Science
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Astronomy
Thriving on Mars
Dust storms, long distances and freezing temperatures make living on Mars magnificently challenging. How will we do it?
Simon Morden
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History of science
Where God dwelt
For hundreds of years, Christians knew exactly where heaven was: above us and above the stars. Then came the new cosmologists
Stephen Case
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Evolution
Why making if-then connections might be the key to consciousness
5 minutes
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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
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Earth science and climate
Our Earth, shaped by life
Darwin was the first to see that all lifeforms, from worms to corals, transform the planet. What does that mean for us?
Olivia Judson
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Biology
To understand the limits of human senses, look to the wild world of animal cognition
45 minutes
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Cosmology
Cogitating black holes
The Universe cannot always be understood through observation. Instead, physicists explore by devising thought experiments
Michael Dine
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Design and fashion
From sheep to sea – an ode to the iconic sweater that warms Cornish sailors
4 minutes
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Mental health
The helpful delusion
Evidence is growing that mental illness is more than dysfunction, with enormous implications for treatment
Justin Garson
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Knowledge
Yes, the Inuit have dozens of words for snow – but what does each one mean exactly?
6 minutes
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History of science
How one of history’s most beautiful books was used to find fate in the cosmos
6 minutes
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Evolution
Symmetry rules life on Earth – but it comes with many fascinating exceptions
9 minutes
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Biology
There’s no one way for an insect to fly, but they’re all amazing in close up and slo-mo
7 minutes
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Palaeontology
A dinosaur is a story
As Brontosaurus tells us, in science as in fiction, the stories we tell to understand the world are always being revised
Nathaniel Goldberg & Chris Gavaler
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History of science
A singular scientist
James Lovelock was a visionary whose greatest ideas were made possible by his unshakeable independence
Roger Highfield
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Oceans and water
Tomorrow’s corals
A warming planet and acid oceans will radically transform marine ecosystems. How will our beloved reefs survive?
Klaus M Stiefel & James D Reimer
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Space exploration
Telescopes on the Moon
Our future in space relies on settling the Moon and using it as a base to probe the deepest questions in the cosmos
Joseph Silk
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Deep time
Mutual entrapment
As Neolithic people transformed prehistoric forests, they stumbled into an ecological trap. Domestication goes both ways
Mette Løvschal
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Logic and probability
Is it more likely you’re a person with a past, or an ephemeral brain in a void?
6 minutes
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Astronomy
Raw solar-storm footage is the punk-rock antidote to sleek James Webb imagery
6 minutes
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Consciousness and altered states
Seeing and somethingness
An evolutionary approach to consciousness can resolve the ‘hard problem’ – with radical implications for animal sentience
Nicholas Humphrey
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Evolution
Fortune favours the shrewd
Attaining and maintaining power lies at the heart of almost all animal societies. And it’s as devious as human politicking
Lee Alan Dugatkin
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Biology
Dazzling timelapse shows how microbes spoil our food – and sometimes enrich it
22 minutes
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Biology
Like pop music, humpback whale songs spread, mutate, and fall out of fashion
9 minutes