#Education

A growing body of research and first-person reporting shows grief camps — short, structured programs combining peer support, art therapy and ritual — can reduce anxiety and boost self-concept for bereaved children while giving families practical coping tools. A recent USA Today immersion at a Washington, D.C. day grief camp described children painting memory flags, practicing mindfulness and laughing between tears, illustrating how structured, age-appropriate activities can make grief feel less isolating for young people (USA Today). New systematic reviews and meta-analyses now back up those on-the-ground observations, offering guidance for Thai policymakers, schools and community groups seeking culturally sensitive ways to support bereaved children.

A new New York Times roundup of 21 concrete ways people are using artificial intelligence at work shows how rapidly generative models and custom A.I. systems have moved from curiosity to daily tools — speeding routine tasks, augmenting specialist skills and nudging whole professions to rethink how work gets done ( New York Times interactive: “21 Ways People Are Using A.I. at Work” ). From chefs choosing wines and designers fixing photographs, to doctors dictating clinical notes and prosecutors checking paperwork, the examples make a clear point: A.I. is not a single future event but thousands of small, pragmatic changes already affecting work lives. For Thai employers, educators and policymakers, the challenge is to capture productivity gains while managing risks to equity, skills and public trust.

A new study from researchers at the MIT Media Lab finds that conversational artificial intelligence can do more than make factual errors: generative chatbots powered by large language models can actively implant false memories in human users, increase confidence in those false recollections and leave them intact for at least a week after a brief (10–20 minute) interaction (MIT Media Lab study). In controlled experiments simulating witness interviews, participants who interacted with a generative chatbot were misled on critical details at a rate of 36.4% — roughly three times the rate for people who had no post-event intervention — and reported higher confidence in those false memories compared with people who answered a plain survey or spoke to a pre-scripted chatbot (MIT Media Lab study). The finding raises urgent questions for Thai institutions that already rely on digital tools, from law enforcement to schools and hospitals, about how to guard people’s memories and decisions against AI-driven misinformation.

In the quiet corners of a Washington D.C. community center, seven-year-old children carefully paint colorful memory flags while sharing stories of grandparents who will never again prepare their favorite meals. This scene, documented by USA Today journalists, represents a breakthrough approach to childhood bereavement that could revolutionize how Thai families and schools support grieving young people. These innovative grief camps combine peer support, creative expression, and therapeutic activities to help children process loss while building resilience and connection with others who understand their pain.

New research suggests that sleep can amplify a tendency among anxious children and young adolescents to generalise negative experiences, meaning that a single upsetting event may be more likely to cast a wider shadow over similar, harmless situations after a night’s sleep. In a controlled experiment of 34 participants aged 9–14, higher clinician-rated anxiety was associated with a greater chance of falsely recognising new-but-similar negative images as previously seen — but only in the group that slept between learning and test (PsyPost coverage; Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry abstract) (PsyPost, PubMed record).

Groundbreaking research reveals that sleep—typically considered restorative and healing—may actually strengthen negative memory biases in anxious children, potentially explaining why some young people develop persistent worry patterns that spread across multiple life situations. A controlled study of 34 participants aged 9-14 found that children with higher clinician-rated anxiety showed increased tendency to falsely recognize new-but-similar negative images as previously seen, but only after sleeping between learning and testing sessions. This discovery suggests that sleep-dependent memory consolidation processes may selectively strengthen threatening associations in anxious youth, creating a neurological pathway through which single negative experiences expand into generalized fears.

A quiet revolution is sweeping through Thailand’s corporate landscape, fundamentally altering how millions of professionals approach their daily responsibilities. From the gleaming towers of Bangkok’s financial district to bustling family restaurants in Chiang Mai’s old quarter, artificial intelligence has evolved from experimental novelty to indispensable business tool, driving unprecedented productivity gains while creating new pathways for economic advancement across the kingdom.

Recent workplace transformation studies reveal twenty-one distinct AI applications now transforming Thai professional environments, demonstrating measurable impacts on efficiency, creativity, and strategic decision-making. These technological innovations are reshaping entire industries while generating critical insights for Thai employers, educational leaders, and government officials seeking to harness AI’s potential while safeguarding workforce development and maintaining public trust in emerging technologies.

