The glove that controls your cords… Image by Stefan Schweihofer from Pixabay Ariana Grande, has added something new to her sell out stadium tours. She is controlling her vocals using gloves. Yep, gloves! To add reverb to her voice, A…

The glove that controls your cords… How Ariana Grande changed her voice in concert with movements of her hand.
cs4fn.blog/2026/04/20/t...
(from the CS4FN archive)

A board with post its stuck on. The post its have phonemes on them. An Elkonin board is drawn on the board. We have spelt out the word - ring on it.

Egg boxes (in 10s) with plastic eggs - uses for teaching subitising, place value, teen numbers and number bonds.

You don’t need fancy expensive resources and copious printing to teach literacy and numeracy.

Thinking of writing a book or a blog about how to teach with low cost, low prep resources.

Watch: Runners v robots at China half marathon Robots competed in a half marathon race in Beijing on Sunday, with the winning machine leaving its human rivals for dust.

Chess, Go and now the Half Marathon...the machines are beating us at everything whether cognitive or physical. Perhaps we need to invent competitive hairdressing and competitive plumbing competitions to stay ahead. www.bbc.co.uk/news/videos/...

Two hooded figures with lamps approach a moonlit, isolated cottage. A woman answers the door. We have come for the child, says the hooded figure So soon? she asks It is time, says the hooded figure. The woman is distraught. We should never have got him a library card! What is done cannot be undone, says the hooded figure We couldn’t see the harm! We just wanted him to enjoy reading! For most, it ends there, says the hooded figure, turning away and walking into the wilderness Oh lord, What have I done! says the woman, the child walks past her and out into the darkness with them. Do not cry mother. I am a writer now.

my latest books cartoon for @theguardian.com

Free Playful Computing Resources

Need fun computing starters for lessons?

Want full playful lessons mapped to the curriculum?

Need activities to teach children while having a good time?

Digital Schoolhouse has you covered: zurl.co/Cqn03

IMPACT OF PARENTHOOD ON UNIVERSITY EMPLOYMENT. Line graph shows how the probability of holding a research position changes from four years before to seven years after having children.

Becoming a parent is much more detrimental to women’s academic careers than it is to men’s

Read the full story: go.nature.com/4v4rxmQ

I'm a Scientist, Get me out of here! promotional graphic. Text reads: Bite-sized online outreach: engage school students without travel or event planning. A clock icon shows 30:00. A sign up button and the URL imascientist.org.uk/signup/c/ are displayed. Background shows students working at computers.

Looking for bite-sized volunteering this #InternationalMicroVolunteeringDay? Meet the I'm a... Programme.

30-minute text-based chats, entirely online. Volunteer Georgia has connected with 650 students since 2020 — all from her desk.

about.imascientist.org.uk/2025/case-study-georgia/

Quantum Computing Super-fast but weird computing Reality is weird, very weird. The first thing you have to do to understand the reality of reality is to drop your common sense. Only then can you start to understand …

For World Quantum Day read about QUantum computing on the CS4FN blog
cs4fn.blog/quantum-comp...

World Quantum Day 2026 Doodle - Google Doodles Learn more about the creation of World Quantum Day 2026 Doodle and discover the story behind the unique artwork.

It's World Quantum Day, apparently!
doodles.google/doodle/world...

Strengthening teaching isn’t always about doing something new.

Often it’s refining what you already do.

Small changes → clearer responses → better learning.

What’s one routine you’ve refined recently?

👉 eef.li/Sdqq6S

How do you sleep? (Like a parrot or a tortoise?) #Fitbit Image by Pixamio from Pixabay Google’s Fitbit is a smart wristwatch which doesn’t just tell you the time but can also monitor your movements and your heart beat. A particular time of da…

How do you sleep? Like a parrot or a tortoise?
Google used unsupervised machine learning to group sleepers based on 22 billion hours of Fitbit sleep data into 6 types they have named after animals.
cs4fn.blog/2026/04/13/h...

Landing soon at UK subscribing schools: the next issue of A BIT OF CS4FN (issue 6) on Music & Artificial Intelligence (AI). Everyone can grab the PDF or read online though.

This issue was created with @c4dm.bsky.social, sponsored by @ukri.org (through EPSRC AI Pipeline) & @qmuleecs.bsky.social

Inspiring teachers = inspiring pupils.

With our June Ingenuity Day on the way, we're taking a moment to reflect on what our CPD days offer teachers - a chance to get genuinely excited about Computing and its possibilities, alongside gaining the latest skills to take back to their classrooms.

#CPD

Steven Madow captured this awesome close-up shot of Artemis ll engine

Steven Madow captured this awesome close-up shot of Artemis ll engine, using a Panasonic GH5 and a Lumix G Leica 50-200mm f/2.8-4 lens. This photo was captured at 1/8000s, f/16, and ISO 100.

Beautiful (and not BS AI)

petapixel.com/2026/04/03/h...

