Audio
essay
Animals and humans
Where went the wolf?
The very attributes that make small dogs cute and popular are slowly strangling their ability to function as real animals
Jessica Pierce
essay
Computing and artificial intelligence
What has feelings?
As the power of AI grows, we need to have evidence of its sentience. That is why we must return to the minds of animals
Kristin Andrews & Jonathan Birch
essay
Mental health
Secrets hurt their holders
Holding back the truth can take a huge toll on your relationships and your mental health. Why? And is there a better way?
Michael Slepian
essay
Ethics
If not vegan, then what?
A vegan diet can be hard to adopt, even if you’re convinced it’s the right thing to do. What are the next-best options?
Peter Godfrey-Smith
essay
History of technology
We’ve always been distracted
Worried that technology is ‘breaking your brain’? Fears about attention spans and focus are as old as writing itself
Joe Stadolnik
essay
Teaching and learning
Learning styles don’t exist
A teaching approach that is based on students’ preferences sounds laudable. But this misunderstands how learning happens
Carl Hendrick
essay
Space exploration
There’s no planet B
The scientific evidence is clear: the only celestial body that can support us is the one we evolved with. Here’s why
Arwen E Nicholson & Raphaëlle D Haywood
essay
Music
Enter the conductrice
Will a new generation of women on the podium perpetuate the tyrannical charisma of their male predecessors or overturn it?
Xenia Hanusiak
essay
History of ideas
The herd in the head
It is enormously empowering – even intoxicating – to lose yourself to a crowd. That is why we need contrarians
Costica Bradatan
essay
Astronomy
Thriving on Mars
Dust storms, long distances and freezing temperatures make living on Mars magnificently challenging. How will we do it?
Simon Morden
essay
Stories and literature
The honesty of pornography
Often vilified as a weapon of male supremacy, pornography in fact has much to tell us about ourselves and our culture
Kathleen Lubey
essay
Ethics
Moral mathematics
Subjecting the problems of ethics to the cool quantifications of logic and probability can help us to be better people
Elad Uzan