Abstract painting with a guitar and geometric shapes in vibrant colours including yellow, green and blue.

The guitarist’s palette

In the hands of a great musician, the gloriously simple guitar can create the most complex works of art. Here’s how

essayMusic

The guitarist’s palette

Craig Ogden

Popular this month

A detailed NASA photo of Mars showing the Valles Marineris canyon system with cratered terrain and dust-streaked surface.

essayCosmology

Megastructures on Mars

Images of vast ‘canals’ rippling across the red planet inspired fears of alien ‘engineers’ and changed science forever

Dagomar Degroot

Medieval illustration of a map, depicting ornate ships, islands and sea creatures on a stylised ocean.

essayGlobal history

The world without hegemony

As Pax Americana ends, a multipolar order is emerging. The history of Southeast Asia holds lessons for what’s to come

Manjeet S Pardesi & Amitav Acharya

Collage art of a man’s face with colourful lines and words on a vibrant pink and teal background.

essayMusic

Mapping Bob Dylan’s mind

Generative AI sheds new light on the underlying engines of metaphor, mood and reinvention in six decades of songs

Prashant Garg

An ant on a twig against a pastel pink and purple background with its reflection on a glossy surface.

essayBioethics

The ant you can save

Should we simply assume that all animals can feel pain and are of moral concern? Or is that taking things too far?

Jeff Sebo & Andreas L Mogensen

Watercolour painting of a person crouching, sketched with soft colours and lines, on a light background.

essayPhilosophy of mind

From cells to selves

Contemplating the world requires a body, and a body requires an immune system: the rungs of life create the stuff of thought

Anna Ciaunica

Photo of a messy room with a person lying on a cluttered sofa surrounded by books posters boxes and string lights.

videoLove and friendship

The ‘soul brotherhood’ between a son and his caregiving father

6 minutes

Close-up photo of hands passing a small wooden cup during a dimly lit gathering with bottles visible in the background.

essayConsciousness and altered states

A wondrous brew

From Peruvian healers battling sorcerers to Chinese executives seeking financial success, ayahuasca’s power shifts across worlds

Alex K Gearin

Photo of two women sitting outdoors laughing with a colourful backdrop in the background.

videoSubcultures

Nomadic life is a warm, poignant memory for many Irish Travellers

10 minutes

Graphic depiction of a Go game board with numbered black and white circles and Japanese characters, in a grid layout.

videoFilm and visual culture

Japanese news clippings from 1991 blur into a hypnotic collage

3 minutes

A cat sitting on ancient ruins with tall columns under a clear blue sky.

essayThinkers and theories

Nothing alive is alien to me

Who belongs to our moral community? The Greek philosopher Empedocles had an answer: all life, from humans to the laurel bush

Tristan Moyle

Black and white photo of a line of people marching on a city street holding signs protesting against the draft for the Vietnam War.

essayWar and peace

Not in our name

The gravest of all decisions, to go to war, happens without the consent of the people. This is a great flaw in democracy

Vincenza Falletti

Black-and-white photo of hands framing the sky with a modern building in the background.

videoLove and friendship

What people’s hand gestures reveal when they’re asked about love

9 minutes

Photo of rugged limestone formations at sunset with a partly cloudy sky and sea visible in the background.

essayEarth science and climate

Our phosphorescent world

This life-giving element, stored in rock and organic material, moves around Earth in an ancient cycle we have just broken

Jack Lohmann

Painting of three people in formal attire with minimal facial features standing by the sea under a light blue sky.

videoGlobal history

The story of the captives transported on the HMS Beagle with Darwin

9 minutes

Abstract digital artwork with smooth gradients of red and orange hues creating a warm, flowing appearance.

essayIllness and disease

The inflammation age

Acute inflammation helps the body heal. But chronic inflammation is different and could provoke a medical paradigm shift

Amy K McLennan

Artwork of a large brown planet and a smaller blue one in space with stars in the background.

videoAstronomy

Why exomoons could be astronomy’s next big breakthrough

35 minutes

Vintage sepia photo of two women in Victorian attire sitting in a parlour room with floral wallpaper, reading opposite each other at writing desk.

essayTechnology and the self

‘I awoke at ½ past 7’

Our cursed age of self-monitoring and optimisation didn’t start with big tech: as so often, the Victorians are to blame

Elena Mary

Photo of a smiling woman in a green sweater talking with friends in a cosy, colourful cafe interior.

essayNeurodiversity

Mask on/mask off

People with ADHD and autism have to mask their instincts if they want to be included. But the strain exacts a very high price

Gilly Kahn

Photo of a group of people walking through a field with yellow flowers under bare trees on a sunny day.

videoChildhood and adolescence

Seven years on the road, finding utopia in the lives of women

8 minutes

Sepia-toned photo of people labouring on a plantation with baskets and tools, set against a backdrop of hills and buildings.

essayGlobal history

The deepest South

Slavery in Latin America, on a huge scale, was different from that in the United States. Why don’t we know this history?

Ana Lucia Araujo

Photo of a person with a backpack walking up a narrow outdoor staircase between brick buildings and lush greenery.

videoHome

Cheng visits his hometown, awash in the tides of history and time

20 minutes

Photo of a lone bench facing turbulent ocean waves under a cloudy sky. The area is partially flooded by the sea.

essayEarth science and climate

The model of catastrophe

The immense complexity of the climate makes it impossible to model accurately. Instead we must use uncertainty to our advantage

David Stainforth

Illustration of a blue baby with symbols of heart, ear, bone, eye, tooth, brain, and lips around it on a white background.

videoBioethics

When, if ever, is selecting a ‘designer baby’ ethical?

5 minutes

essayBioethics

The ant you can save

Should we simply assume that all animals can feel pain and are of moral concern? Or is that taking things too far?

Jeff Sebo & Andreas L Mogensen

essayMusic

Mapping Bob Dylan’s mind

Generative AI sheds new light on the underlying engines of metaphor, mood and reinvention in six decades of songs

Prashant Garg

Painting of a person in glasses holding a cigarette, with yellow plants in the background and a dark green-yellow colour scheme.

videoWar and peace

A glimpse of daily life for people in isolated, war-torn Myanmar

13 minutes

A vast open-pit coal mine with excavation machinery surrounded by green hills.

essayEnvironmental history

Are you Confusedocene?

As a scientific concept the Anthropocene is dead. But it’s such a helpful idea to think with, should we use it anyway?

Ville Lähde

Photo of a close-up saltmarsh sparrow’s head against a blue sky and grassy landscape background.

videoEcology and environmental sciences

Racing rising tides, volunteers work to save a bird on the brink

25 minutes