Okay, ChatGPT can't cure COVID, but using AI to develop vaccines has shown promising results.
Even though COVID vaccines ultimately saved lives, many were lost in the early days of the disease because scientists couldn’t develop the vaccine faster than the virus spread, and they had to update it when the virus mutated. Now, a team at the University of Cambridge has a way to get ahead of things.
They took the genetic blueprint of multiple coronaviruses related to the one that caused COVID-19 (think: the guest list to the worst family reunion ever) and are using artificial intelligence to work on a vaccine that would protect against a range of the viruses. It’s the first time a vaccine’s key component has been designed by AI and tested on people, but the trial’s work could open up a world of possibilities. Success would signify that we can use an AI antigen that’s safe and, importantly, can represent a whole group of viruses. That would mean we could move away from chasing a particular infection when it happens and towards preventing a whole family of viruses.
It’s too soon to know for sure, but scientists are hopeful that this technology can be implemented to replace the flu vaccine, prepare for bird flu, or protect against hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola.
The DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a large central African country now facing an Ebola outbreak along with neighboring Uganda. Ebola is a serious virus spread through contact with infected blood or body fluids, causing fever, vomiting, and bleeding. This outbreak's strain has no approved vaccine or treatment.
This isn't the DRC's first health crisis — and it's not bad luck. Three main factors are at play: the DRC borders nine countries with heavy cross-border movement and conflict-driven displacement, making disease spread easy; its health system is stretched thin, so early symptoms (which mimic other illnesses) often go unnoticed; and close contact with wildlife in its vast forests — including hunting and eating bushmeat — raises the risk of animal-to-human disease jumps.
Together, these factors explain why outbreaks keep happening — and why this one deserves close attention.
Ever wanted to hop onto a fluffy cloud? Catch a falling star? Bottle sunshine? Well, you can’t. But what you can do is hold some of the Moon in your hand… if you’re one of the few qualified scientists who are researching new lunar material. Sharing is caring, but these researchers have a great reason for being very precious with moon dust.
Moon dust is some of the rarest material on the planet and, for the first time, China has shared its samples of moon dust internationally. These samples have now racked up some serious frequent flyer miles, traveling across the globe after being taken all the way from the Moon. Talk about jet lag. Until now, scientists have been using samples collected decades ago. It wasn’t until 2020 that China’s spacecraft went to an unexplored spot of the Moon, then returned with 2 kilograms of moon rock. This dust is now being studied, and researchers are working carefully (VERY carefully) to uncover the evidence it has to offer about our universe’s environmental history.
Underwater volcanoes are some of the least visible — but most important — geological features on Earth. Scientist Dr. Isobel Yeo studies these deep-sea volcanoes near the Greek island of Santorini using remotely-operated underwater robots. These robotic tools allow researchers to safely explore volcanic regions and locate hydrothermal vents, where hot gases and fluids escape from cracks in Earth’s crust.
Her team is focused on understanding how underwater eruptions behave differently from those on land. The surrounding water pressure, temperature, and ocean currents can all influence how magma and gases move during an eruption. By studying these systems, scientists can improve predictions of volcanic activity and better understand potential risks.
Although an eruption is not expected soon, this research is important for improving early warning systems and helping nearby coastal communities prepare for future volcanic events.
Trace over four f letters and help F have fun flying with her ffff sound. Scribble on fur to make a fab friend for F! What do you think fur feels like — fluffy or spiky?
Watch full episodes of Alphablocks on their official YouTube channel!
Bring the delightful Numberblocks characters into your math classroom with this engaging number sense printable bundle, perfect for PreK–Grade 2 learners! Packed with colorful worksheets, this bundle includes important number sense concepts like the number line, place value in tens, comparing numbers, simple addition and more! Here's some of what's included:
- Blockzee Puzzles: Trace to finish the greater than and less than sums.
- Friendly Fluffies: Add to make 7 and help the Numberblocks escape the tickles
- Hello, Twenty: Count to 20 in lots of different ways!
Want more? We have tons on the site. Just search "Numberblocks"!
Watch full episodes of Numberblocks on their official YouTube channel!
Lots of funny furballs have arrived in Numberland... and they won't stop tickling. Sevens are not ticklish! How lucky is that! Make 7 to help the Numberblocks escape the tickles. Tee-hee!
Watch full episodes of Numberblocks on their official YouTube channel!
Waddle into the wild with one of nature’s most beloved birds: the penguin! This BBC Learning Hub playlist follows the lives of these flightless wonders as they brave the cold, dive through icy waters, and care for their fluffy chicks.
