Menu
Aeon
DonateNewsletter
SIGN IN
Tiny planet photo of a snowy mountain under a starry sky and Milky Way galaxy with glowing horizon.

Exploding the Big Bang

It was thought that science could tell us about the origins of the Universe. Today that great endeavour is in serious doubt

Hand-drawn diagram titled “Free-Form Discrete H’Texts” showing a map with two-way links and a flowchart with one-way links.

essay

Future of technology

A linkless internet

In creating anonymous summaries, AI flattens out all the fascinating architecture of thought that makes the internet hum

Collin Jennings

A photo of a printshop workbench featuring a newspaper layout, metal type blocks, and tools.

video

History of technology

Replicating Shakespearean-era printing brings its own dramas and comedy

19 minutes

Black and white photo of cars in traffic on a multi-lane motorway seen from above.

essay

Political philosophy

The order of anarchy

How San Francisco’s free rides system can help us understand anarchist theory and the work of the late, great James C Scott

Reyko Huang

A man with a long beard wearing glasses holding a net against a backdrop of a grassy field and cloudy sky.

video

Animals and humans

The wild tale of a young animal keeper, an angry tiger and a torn circle net

10 minutes

A woman on a sofa injecting her abdomen surrounded by stuffed toys on a shelf.

video

Technology and the self

Why single Chinese women are freezing their eggs in California

24 minutes

Coastal erosion showing a collapsed road beside the sea with houses nearby, a person walking a dog on the beach.

essay

Home

How to lose your home

In a changing climate, the instinct is to save everything you can. But maybe letting go is braver – and better for the future?

Dan Hancox

Abstract painting with geometric shapes, lines and circles in various colours on a beige background.

video

Beauty and aesthetics

Can you see music in this painting? How synaesthesia fuelled Kandinsky’s art

10 minutes

Black-and-white photo of a man in a suit holding a mug, sitting next to a chimpanzee in an enclosure.

essay

Human evolution

The eugenicist of UNESCO

Why did Julian S Huxley, first director of the UN agency, think eugenics held the key to a more evolved, harmonious world?

Stefan Bernhardt-Radu

Black and white photo of three people seated at an outdoor café table.

essay

Political philosophy

The underground university

During the Cold War, Oxford philosophers worked together to aid dissidents behind the Iron Curtain. I was one of them

Cheryl Misak

Painting of Roman soldiers in red carrying shields, forming a testudo (tortoise) formation during battle, viewed from the side.

video

The ancient world

Petty squabbles and bloody battles – the life of an ancient Roman soldier

18 minutes

Abstract photo of tree branches with a dreamy overlay of yellow and blue light creating a soft, ethereal effect.

essay

Metaphysics

Many worlds, many selves

If it’s true that we live in a vast multiverse, then our understanding of identity, morality and even God must be reexamined

Emily Qureshi-Hurst

Young girls dressed in riot police helmets and gear standing outdoors in the rain.

video

Childhood and adolescence

The police camp where tween girls enter a sisterhood of law and order

28 minutes

An adult and two children in a mall atrium, dressed in winter clothing.

essay

Biography and memoir

A grief with no name

As a child, I was torn from a culture that I never knew. It is a loss that defines me, even as I struggle to define the loss

Jelena Markovic

Illustration of a tattooed man from behind looking at a starry sky with trees silhouetted in the foreground.

video

Astronomy

The remarkable innovations inspired by our need to know the night sky

5 minutes

Historic photo of a large crowd gathered outside a gated building surrounded by trees, while two women in long dresses approach them from the building.

essay

Thinkers and theories

Who can claim Aristotle?

The endless battle over his legacy testifies to his great authority – and the power of his thought to make the world better

Edith Hall

Ancient stone statues depicting a standing and a reclining Buddha against a natural rock backdrop.

essay

Philosophy of religion

Compassionate time

On his final journey through Asia, Thomas Merton found some peace in the dialectic between refusing the world and loving it

Drew Calvert

A wooden cabin on a grassy hill with a mountainous backdrop and cloudy sky in the distance.

video

Knowledge

Why it takes more than a lifetime to truly understand a single meadow

11 minutes

Photo of a protest in front of a historic building with statues. Signs read “End Racism Now!” and other messages.

essay

Nations and empires

What is decolonisation?

There’s more talk of decolonisation than ever, while true independence for former colonies has faded from view. Why?

Lydia Walker

Abstract digital art of glowing, multicoloured clusters against a dark background, resembling molecules in space.

video

Physics

Groundbreaking visualisations show how the world of the nucleus gives rise to our own

10 minutes

Photo of an elderly man with a bald head and moustache wearing a suit and tie, smiling against a light-coloured, blurred background.

video

War and peace

‘She is living on in many hearts’ – Otto Frank on the legacy of his daughter’s diary

12 minutes

A small animal curled up asleep on brown moss against a black background illuminated by a spotlight.

essay

Biology

Could humans hibernate?

Hibernation allows many animals to time-travel from difficult times to plenty. Could humans learn how to do it too?

Vladyslav Vyazovskiy

Illustration of a child holding a shell to their ear with a bird singing on a branch amidst abstract greenery and flowers.

essay

Bioethics

The cochlear question

As the hearing parent of a deaf baby, I’m confronted with an agonising decision: should I give her an implant to help her hear?

Abi Stephenson

A painting depicting a group of people in a room, with a man painting and a young girl in the centre, dressed in ornate clothes.

video

Art

Why Diego Velázquez needed a lifetime to paint his enigmatic masterpiece

31 minutes

A solitary figure walking up misty stairs toward an unclear building, creating a mysterious atmosphere.

essay

Philosophy of science

The nature of natural laws

Physicists and philosophers today have formulated three opposing models that explain how laws work. Which is the best?

Mario Hubert