Why is learning stuff harder as you get older...

Salt can be found in almost every kitchen in the world. But how did this seemingly simple ingredient become the world's favourite flavour enhancer? This week, Crowdscience sets out to uncover why these tiny crystals have such a powerful effect on us. We explore the magic behind t ...  Show more

Is the world sitting on a ticking time bomb? CrowdScience listener Christel recently watched a documentary about a volcanic eruption in 536 AD that left her native Sweden under a cloud of ash for three years. It got her thinking, do we know when this could happen again?With more ...  Show more

For most people, learning any skill is a long, at-times challenging journey. Humans struggle to acquire expertise and, after attaining it, they must regularly use this knowledge or risk losing it. But what if you woke up one day, after an injury, to find you suddenly understoo ...

Tom Vanderbilt didn’t know how to play chess. That fact had never bothered him – until his four-year-old daughter decided she wanted to have a go. Within a couple of months, they’d recruited a teacher and both Tom and his daughter combo were battling it out over 64 squares. Tom f ...  Show more

Quels sont les grands enjeux des apprentissages pour les enfants du XXIe siècle ? J’ai eu l’honneur d’interviewer Grégoire Borst, Directeur du Laboratoire de Psychologie du Développement et de l'Éducation de l’enfant (CNRS). C’est un grand spécialiste du cerveau, et il partici ...

A growing field of scientific research supports the idea that it's NEVER too late to learn a new skill. An NYU professor explains how he finally learned to play the guitar as an adult and what he's learned about the brain's ability to keep growing.