Meet the determined emperor penguins of Antarctica and discover how they adapt to harsh environments, work together in colonies, and avoid danger from predators like leopard seals. With narration from Blue Planet and other BBC favorites, this collection offers a closer look at the strength, smarts, and sheer adorableness of penguins in the wild.
Get ready to meet some of the fluffiest, funniest, and most fascinating pets around! In this special collection from My Pet and Me, hosts Ferne Corrigan and Rory Crawford introduce us to animals with big personalities and even bigger hearts, from talkative Siamese cats and stylish poodles to gentle donkeys and deaf dogs who don’t let anything hold them back.
Each episode celebrates the joy of having a pet while teaching kids how to care for animals with kindness, patience, and curiosity. Whether you're learning how to groom a pony or discovering how a station cat spends her day, this collection highlights the many ways pets enrich our lives and how we can return the favor.
In Inside a Glacier, geologist Iain Stewart describes how scientists work inside an ice cave carved deep in a glacier in Norway. They learn how ice, a brittle substance, can be powerful, strong, and fluid at the same time. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Earth: The Power of the Planet, a documentary series in which Dr. Iain Stewart discovers how Earth's forces can shape nature, species, and even the climate.
In Butterfly Tales, learn how butterflies bring joy and beauty to the world as they flutter into gardens and woods each spring. Dr. Bullman, a butterfly expert, shows how tracking butterflies helps scientists understand if the environment is healthy or not. She explains how to tell butterflies and moths apart — like how butterflies rest with their wings up, while moths rest with their wings flat. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Countryfile, which explores rural life and traditions of the countryside.
In Sarah and Duck Bake a Cake, Sarah and Duck are baking a special cake for Duck’s birthday! They mix flour, milk, and baking powder to make it big and fluffy — but oops! The batter spills! Luckily, the cake starts talking and helps them fix it. When the cake comes out of the oven, Sarah realizes it’s now the cake’s birthday, too! So Sarah, Duck, and the talking cake go to the park to celebrate with songs and fruit loaf. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Sarah & Duck, a kids' show about the adventures between 7-year-old Sarah and her quacky, flappy best friend, Duck.
Okay, ChatGPT can't cure COVID, but using AI to develop vaccines has shown promising results.
Even though COVID vaccines ultimately saved lives, many were lost in the early days of the disease because scientists couldn’t develop the vaccine faster than the virus spread, and they had to update it when the virus mutated. Now, a team at the University of Cambridge has a way to get ahead of things.
They took the genetic blueprint of multiple coronaviruses related to the one that caused COVID-19 (think: the guest list to the worst family reunion ever) and are using artificial intelligence to work on a vaccine that would protect against a range of the viruses. It’s the first time a vaccine’s key component has been designed by AI and tested on people, but the trial’s work could open up a world of possibilities. Success would signify that we can use an AI antigen that’s safe and, importantly, can represent a whole group of viruses. That would mean we could move away from chasing a particular infection when it happens and towards preventing a whole family of viruses.
It’s too soon to know for sure, but scientists are hopeful that this technology can be implemented to replace the flu vaccine, prepare for bird flu, or protect against hemorrhagic fevers like Ebola.
The DRC (Democratic Republic of the Congo) is a large central African country now facing an Ebola outbreak along with neighboring Uganda. Ebola is a serious virus spread through contact with infected blood or body fluids, causing fever, vomiting, and bleeding. This outbreak's strain has no approved vaccine or treatment.
This isn't the DRC's first health crisis — and it's not bad luck. Three main factors are at play: the DRC borders nine countries with heavy cross-border movement and conflict-driven displacement, making disease spread easy; its health system is stretched thin, so early symptoms (which mimic other illnesses) often go unnoticed; and close contact with wildlife in its vast forests — including hunting and eating bushmeat — raises the risk of animal-to-human disease jumps.
Together, these factors explain why outbreaks keep happening — and why this one deserves close attention.
Ever wanted to hop onto a fluffy cloud? Catch a falling star? Bottle sunshine? Well, you can’t. But what you can do is hold some of the Moon in your hand… if you’re one of the few qualified scientists who are researching new lunar material. Sharing is caring, but these researchers have a great reason for being very precious with moon dust.
