Human skeletal biologists traditionally provide sex estimations as part of establishing biological profiles (skeletal sex, age-at-death, stature, ancestry/population affinity) for skeletonized remains, often using the shapes and sizes of the pelvis, long bones and skull, among other bones in the body. While analytical methods portray skeletal sex differences as almost purely binary (female or male), a person's sex—including hormones, genetics, external anatomy, internal anatomy and the skeleton—can be more varied than either female or male.

Amid declining test scores, the country has pivoted away from screens and invested in back-to-basics school materials.

A new study of bilingual speakers suggests that a single “grammatical engine” in the brain can power multiple languages at once.

Adults vary in how easily they learn new languages. While previous studies suggest this variability may be due to the distribution of groups of brain areas involved in attention, control and memory, a direct link has been lacking. Using a large sample of participants (101 people), Gangyi Feng, from the Chinese University of Hong Kong, and colleagues explored whether individual differences in the organization of these brain systems can explain variability in language learning in adulthood. This work was published in JNeurosci.

BrianFagioli writes: Google CEO Sundar Pichai delivered Stanford University's 2026 commencement address, but despite leading one of the companies at the center of the AI boom, he spent very little time discussing artificial intelligence. Instead, the speech focused on optimism, working on hard things, and following your interests. The omission is notable given how many graduates are entering a job market being reshaped by AI. While Pichai briefly referenced a "rewiring of technology," he largely avoided discussing AI's impact on careers, automation, or the future of work. Was the Google CEO intentionally steering clear of a controversial topic, or was he simply trying to deliver a timeless commencement speech rather than a technology-focused one? Hyping AI during a commencement speech has been a surefire way to get boos -- unless you're Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak, who reminded college graduates that they already posses "AI" of their own: "actual intelligence." You can read Pichai's commencement speech here. "If you're not from here, California is advertised as being really lush and green. But when I looked out the window, it was more... brown," said Pichai during his speech. "I guess I said this out loud, I'm not sure why. My host, Mrs. Jane Earl, gently corrected me. 'We prefer to call it golden,' she said.And that's exactly what I mean by choosing optimism. It's about reframing for the positive: Where I saw brown, she saw golden. This slight change of perspective had a huge ripple effect on how I thought about the world around me."

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Futurism reports: in a new essay for The Chronicle Higher Education, university-level literature and writing instructor Tyler Jagt recalls how not a single one of his students could get through an assigned 20-page article, something that he had read "without complaint" as an undergraduate a decade ago. One student confessed that the reason they didn't finish was that they kept losing track of what the paper was about. And there's no doubt that they're not alone. Jagt cites the 2024 National Assessment of Educational Progress reading assessment results released last year. It showed that 12th grade reading scores were at the lowest level since the assessment began in 1992. Nearly a third of those 12th graders scored below the assessment's "basic" level in reading, meaning they likely "cannot draw general conclusions based on concepts presented explicitly in a text." Younger children aren't better off: a recent report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation found that 70 percent of fourth graders, or around two million kids, can't read at a proficient level. "What I am seeing in my classroom is no longer a hunch," Jagt writes. "There is a measurable, generational collapse in sustained reading and writing, and the academy is responding to it with improvisation and exhaustion rather than the structural overhaul it requires...." Jagt cites an MIT study that found users who used ChatGPT during cognitive tasks like writing essays showed lower brain activity in areas associated with creativity compared to students who only used a traditional Google Search or didn't lookup information at all. An astonishing 83 percent of the AI users couldn't quote a single line from the essays they had just written, and capstoning the alarm, the brain activity in the AI users didn't return to normal when they were later asked to write without AI... On our pernicious pocket devices, Jagt touted a 2017 study that found that simply having a smartphone physically nearby — even if it's face down or turned off — reduced available cognitive capacity and impaired cognitive functioning. "So when a student tells me they 'kept losing track' of a 20-page article, I have to acknowledge that they may be describing a measurable neurological condition," Jagt wrote. "The neural pathways that support sustained attention are built by use, and they atrophy without it. Your body is a use-it-or-lose-it system, and the brain is no exception." Sunday an "Ask Reddit" question went viral — drawing over 11,000 upvotes — for its question to any teachers reading Reddit. "Is the 'Gen Alpha can't read (write, or do math ext)' crisis real? If so how bad is it?" Some responses... "The run of the mill non-honors kids have gotten really bad," posted one high school teacher. "Very low tolerance for working hard, very short attention span, very short stamina for active listening... It's the group that is the most worrying because a decade ago, I'd estimate that maybe 10-20% of kids at a school are like this, and now it's probably 40-50% of each graduating class... Then there's of course the bottom 10-20% kids (excluding the special ed/severe/moderate learning disability kids). This is what the viral videos are about and it's not an exaggeration. They can't read, write, or do very basic math like multiplication or division as a 17 year old." "This is the first year the MAJORITY of my class cheated on their first essays...." posted one high school English teacher. "It was also the first year a kid yelled 'We don't care about your fucking books, Miss!' while I was in front of the class presenting books they might be interested in for their book reviews... Almost all of them cheated on the book review they had to write." Thanks to long-time Slashdot reader schwit1 for sharing the article.

