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Sure, it’s easy to feel jealous when people tell stories about encounters with exotic wildlife on their travels. But, in my opinion, a rendezvous with the wild animals in your neighbourhood can be just as spiritual. The robin with a cheeky glint in their eye who perches on your park bench when you’re having a bad day. The finches and sparrows you lovingly entice to your garden with a squirrel-proof bird feeder. And it turns out the birds who nest near your home are true locals. They sing a dawn chorus that is unique to the area. Bioacoustics expert Carlos Abrahams writes about how morning birdsong is a highly local soundscape, as part of our series ahead
of International Dawn Chorus Day this Sunday.
Meanwhile, robots are beating elite table tennis players at their own sport. Here’s why this is a breakthrough for AI.
And as Ukraine moves closer to EU membership, we look at the deeply political process of accession.
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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Jenna Hutber
Commissioning Editor, Science
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Zeno Swijtink/Shutterstock
Carlos Abrahams, Nottingham Trent University
And what it reveals about local ecosystems.
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The Ace robot fires a shot back at professional table tennis player Minami Ando, during a match in April 2025.
Sony AI
Kartikeya Walia, Nottingham Trent University
The robot, called Ace, held its own against elite players of the sport.
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The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, greets Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, in Copenhagen in October 2025.
Ida Marie Odgaard / EPA
Iveri Kekenadze Gustafsson, Lund University
Some EU member states have long used enlargement as a geopolitical tool.
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Arts + Culture
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Stephanie Brown, University of Hull
In England and its colonies, no one was burnt at the stake during witch-hunts: not at Pendle, not at Salem, and not under the campaigns of the witchfinder general.
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Gabriele Neher, University of Nottingham
A landmark exhibition that reintroduces an artists who disappeared from public and scholarly notice for nearly 300 years.
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Business + Economy
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Dylan Ryan, Edinburgh Napier University
Plug-in solar panels could soon be on sale in UK, but there’s some steps the government still needs to take.
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Environment
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Alice Milner, Royal Holloway, University of London
Peatlands are central to climate change, yet basic questions remain unanswered. A global research community has mapped out what we most urgently need to know.
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Health
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Sofie Abildgaard Jacobsen, Aarhus University
The hidden link between sexual assault and chronic illness.
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Samina Akhtar, Aga Khan University
Long hours at a desk can raise the risk of diabetes, heart disease and poor concentration, even in people who exercise regularly.
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Adam Brentnall, Queen Mary University of London; Peter Sasieni, Queen Mary University of London; Rhian Gabe, Queen Mary University of London
But for men tested before their mid-60s, risk of overdiagnosis from PSA testing is low.
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Ed Hutchinson, University of Glasgow
Scientists are learning to spot pandemic threats without touching dangerous pathogens.
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Simon Kolstoe, University of Portsmouth
Stop trying to protect health data. Start controlling how it’s used.
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Science + Technology
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Stephen Brusatte, University of Edinburgh
Birds didn’t just evolve from dinosaurs. They are dinosaurs.
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Stephen Brusatte, University of Edinburgh
Dinosaur wings seem to have originally been used not to fly but to attract a mate.
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2 March - 30 September 2026
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3 March - 15 May 2026
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Glasgow
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14 - 30 April 2026
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Colchester, Essex
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21 April - 19 May 2026
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Wivenhoe Park, Colchester
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