Moon dust is some of the rarest material on the planet and, for the first time, China has shared its samples of moon dust internationally. These samples have now racked up some serious frequent flyer miles, traveling across the globe after being taken all the way from the Moon. Talk about jet lag. Until now, scientists have been using samples collected decades ago. It wasn’t until 2020 that China’s spacecraft went to an unexplored spot of the Moon, then returned with 2 kilograms of moon rock. This dust is now being studied, and researchers are working carefully (VERY carefully) to uncover the evidence it has to offer about our universe’s environmental history.
Underwater volcanoes are some of the least visible — but most important — geological features on Earth. Scientist Dr. Isobel Yeo studies these deep-sea volcanoes near the Greek island of Santorini using remotely-operated underwater robots. These robotic tools allow researchers to safely explore volcanic regions and locate hydrothermal vents, where hot gases and fluids escape from cracks in Earth’s crust.
Her team is focused on understanding how underwater eruptions behave differently from those on land. The surrounding water pressure, temperature, and ocean currents can all influence how magma and gases move during an eruption. By studying these systems, scientists can improve predictions of volcanic activity and better understand potential risks.
Although an eruption is not expected soon, this research is important for improving early warning systems and helping nearby coastal communities prepare for future volcanic events.
Trace over four f letters and help F have fun flying with her ffff sound. Scribble on fur to make a fab friend for F! What do you think fur feels like — fluffy or spiky?
Watch full episodes of Alphablocks on their official YouTube channel!
Bring the delightful Numberblocks characters into your math classroom with this engaging number sense printable bundle, perfect for PreK–Grade 2 learners! Packed with colorful worksheets, this bundle includes important number sense concepts like the number line, place value in tens, comparing numbers, simple addition and more! Here's some of what's included:
- Blockzee Puzzles: Trace to finish the greater than and less than sums.
- Friendly Fluffies: Add to make 7 and help the Numberblocks escape the tickles
- Hello, Twenty: Count to 20 in lots of different ways!
Want more? We have tons on the site. Just search "Numberblocks"!
Watch full episodes of Numberblocks on their official YouTube channel!
Lots of funny furballs have arrived in Numberland... and they won't stop tickling. Sevens are not ticklish! How lucky is that! Make 7 to help the Numberblocks escape the tickles. Tee-hee!
Watch full episodes of Numberblocks on their official YouTube channel!
Waddle into the wild with one of nature’s most beloved birds: the penguin! This BBC Learning Hub playlist follows the lives of these flightless wonders as they brave the cold, dive through icy waters, and care for their fluffy chicks.
Meet the determined emperor penguins of Antarctica and discover how they adapt to harsh environments, work together in colonies, and avoid danger from predators like leopard seals. With narration from Blue Planet and other BBC favorites, this collection offers a closer look at the strength, smarts, and sheer adorableness of penguins in the wild.
Get ready to meet some of the fluffiest, funniest, and most fascinating pets around! In this special collection from My Pet and Me, hosts Ferne Corrigan and Rory Crawford introduce us to animals with big personalities and even bigger hearts, from talkative Siamese cats and stylish poodles to gentle donkeys and deaf dogs who don’t let anything hold them back.
Each episode celebrates the joy of having a pet while teaching kids how to care for animals with kindness, patience, and curiosity. Whether you're learning how to groom a pony or discovering how a station cat spends her day, this collection highlights the many ways pets enrich our lives and how we can return the favor.
In Inside a Glacier, geologist Iain Stewart describes how scientists work inside an ice cave carved deep in a glacier in Norway. They learn how ice, a brittle substance, can be powerful, strong, and fluid at the same time. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Earth: The Power of the Planet, a documentary series in which Dr. Iain Stewart discovers how Earth's forces can shape nature, species, and even the climate.
In Butterfly Tales, learn how butterflies bring joy and beauty to the world as they flutter into gardens and woods each spring. Dr. Bullman, a butterfly expert, shows how tracking butterflies helps scientists understand if the environment is healthy or not. She explains how to tell butterflies and moths apart — like how butterflies rest with their wings up, while moths rest with their wings flat. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Countryfile, which explores rural life and traditions of the countryside.
In Sarah and Duck Bake a Cake, Sarah and Duck are baking a special cake for Duck’s birthday! They mix flour, milk, and baking powder to make it big and fluffy — but oops! The batter spills! Luckily, the cake starts talking and helps them fix it. When the cake comes out of the oven, Sarah realizes it’s now the cake’s birthday, too! So Sarah, Duck, and the talking cake go to the park to celebrate with songs and fruit loaf. This video is excerpted from BBC’s Sarah & Duck, a kids' show about the adventures between 7-year-old Sarah and her quacky, flappy best friend, Duck.