Now added to our Gendered timeline of technology
cs4fn.blog/2023/05/07/a...

1. DoodleDraw a branch (standing upright) 2. DoodleDraw from that branch. To DoodleDraw a Branch: 1. Draw two brown triangles connected in a Y shape 2. Add three flowers at random places near the top of the Y-shape To DoodleDraw from a given branch: 1. Draw a smaller branch at an angle from the given branch. 2. Choose a new existing branch 3. DoodleDraw from that branch

As it is spring the blossom is out so algorithmically doodle blossom trees. Doodle a different blossom tree every time. Tweak the algorithm to create your own. How realistic can you make it?

cs4fn.blog/doodle-algor...

Polina Bayvel's team at UCL have just set a new record for sending data over an existing optical network - 10 times faster than current commercial speeds. It is enough capacity to stream 50 million movies simultaneously in real conditions.
cs4fn.blog/2026/04/11/f...

How do you support your students to think about their learning?

We’re exploring how metacognitive strategies are used with 16–19 learners and we need your voice.

🕒 10-min survey
🎁 Chance to win a £100 Amazon voucher
📊 Shape future guidance

👉https://tinyurl.com/y4v9c2rb

Panel 1 A delivery bot on a suburban path says “You don’t always end up where you expect” Panel 2 “It’s silly but I saw myself beside an astronaut rolling across a strange new world” it says as it continues down the path. An alert reads “50m to destination” Panel 3 A had has opened the lid of the bot and taken out a paper bag. “I like to feel useful. Nobody likes a cold hamburger” Panel 4 It continues “So I give every mission my all” The alert says “mission complete” Panel 5 The sun is setting. The bot looks tired. The alert says it’s power is 3% Panel 6 Night. Stars twinkle. The bot is parked in a lot with three others, it has its eyes closed and says “in my dock I dream of space”

My latest for @newscientist.com

Computer Science in Space Click the cover to download the magazines Mad for Mars? Obsessed with the Oort cloud? Really quite crazy about quasars? No one could blame you. The lure of unexplored territory is amazingly powerfu…

Lots on Computer Science in Space on the CS4FN blog
cs4fn.blog/computer-sci...

"I've seen things you people wouldn't believe..."

The Hidden Code in Toy Adverts Image by Ben Kerckx from Pixabay The music in a toy commercial isn’t just background noise. It tells you who the advert is for, and a machine learning model can hear it (even when you barely …

Gender stereotypes aren't just visible, they're audible too
Toy advert music isn't just background noise. It tells you who the advert is aimed at. A machine learning model hears it even when you barely notice it's different. Luca Marinelli tells us more in our latest blog
cs4fn.blog/2026/03/31/t...

Artemis (novel) - Wikipedia

Seems like a good day to mention Artemis is also a really enjoyable science fiction novel should you be interested in what a realistic moon colony might be like. By Andy Weir of Martian & Project Hail Mary fame: both great books made into wonderful films worth seeing
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artemis...

A series of buttons for different levels. The bottom level is labeled "Earth" and the top level is called "Space"

At Kennedy Space Center astronauts have to take elevators to the top of launch pad towers in order to enter their space capsules before lift off. This is the elevator panel at Pad 39A.

Early years settings: strengthen your maths practice

Last few spaces for @ndnatalk.bsky.social's Maths Champions, fully funded by the DfE.

Children in participating settings made 3 months’ extra progress in maths & language on average. For PVIs, maintained, & school nurseries. tinyurl.com/4xcc7n8r

‘Our assumptions are broken’: how fraudulent church data revealed AI’s threat to polling Experts say paid participants are using automated tools to generate unreliable survey responses at scale

People are using "AI" to complete surveys for money:
www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

If you can’t beat em, join em. P4 enjoyed trying to find words that equaled 67.

(If a=1, b=2 etc..)

Can you find any?

Meta and YouTube found liable in social media addiction trial A woman has been awarded $6m in a verdict that could have implications for hundreds of other cases in the US.

Meta and YouTube found liable in landmark social media addiction trial
www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Humanity’s Last Exam Image by Mohamed Hassan from Pixabay Generative Artificial Intelligences (GenAI) can now pass exams we set for humans and even do better than many humans. They can do that even without being able t…

Humanity's Last exam
A big research project has investigated whether humans can devise expert questions they can answer but GenAI can't. It turns out this is far harder than you might think. Is humanity running out of exam questions? Find out more in our latest CS4FN blog
cs4fn.blog/2026/03/25/h...

Outreach and Engagement Committee – BSHS – The British Society for the History of Science BSHS – The British Society for the History of Science

📣 BSHS Outreach & Engagement Project Grants

Have an idea for sharing #HistSci with wider audiences?

We offer grants of up to £500 to support creative engagement projects — from events to collaborations with museums or heritage sites.

Next deadline is May 15, 2026!

bshs.org.uk/oec/#project...