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Photo of a galaxy with a bright centre emitting a blue jet of energy against a background of numerous stars in space.

Stars behaving absurdly

For centuries, the only way in which to illuminate the mysteries of black holes was through the power of mathematics

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Cosmology

Stars behaving absurdly

Steve Nadis & Shing-Tung Yau

Popular this month

Photo of a person wearing large sunglasses with outdoor scenery reflected, resting their fingers on their chin in a thoughtful pose.

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Ethics

Main character syndrome

Why romanticising your own life is philosophically dubious, setting up toxic narratives and an inability to truly love

Anna Gotlib

A kingfisher underwater catching a fish amid rising bubbles.

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Complexity

Problem-solving matter

Life is starting to look a lot less like an outcome of chemistry and physics, and more like a computational process

David C Krakauer & Chris Kempes

A smiling elderly man in a cluttered electronics shop with various gadgets and boxes surrounding him.

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Home

The joy of clutter

The world sees Japan as a paragon of minimalism. But its hidden clutter culture shows that ‘more’ can be as magical as ‘less’

Matt Alt

Photo of colourful light reflections on a dark tiled floor, possibly from a stained glass window in a dimly lit interior space.

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Values and beliefs

My leap across the chasm

After years of debate and contemplation, I’ve come to think a heretical form of Christianity might be true. Here’s why

Philip Goff

A Pacific National train engine in yellow and blue with “Make time to ask R U OK?” message on its side.

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Mental health

Constant confession

Mental health campaigns place huge trust in people’s ability to act as therapists. But when should professionals step in?

Aaron Neiman

Photo of a silver inflatable balloon floating in the sky over a blurred brownish background, resembling a flying saucer.

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Information and communication

Coverage of the ‘balloon boy’ hoax forms a withering indictment of for-profit news

17 minutes

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Home

The joy of clutter

The world sees Japan as a paragon of minimalism. But its hidden clutter culture shows that ‘more’ can be as magical as ‘less’

Matt Alt

Painting of a child in a red dress with arms raised standing beside an adult in a pink dress against a dark background.

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Childhood and adolescence

Marmar is living through a devastating war – but she’d rather tell you about her new dress

8 minutes

A man in yellow shorts floating on his back in a swimming pool, with dark lane markings and reflections in the water.

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History of science

Forwards, not back

Medicine aims to return bodies to the state they were in before illness. But there’s a better way of thinking about health

Kate MacCord & Jane Maienschein

Black and white photo of a teenage girl with dark hair smoking, eyes closed, with a blurred outdoor background.

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Meaning and the good life

Wander through the English countryside with two teens trying to make sense of the world

10 minutes

Photo of a white temple with modern design features, a golden statue on top and a bright double rainbow in the cloudy sky.

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Human rights and justice

Utah is so gay!

The Mormon state is seen as deeply homophobic. Yet, from polygamy to pride, Mormons themselves are a distinctly queer lot

Kristi Rhead

A DNA double helix with overlapping images: lined pages, the printed pages of an old book, and a painted portrait of a woman that is the Mona Lisa, all on a black background.

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Computing and artificial intelligence

The ‘cloud’ requires heaps of energy to stay aloft. Could synthetic DNA be the answer?

12 minutes

Close-up photo of a wooden mask with fur eyebrows, hollow eyes, a rounded mouth opening and long black hair against a dark background.

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Anthropology

Witches around the world

The belief in witches is an almost universal feature of human societies. What does it reveal about our deepest fears?

Gregory Forth

Vintage advertising poster for ‘Cocaine Toothache Drops’ featuring two children playing happily, building a house from sticks, in front of a house with a wooden fence.

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Subcultures

An undulating thrill

Once lauded as a wonder of the age, cocaine soon became the object of profound anxieties. What happened?

Douglas Small

Close-up of a man smiling and interacting closely with a puppet of an old man wearing a black beret, both faces nearly touching.

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Art

A puppeteer makes sense of an overwhelming world by shrinking it down to size

5 minutes

Black-and-white photo of a woman in a lab coat examining maize at a table, baskets of maize to the side, in a laboratory.

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Virtues and vices

Against humility

Intellectual humility has recently been hailed as the key to thinking well. The story of Barbara McClintock proves otherwise

Rachel Fraser

Photo of a street sign reading ‘Gipsy Lane’, mounted on a brick wall with green foliage behind, and a car in the background.

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History

There are fragments of Romani Gypsy history all over the UK – if one knows where to look

3 minutes

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Values and beliefs

My leap across the chasm

After years of debate and contemplation, I’ve come to think a heretical form of Christianity might be true. Here’s why

Philip Goff

Close-up photo of butterfly wing scales in shades of orange, pink, white and black arranged in a mosaic-like pattern.

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Biology

Brilliant dots of colour form exquisite patterns in this close-up of butterfly wings

3 minutes

Black and white photo of a vintage race car numbered 6 speeding past blurred spectators emphasising motion and early motor racing.

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History of science

Clock time contra lived time

Henri Bergson and Albert Einstein fundamentally disagreed about the nature of time and how it can be measured. Who was right?

Evan Thompson

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Ethics

Main character syndrome

Why romanticising your own life is philosophically dubious, setting up toxic narratives and an inability to truly love

Anna Gotlib

A child peeking over the back of a horse in a grassy open field with a distant horizon and a slightly cloudy sky.

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Anthropology

Does Mogi’s future lie with her horses on the Mongolian steppe, or in the city?

16 minutes

A digital painting of abstract shapes and lines featuring colourful spheres with light trails against a wavy background.

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Physics

Chasing ghost particles

Without the neutrino, the Universe might be an empty void. But this inscrutable particle isn’t giving up its secrets easily

Corey S Powell

A man and a woman smiling with their hands on the shoulders of a Neanderthal figure with long hair and a beard but in modern clothes.

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Genetics

Why it took a century to work out that humans interbred with Neanderthals

22 minutes

Photo of people in a forest, some kneeling and examining plants, others standing and walking, all surrounded by lush greenery.

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Food and drink

The joy of foraging

Offering an escape from industrial foods, foraging nourishes the soul and body, but it needs democratic access to the land

Nikita Sud

A colourful mural depicting a Mexican American family, a Mexican American woman being tackled by a white policeman, and a stadium resembling a U F O descending from the sky.

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Art

The sprawling mural that depicts an unflinching people’s history of Los Angeles

7 minutes

A woman in casual attire walking by a large weaving loom with black threads in a bright, clean room

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Design and fashion

When luxury is good

The waste and exploitation of fast fashion shouldn’t blind us to the joys of making beautiful clothing with care

Roger Tredre

Painting of a woman with a sword defending a fort from attackers; other figures fight with swords and wooden poles and carry stones.

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Race and ethnicity

The forging of countries

Two distinct and conflicting forms of nationalism – civic and ethnic – helped create the nation-states of Europe

Luka Ivan Jukić