A complex technological reality is emerging across Thai households, schools, and workplaces as artificial intelligence demonstrates remarkable capabilities for enhancing daily productivity while simultaneously presenting significant risks through convincing but fabricated information. Technology experts conducting extensive real-world testing reveal AI’s genuine strengths in creative problem-solving, content generation, and routine task automation, yet consistently emphasize these same systems produce concerning inaccuracies when users expect authoritative research quality or professional consultation reliability.

Groundbreaking research from an international team reveals how childhood maltreatment transforms into adult sexual compulsions through a previously hidden psychological mechanism. The study of 118 individuals demonstrates that early abuse and neglect don’t directly cause hypersexual behavior—instead, they cultivate what researchers term “sexual narcissism,” a constellation of entitled attitudes and diminished empathy that becomes the true driver of compulsive sexual patterns. This discovery reframes compulsive sexual behavior disorder from a simple impulse control problem into a complex trauma response that mental health professionals can now target with precision.

A large survey of young adults finds that background music is not a one-size-fits-all aid for focus: people who screened positive for ADHD report using music more often while studying and exercising and show a stronger preference for stimulating, upbeat tracks, while neurotypical peers tend to choose relaxing, familiar music for demanding tasks — yet both groups report similar perceived benefits for concentration and mood. The research, published in Frontiers in Psychology and summarised by Neuroscience News, suggests music could be a low-cost, personalised tool to support learning and emotional regulation if matched to a listener’s needs and the task at hand (Frontiers in Psychology; Neuroscience News).

Tech writers testing the latest generative tools say the secret is not that AI will change everything tomorrow, but that it already helps with specific, everyday tasks — while still making serious mistakes when asked to be an authoritative source. In a recent Verge bonus episode, the publication’s senior reviewer and colleagues described practical uses — from smoothing children’s bedtimes to planning cross-country moves and quickly prototyping game code — but warned the tools “definitely … fall short” in important ways (The Verge). That mixed verdict mirrors peer‑reviewed findings showing large language models (LLMs) can be useful for drafting and brainstorming, yet produce “hallucinated” or fabricated references and factual errors at nontrivial rates when used as research assistants (JMIR study; arXiv survey). For Thai readers — parents, teachers, clinicians and small-business owners — the immediate question is practical: how to use generative AI to save time and spark ideas, while guarding against errors that could mislead decisions in health, education and tourism.

A growing body of research suggests short, classroom-friendly mindfulness and meditation practices can help children focus, manage stress and build social skills — but recent trials and systematic reviews also warn that benefits vary by age, program quality and how interventions are delivered. That means Thai schools and health authorities should treat meditation as a promising but not yet proven universal remedy: pilot teacher-led programmes, track outcomes with good evaluation, adapt exercises for young children, and safeguard vulnerable pupils through screening and referral ((Times of India feature; Zenner et al., 2014; Phan et al., 2022).

A new longitudinal analysis of UK cohort data finds that children who test as “bright” at age five but grow up in low‑income families maintain academic parity with richer peers through primary school, only to experience a marked drop in school engagement, behaviour, mental health and exam outcomes during the move to secondary school between about ages 11 and 14. The paper — based on the Millennium Cohort Study and reported in a working paper and later published in Research in Social Stratification and Mobility — shows large gaps by the end of compulsory schooling: bright children from poor homes are roughly 26 percentage points less likely to secure top maths GCSE grades and about 21 points less likely to secure top English grades than equivalently high‑scoring peers from the richest families, after statistical adjustments link to working paper/summary and link to journal listing. For Thai educators and policymakers watching aspirations and social mobility, the study raises a clear alarm: early talent alone is not enough; the school transition matters, and social disadvantage can erode promise during early adolescence.

