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

CrowdScience listener George is showing Alex Lathbridge around a small, dark, and extremely hot shed, just outside the city of Accra in Ghana. Inside are row after row of shelves, stacked high with bulging grow-bags. And out of some of them, gorgeous cascades of oyster mushrooms ...  Show more

Why is there such a variety of tongues in the animal kingdom? CrowdScience listener Dale has observed that his dog’s tongue is different from his and so is his cat’s. He’d like to know the reason. Caroline Steel visits London Zoo in the UK to find out more about the different typ ...  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.