington, University College Cork
Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson, two of the Maga movement’s most prominent figures, have broken with Trump in recent months.
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Politics + Society
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Nicholas Vincent, University of East Anglia
Charles received a standing ovation from Congress when he highlighted the principle of checks and balances.
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Colin Clark, University of the West of Scotland
There has been a relatively broad pro-migration consensus across the Scottish political spectrum.
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Arts + Culture
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Judith Brocklehurst, University of Westminster
The curators of this new exhibition at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge have achieved a complex yet complementary arrangement.
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Laura O'Flanagan, Dublin City University
Meryl Streep’s performance may lack bite, but seeing Hathaway, Streep, Blunt and Tucci together again is joyful and escapist.
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Luke Harrison, University of Salford
The evolution of technology and how it is used, or misused, is central to the study of pop production and performance.
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Education
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Simon Cooper, Nottingham Trent University
Physical activity improves cognitive function – our ability to think and process information.
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Environment
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James Painter, University of Oxford
In four right-wing newspapers, more than 70% of opinion articles contained at least one misleading statement.
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Heidi McIlvenny, Queen's University Belfast
If we are serious about ocean recovery, we need to tackle root causes.
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Health
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Justin Stebbing, Anglia Ruskin University
Breast, bowel, kidney, pancreatic and ovarian cancer were among the types of cancer found to be increasing in people aged 25 to 49.
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Vikram Niranjan, University of Limerick
From smoking and drinking to body image and stigma, screen stories can shape how audiences think about health, risk and what counts as normal.
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Barbara Jacquelyn Sahakian, University of Cambridge; Christelle Langley, University of Cambridge; Fei Li, Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Qiang Luo, Fudan University
The children most often left out of autism research may finally have a treatment worth testing.
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Science + Technology
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Joey Baxter, University of Sheffield; Cannelle Tassin de Montaigu, University of Sussex; Josh Firth, University of Leeds; University of Oxford; Judith Lock, University of Southampton
Who makes the best case?
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Mehreen Ashraf, Cardiff University
Many people welcome technology that will improve road safety or reduce congestion. But the rollout has proved unsettling.
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Podcasts
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Gemma Ware, The Conversation
Catholic peacebuilding expert Gerard F. Powers talks to The Conversation about the just war tradition.
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2 March - 30 September 2026
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