A brief laboratory experiment with common marmosets — small South American monkeys — has underscored a striking possibility: the pull of screens may come less from the meaningful content we expect and more from the simple, repeatable sensory changes that screens produce. In a 2025 study that placed tablets showing tiny silent videos in marmosets’ cages, animals learned to tap images simply to make the image enlarge and to hear chattering sounds; no food, treats or other conventional rewards were offered, yet eight of ten marmosets acquired the tapping behaviour and some continued to tap even when the audiovisual consequence was replaced by a blank screen study link. The result resonates with human reports of “mindless” scrolling and compulsive checking: the form of interaction and the unpredictability of what the screen does next can be reinforcing, independent of meaningful gain. That insight — drawn from our primate relatives — helps explain why so many people in Thailand and around the world lose track of time on phones and social apps, and it points toward practical steps individuals, families and policy-makers can take to reclaim attention and wellbeing.

A remarkable transformation is reshaping San Francisco as artificial intelligence triggers what economists are calling a new “gold rush,” fundamentally altering urban dynamics in ways that hold profound implications for Thailand’s rapidly digitalizing economy. The phenomenon encompasses venture capital flooding into AI startups at unprecedented levels, downtown office markets experiencing dramatic shifts, and cultural tensions emerging between technological advancement and human workforce concerns. According to comprehensive reporting from the Los Angeles Times, this transformation manifests through visible cultural markers including public exhibitions that demystify AI for families, provocative billboard campaigns addressing automation anxiety, and a surge of AI companies whose location and hiring decisions are restructuring entire neighborhoods.

San Francisco is in the midst of what some call a new “gold rush” as artificial intelligence upends downtown office markets, fuels a surge in venture capital and splashes AI messaging across neighborhoods from Mission to the waterfront, according to a recent report by the Los Angeles Times. The city’s transformation is visible in a summer exhibit at the Exploratorium, billboards that both mock and court human workers, and a rapid inflow of AI startups whose funding and leasing decisions are already reshaping downtown real estate and civic life. This story matters to Thai readers because the forces remaking San Francisco — concentrated venture capital, rapid tech-led hiring, changing office demand, public anxiety over job displacement and the cultural response to technology — are surfacing now across Asia. Thailand’s universities, policymakers, entrepreneurs and workers can draw practical lessons from how a global AI boom plays out in a compact, historically and culturally dense city like San Francisco (Los Angeles Times).

A new international survey-based study finds that young adults who screen positive for attention‑deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) use background music more often — and prefer more stimulating tracks — than their neurotypical peers, yet both groups report similar subjective boosts to concentration and mood. The research, published in Frontiers in Psychology and summarized in Neuroscience News, maps real‑world listening habits across everyday tasks and points to music as a low‑cost, customizable tool that could help people in Thailand and elsewhere manage attention and emotion during study, work and exercise (Frontiers article; Neuroscience News summary).

Hearing relatives describe the same childhood in sharply different ways is common — one brother remembers a warm, adventurous upbringing while a sister recalls strict rules and missed opportunities. New popular coverage and decades of behavioural-genetics research say this is not just family myth-making but a predictable result of how children experience the world differently even under one roof. A recent explainer in HuffPost lays out the clinical and practical reasons siblings can have vastly different childhoods, from changing family circumstances and parental moods to birth order and personality differences HuffPost. That observation aligns with long-standing scientific work on the “nonshared environment” — the environmental influences that siblings do not share — and has direct implications for Thai families navigating shrinking household sizes, rapid economic change and shifting gender and filial expectations.

Young people in Surrey who have been out of school for months are reporting reduced anxiety and renewed confidence after taking part in an outreach programme that pairs them with animals as part of a broader therapeutic education offer — a small-scale, community-led model that experts say reflects a growing international evidence base for animal-assisted approaches while also underlining the need for careful design, safeguards and evaluation before wider roll‑out in other countries, including Thailand. The Surrey project, run by therapeutic education provider Elysian and funded through the Surrey All‑Age Mental Health Investment Fund, supports children and teenagers aged 7–19 who have been away from school for three months or more by using “gentle, creative approaches — involving time with animals — to reduce anxiety and build trust,” according to Elysian’s inclusion and outreach lead, quoted in reporting on the programme BBC News. Surrey Heartlands NHS leaders who visited the scheme described observable improvements in young people “overcoming anxiety and getting back into the world” BBC News.

