Neanderthal skull (foreground) contrasted with that of a modern human from the Palaeolithic.
Petr Student
The two human species had many similarities but their communication would have been different.
sommart sombutwanitkul/Shutterstock
Spatial representations of time are not universal between different cultures and languages.
Stained glass designed by Geoffrey Webb depicts Lewis Carroll’s characters in All Saints Church in Daresbury, Cheshire, England.
Peter I. Vardy/Wikimedia Commons
The Book of Job and ‘Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland’ both make fun of preachy know-it-alls and resist conventions of their genres.
President Joe Biden referred to Donald Trump as ‘my predecessor’ 13 times during the 2024 State of the Union.
Matt McClain/The Washington Post via Getty Images
Both politicians are exploiting some tried and true rhetorical and psychological tactics.
Talking about your ‘theory of change’ may not help make your point.
Sergio Mendoza Hochmann/Moment via Getty Images
Boasting about centering your transformative systems change paradigm means you’re doing it wrong. But fixes are available.
An illustration of the Europa Clipper spacecraft, which will head to Jupiter’s moon Europa.
NASA/JPL-Caltech
Europa Clipper will contain a plaque that celebrates humanity’s relationship with water and a decades-old tradition of searching for life outside Earth.
Äspö Hard Rock Laboratory in Sweden, where KBS-3 repository technologies have been tested.
Anna Storm
Spent nuclear fuel remains dangerous for so long that languages can disappear and humanity’s very existence cannot be guaranteed. So how do we communicate information about repositories into the future?
tomertu/Shutterstock
A new study suggests that talking speed is a more important indicator of brain health than difficulty finding words.
A book written in Inuktitut. A lack of concrete constitutional guarantees, community credibility and long-term funding has rendered the government’s efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages largely ineffective.
(Shutterstock)
Critics have said the government’s efforts to revitalize Indigenous languages are colonial and do not engage with Indigenous Peoples on an equal footing.
Courtesy Warner Bros. Pictures
Although not a true sign language, the use of sign in Dune can still teach us a lesson about the value of sign language.
Joel Carret/AAP
For Australians, it’s a love story, so baby just say “yeah-nah”.
The use of mother tongues as languages of instruction has become popular in many parts of Africa.
Issouf Sanogo/Getty Images
Bilingual education can improve learning outcomes but it’s important to consider local context.
John Gomez/Shutterstock
‘Year’ and ‘time’ are the two most frequent nouns in British English.
Language can steer your heart in unexpected ways.
VLADGRIN/Stock via Getty Images Plus
Words have power, and what vocabulary you have at your disposal to describe your relationships with other people can shape what directions those relationships can take.
Creating the alphabet took thousands of years.
kovalchuk/iStock via Getty Images Plus
Turns out ‘A’ didn’t have to be the first letter in the alphabet, nor ‘Z’ the last.
A study saw racialized students in Ontario French immersion programs write monologues and stories about their experiences, and also invited immersion stakeholders like teachers and parents to give feedback on
race and racism in Ontario immersion programs.
(CDC)
Listening to voices of racialized students in French immersion matters for creating more inclusive schooling.
Alf Bruseth, ‘Politician Coin Bank’ (1938).
Index of American Design
Why do so many Americans share the concern that success and integrity are in conflict, as if one comes at the expense of the other?
Accents are one of the cherished hallmarks of cultural diversity.
Bbernard/Shutterstock
While AI now allows us to erase accents, is this really a good idea? Besides, who doesn’t have an accent?
A rose by any other name would smell as sweet – but would it sound as sweet?
Alicia Llop/Moment via Getty Images
Pleasant-sounding words might have a leg up.
Language plays a central role in facilitating effective communication by allowing people to express their thoughts, share essential information and establish connections with one another.
(Shutterstock)
When language falls short of its ability to facilitate communication in the workplace, it can lead to misinterpretation and a sense of disconnection or exclusion.