Schools are closed now for the summer holidays – and some may not open again in September. Birth rates in England and Wales have been in overall decline since 2012, and this is being reflected in smaller numbers of children starting school. For some primary schools, these low pupil numbers haven’t been sustainable. Nearly 100 schools have closed in England since 2020.

UCL researchers Alice Bradbury and Eleanor Fagan have investigated what these closures do to communities – and what happens to children when their local school is lost.

We’ve just launched the final episode in the second series of our award-winning podcast The Conversation’s Curious Kids, and it’s a big one. Nine-year-old Klara asked us how we know what dinosaurs looked like. And as always, we had an expert on hand to answer her question.

Plus, did you know that Beatrix Potter was obsessed with fungi?

Grace Allen

Education and Young People Editor

Aleksandr Khmeliov/Shutterstock

Falling birth rates mean schools are closing – affecting whole communities

Alice Bradbury, UCL; Eleanor Fagan, UCL

Schools provide a link between generations in a local area.

Daniel Eskridge/Shutterstock

How do we know what dinosaurs looked like?

Eloise Stevens, The Conversation; Gemma Ware, The Conversation

Listen to palaeobiologist Neil Gostling on The Conversation’s Curious Kids podcast talk about how scientists work out what dinosaurs looked like.

Beatrix Potter’s animal illustrations are distinctive, but she was also an established naturalist. SvetaArtStore/Shutterstock

Beatrix Potter was obsessed with fungi – and she was quite the naturalist

Joni Wildman, University of Bath

Her illustrations remain beautiful works of art, but they also show how the best natural history drawings make us notice things we might otherwise miss.

World
Donald Trump has launched another ‘Red Scare’ in the US – it’s a favourite tactic of the right David Brydan, King's College London Donald Trump has decided to put the dangers of communism at the heart of his campaign for the midterm elections in November.

Politics + Society

Violent crime in your area could be affecting your mental health

Panka Bencsik, Vanderbilt University; George MacKerron, University of Sussex; Richard Dickens, University of Sussex

When a violent crime took place in a neighbourhood, it led to significant increases in the stress levels of local residents.
Andy Burnham’s No 10 North has a precedent – in medieval York

Stephanie Brown, University of Hull

No 10 North is historic – but not unprecedented. Medieval York shows England has governed from more than one centre before.

Arts + Culture
A.I. at 25: the Spielberg film that feels more unsettling than ever Nathan Abrams, Bangor University Long before ChatGPT, Spielberg’s A.I. explored love, loneliness and what it really means to be human.

Business + Economy
When England crashes out of a football tournament, the stock market takes a dive Alex Edmans, London Business School The emotional side of economics.

Environment

Wildfires: why media coverage doesn’t always make the climate connection

Doug Specht, University of Westminster

A wildfire can be explained by today’s barbecue, yesterday’s wind direction, a dry spring, four decades of land use change, or a century of emissions.
As mayor, Andy Burnham’s climate record was strong – this city knowledge is key to decarbonising the UK

Steven R. Smith, University of Exeter; Cormac Lynch, University of Exeter

The UK prime minister has described his new government as a circuit breaker – but tipping points may be a better metaphor.

Health

Air filters don’t stop you catching infectious respiratory diseases, landmark study indicates

Paul Hunter, University of East Anglia; Julii Brainard, University of East Anglia

A large trial found no evidence that Hepa air filters reduce respiratory infections in care homes, challenging assumptions about their role in infection control.
Strictly Come Dancing: the hidden injury risks behind the sparkle and glamour

Adam Taylor, Lancaster University

As the 2026 line-up is announced, the biomechanics behind Strictly’s routines reveal why injury is so common, and so hard to prevent.
Why women should strength train at every stage of life

Hannah Campbell, University of Leeds

Strength training can help women feel capable and stay healthy throughout their lives.

Science + Technology

New theory on how six-tonne Stonehenge rock was transported from Scotland thousands of years ago – on a glacier

Remy Veness, Sheffield Hallam University

Stonehenge has captured popular imagination for generations.
Updating Darwin: biologists are returning to an older theory to explain anomalies in evolution

Pim Edelaar, Lund University; Universidad Pablo de Olavide

To make sense of some characteristics that species exhibit from birth, you have to turn to an old discredited theory known as Lamarckism.

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