Young people in Surrey, England who have been absent from school for months are experiencing remarkable reductions in anxiety and renewed confidence through an innovative outreach program that pairs therapeutic education with animal interaction, offering a community-based model that mental health experts believe could be successfully adapted for Thai cultural contexts while addressing the growing crisis of school avoidance among adolescents. The Surrey initiative, operated by therapeutic education provider Elysian and funded through a £10.5 million countywide Mental Health Investment Fund, targets children and teenagers aged 7-19 who have been out of school for three months or more, using what organizers describe as “gentle, creative approaches involving time with animals to reduce anxiety and build trust.” Local NHS leadership visiting the program have documented observable improvements in young people “overcoming anxiety and getting back into the world,” suggesting that animal-assisted interventions could complement Thailand’s existing school counseling and mental health services. The success of this community-led approach highlights the potential for culturally-sensitive adaptations that leverage Thailand’s strong traditions of animal care and Buddhist principles of compassion to address youth mental health challenges.

A viral internet compilation documenting seven instances where older adults offered advice that seems hopelessly out of touch with contemporary realities has sparked global conversations about widening generational divides that extend far beyond cultural differences to encompass fundamental economic, technological, and social transformations affecting how young people navigate housing, employment, education, and mental health. The widely-shared listicle, which began as entertainment, exposes deeper structural shifts that render traditional life strategies—“just buy a house,” “college guarantees success,” “tough it out”—not merely outdated but potentially harmful for younger generations facing unprecedented challenges in accessing homeownership, stable employment, and economic security. For Thai readers, this generational friction reflects familiar tensions visible across Bangkok high-rises, Chiang Mai universities, and family gatherings throughout the kingdom, where traditional expectations collide with contemporary realities of inflated housing costs, precarious gig economy employment, and evolving mental health awareness. Most significantly, comprehensive data from housing markets, labor statistics, and educational institutions demonstrates that younger people’s apparent “entitlement” or “lack of resilience” often represents rational responses to genuinely changed economic conditions that require updated strategies rather than moral lectures about character and persistence.

A viral roundup titled “7 times boomers proved they’re completely out of touch with reality” has reignited a global conversation about a widening generational divide — not just about attitudes, but about economics, mental health, work and the basic rules of adulthood VegOut. What began as a punchy listicle that lampooned tired advice — “just buy a house,” “college fixes everything,” “toughen up” — quickly exposes deeper structural shifts that make many older-era playbooks impractical or even harmful for younger generations. For Thai readers, the piece is more than internet schadenfreude: it holds up a mirror to similar tensions in Bangkok apartments, Chiang Mai co‑working spaces and family dinner tables across the country, and prompts a look at evidence from housing data, labour reports and mental‑health research that explain why younger people are frustrated, anxious and changing their life plans.

A new wave of vole research is reframing oxytocin’s role in social life: the hormone is less a universal “cuddle chemical” and more a fine-tuner of selectivity that helps animals invest in specific relationships while turning away outsiders. In female prairie voles lacking oxytocin receptors, friendships form late, wobble easily, and fail to trump contact with strangers, according to new findings reported by University of California, Berkeley neuroscientists and collaborators and summarized by The Transmitter as a study just out in Current Biology. The work suggests oxytocin receptors are not essential for general sociability or even romantic pair bonds—but are crucial for maintaining loyal, selective friendships that endure distractions in a crowd. Those insights, scientists say, could sharpen how we think about human friendship, loneliness, and the design of social environments in Thailand and beyond.

Revolutionary neuroscience research challenges decades of conventional wisdom about oxytocin, revealing that this celebrated “love hormone” functions less as a universal bonding agent and more as a sophisticated social filter that helps individuals maintain selective relationships while excluding outsiders. University of California Berkeley scientists studying genetically modified prairie voles discovered that females lacking oxytocin receptors form friendships later in life, struggle to maintain loyal bonds, and cannot distinguish between familiar companions and strangers in social settings. These groundbreaking findings suggest oxytocin’s primary role involves supporting selective social loyalty rather than general sociability, insights that could transform approaches to human loneliness, friendship maintenance, and community social design throughout Thailand’s rapidly changing social landscape.