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A person in a hi-vis vest sitting outdoors at a table with a drink, looking into the distance.

The unseen

Our crisis of work and technology is one in which too many people feel that nobody sees them as a fellow human being

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A person in a hi-vis vest sitting outdoors at a table with a drink, looking into the distance.

essay

Technology and the self

The unseen

Our crisis of work and technology is one in which too many people feel that nobody sees them as a fellow human being

Allison J Pugh

Popular this month

A rocky cliff with natural caves and green vegetation growing on the surface.

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

Street food vendor cooking skewers on a grill as people gather to eat and buy in a bustling outdoor setting.

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

Four ballet dancers practising at a barre, wearing black leotards and pink tights, leaning back with their left arms raised.

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

A beaver dam on a calm lake surrounded by dense evergreen forest with mountains faintly visible in the background.

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

Black birds flying over snowy mountains with dramatic cloudy skies in the background.

essay

Evolution

Empire of flight

They have big brains, long childhoods and sociable, curious minds. So why haven’t birds developed complex culture?

Antone Martinho-Truswell

Photo of a woman in a floral headscarf with a man in the background against a rural autumn landscape under a clear sky.

video

Home

Life moves slowly in a Romanian mountain village, shaped by care and the seasons

13 minutes

Medieval painting of a circular walled city with towers and a large lamb statue on a roof, surrounded by countryside.

essay

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

A white playroom with a boy in a tent and his mother reading to him holding stuffed animals, toys scattered around.

video

Family life

A mother and child bond in an unusual prison visitation space in this poignant portrait

11 minutes

Weathered hands holding a small, carved stone tool with intricate details, set against a blurred background.

video

Archaeology

At a prehistoric pigment mine, researchers glimpse our earliest moments in the Americas

25 minutes

A beaver dam on a calm lake surrounded by dense evergreen forest with mountains faintly visible in the background.

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

Photo of an older man with white hair and beard in a cityscape with tall modern buildings in the background.

video

Economics

A tour of New York’s gaudiest neighbourhood with the Marxist geographer David Harvey

13 minutes

Black and white photo of a woman and man sitting on a sofa holding a newspaper with a front-page story about a UFO sighting.

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

Abstract painting of textured forms resembling fibres and foliage overlaid on an antique map background.

video

Art

Defying classification, fantastical artworks reframe the racism of Carl Linnaeus

8 minutes

A dimly lit bar with red decor, a man sitting at the counter, a bartender, and a woman entering through a door.

essay

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

Futuristic digital artwork of Earth with two large transparent rings arching over it in space.

video

Engineering

Building a prosperous future demands bold ideas. These are some of the boldest

40 minutes

Four ballet dancers practising at a barre, wearing black leotards and pink tights, leaning back with their left arms raised.

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

Renaissance drawing of two figures in robes in a circle on aged paper. One figure points to a celestial object composed of concentric circles on the left.

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

Profile painting of a woman with dark hair against a vivid red background.

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

Aerial photo of a large circular crater with a dark centre in a brown landscape, resembling an impact site.

video

Environmental history

In Kazakhstan, ‘atomic lakes’ still scar the landscape decades after Soviet nuclear tests

13 minutes

Three ancient human skeletons laid side by side in an archaeological excavation site.

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

Black and white photo of two girls in dresses touching foreheads while sitting on a rock in a field of daisies.

video

Childhood and adolescence

‘Do worms cry?’ – and other questions collected from the mind of a curious child

4 minutes

Aerial photo of turquoise ocean with a sinuous sand-coloured formation running diagonally, creating a striking contrast.

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

A young person with curly hair and glasses, wearing a backpack, indoors in what appears to be a school setting, with a green door and soft lighting, other children in background.

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

Photo of a young woman in a pink hijab skateboarding on a ramp, with a building and a flag visible in the background.

video

Sports and games

Young Palestinians find fleeting moments of freedom at a West Bank skate park

13 minutes

Infrared image of the Milky Way shows a glowing red band of stars across a blue background, indicating cosmic dust and gas.

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

Street food vendor cooking skewers on a grill as people gather to eat and buy in a bustling outdoor setting.

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