Empire of flight
They have big brains, long childhoods and sociable, curious minds. So why haven’t birds developed complex culture?
Popular this month
essay
Human evolution
The other Homo sapiens
We are just one branch of a diverse human family tree. Aside from Neanderthals, who were they – and why did we replace them?
Nick Longrich
essay
Neuroscience
The entangled brain
The brain is much less like a machine than it is like the murmurations of a flock of starlings or an orchestral symphony
Luiz Pessoa
essay
Philosophy of science
Why philosophy of physics?
Some physicists reject philosophy as a distraction from ‘real’ science but it is in fact both useful and beautiful
James Read
essay
Comparative philosophy
A cure for individualism
It runs deeply through the Western outlook, hailed and condemned in equal measures. For a corrective, look to Confucius
Tim Connolly
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Political philosophy
The allure of autarky
Liberal thinkers are shocked that nations are once again isolating from the world. The real surprise would be if they didn’t
Ben Chu
video
Archaeology
At a prehistoric pigment mine, researchers glimpse our earliest moments in the Americas
25 minutes
essay
Animals and humans
Animals taught us culture
Prehistoric humans didn’t create art and architecture out of nothing. They took inspiration from the nonhuman world
Sarah Newman
video
Economics
A tour of New York’s gaudiest neighbourhood with the Marxist geographer David Harvey
13 minutes
essay
History of science
Incredible testimonies
In the 1980s, thousands of Americans began to suspect they may have been abducted by aliens. What happened?
Greg Eghigian
video
Art
Defying classification, fantastical artworks reframe the racism of Carl Linnaeus
8 minutes
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Comparative philosophy
What is Ethiopian philosophy?
Riven by two competing schools of thought, the future of philosophical enquiry in Ethiopia stands at a crossroads
Fasil Merawi
video
Engineering
Building a prosperous future demands bold ideas. These are some of the boldest
40 minutes
essay
Neuroscience
Ingredients for brilliance
An immersive ‘flow state’ isn’t only accessible to great artists and athletes. You can find your flow too. Here’s how
Julia F Christensen
essay
Philosophy of science
Why philosophy of physics?
Some physicists reject philosophy as a distraction from ‘real’ science but it is in fact both useful and beautiful
James Read
video
Film and visual culture
Space and time expand, contract and combust in this propulsive animation
5 minutes
essay
History of science
A nasogenital tale
A bizarre theory (and a gory surgery) in fin-de-siècle Vienna help us get a grip on how science and medicine actually work
Urte Laukaityte
video
Environmental history
In Kazakhstan, ‘atomic lakes’ still scar the landscape decades after Soviet nuclear tests
13 minutes
essay
Archaeology
Deep time and the revenant
In enigmatic burials, crafted to bind the bodies within, we can see how truly ancient our fears of the undead must be
Rebecca Batley
video
Childhood and adolescence
‘Do worms cry?’ – and other questions collected from the mind of a curious child
4 minutes
essay
Oceans and water
An oceanic tempo
An appreciation of the immensity embedded in the ocean’s cycles offers a way to reimagine our relationship with time
James Bradley
essay
Neurodiversity
Our diverse togetherness
While initiatives for inclusive education mean well, schools fail to provide neurodivergent students what they need to flourish
Chelsea Wallis
video
Sports and games
Young Palestinians find fleeting moments of freedom at a West Bank skate park
13 minutes
essay
History of science
The light beyond sight
Only a tiny sliver of the Universe’s light can be seen by human eyes. But today we’re catching glimpses of the invisible
Corey S Powell
video
Philosophy of mind
‘Am I not at least something?’ A surreal dive into Descartes’s Meditations
3 minutes
essay
Comparative philosophy
A cure for individualism
It runs deeply through the Western outlook, hailed and condemned in equal measures. For a corrective, look to Confucius
Tim Connolly
video
History of science
Meet the Quaker pacifist who shattered British science’s highest glass ceilings
14 minutes
essay
Human rights and justice
Levelling the world
Gerrard Winstanley led a small band of radicals whose vision of justice encompassed the globe and continues to inspire
Rowan Wilson
essay
Human evolution
The other Homo sapiens
We are just one branch of a diverse human family tree. Aside from Neanderthals, who were they – and why did we replace them?
Nick Longrich