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Just outside the doors of Stearns Junior-Senior High School in Millinocket, Maine, students and staff have access to world-class outdoor recreation opportunities: paddling, mountain biking, skiing and, of course, hiking in nearby Baxter State Park.

Researchers have used top Generative AI models to grade hundreds of undergraduate essays and found that AI only

Can your behavior in third grade predict outcomes in high school and beyond? A new study, published in Developmental Psychology, says yes.

Faculty and students at Georgia State University are working to integrate sustainable practices into undergraduate science education, and a new study highlights ways to advance laboratory practices and teaching strategies.

Granting promotions and tenure to faculty members is among the most consequential decisions a university makes. Growing evidence suggests that the process doesn't always work as it should.

Deep in Book VII of Plato's Republic, Socrates describes prisoners chained inside a cave, mistaking shadows cast on a wall by firelight for reality itself. They name the shadows, debate them and develop expertise about them. The prisoners are completely, sincerely wrong, and they have no idea. The cave isn't a place of stupidity; it's a place of convincing, well-organized illusion.

James Cook University senior leadership are ready to revolutionize the delivery of degree programs in remote communities, using AI to accelerate the integration of western and traditional knowledge systems. In their article published in The Australian Educational Researcher, JCU Vice Chancellor Professor Simon Biggs and Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Indigenous Education & Strategy Professor Martin Nakata argue that new AI-integrated models of learning will value traditional knowledge, use traditional languages and properly account for real-life work experience.

Children of parents who received coaching and support materials in preschool had fewer conduct problems in middle school and higher levels of academic skills more than seven years later, according to a new study by an interdisciplinary team of Penn State researchers.

Research shows that when preschool teachers participate in professional learning workshops and ongoing coaching with experienced early childhood educators, students improve their language and literacy skills, as well as their social-emotional development.

As the school year winds down and families start planning summer activities, possibly anticipating those inevitable rainy days, I have found myself returning to a simple but powerful joy: sharing museum experiences with young children.

Researchers from the University of Phoenix College of Doctoral Studies have published research examining graduate students' attitudes toward artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots and their reported use of ChatGPT in higher education environments. The article, "Relationship between Students' Attitudes toward Artificial Intelligence (AI) and their usage of AI Chatbots," appears in the International Journal of AI in Pedagogy, Innovation, and Learning Futures.

A major new study led by researchers at Queen Mary University of London has revealed that noncognitive skills—such as motivation, curiosity, academic interest and self-belief—play a key role in translating children's genetic dispositions into academic achievement.

Teachers were more likely to accept an overly harsh grade given to a student by AI than when the unduly low grade was handed out by a human. As AI is increasingly integrated into decision-making, concerns about AI errors are often countered by assurances that humans will oversee and check the algorithm's work.

A national report co-authored by a University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa sociologist has found that while the humanities and social sciences continue to produce rigorous and valuable scholarship, some disciplines are experiencing instances where scholarly standards have been compromised as political considerations shape research and academic evaluation.