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Science

Essays and videos exploring physics, evolution, cosmology and other frontiers in science
AstronomyBiologyBiotechnologyChemistryComplexityComputing and artificial intelligenceCosmologyDeep timeEarth science and climateEcology and environmental sciencesEngineeringEvolutionGeneticsHistory of scienceHuman evolutionHuman reproductionIllness and diseaseMathematicsMedicineOceans and waterPalaeontologyPhysicsQuantum theorySpace exploration
LatestPopular
Newborn baby being held by a person wearing blue gloves, with another masked individual looking at the baby in a medical setting.
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essay

Human reproduction

Baby talk

When babies are born, they cry in the accent of their mother tongue: how does language begin in the womb?

Darshana Narayanan

A person with a prosthetic leg stands in a room filled with plastic-wrapped prosthetics and limbs, showcasing orthopaedic supplies.
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video

Technology and the self

A filmmaker finds a tactile beauty in the creation of her prosthetic leg

11 minutes

Black and white snowy mountain scene with vehicles, overlaid by a large smear of vivid blue paint in the upper right area.
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video

Knowledge

An Indigenous myth and a geological survey elicit two ways of knowing one place

4 minutes

Two beetles with translucent wings flying against a pink background.
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video

Biology

Beetles take flight at 6,000 frames per second in this perspective-shifting short

9 minutes

Weather map showing temperature, cloud cover, and other meteorological data across Ireland, the UK, and part of mainland Europe. Isobars are also depicted.
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video

War and peace

A war meteorologist’s riveting account of how the Allies averted a D-Day disaster

6 minutes

Aerial view of an industrial site emitting smoke, surrounded by snow-covered buildings and landscape, under a clear blue sky with birds flying overhead.
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essay

Politics and government

Governing for the planet

Nation-states are no longer fit for purpose to create a habitable future for humans and nature. Which political system is?

Jonathan S Blake & Nils Gilman

Close-up of two black optical devices with visible yellow light inside the lenses, set against a blurry background.
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video

Physics

What does it look like to hunt for dark matter? Scenes from one frontier in the search

7 minutes

Abstract art depicting DNA sequencing, with vertical bands of vibrant colours including yellow, red, blue and green, blending into each other with a glossy, reflective texture.
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essay

Genetics

We are not machines

Welcome to the new post-genomic biology: a transformative era in need of fresh metaphors to understand how life works

Philip Ball

Silhouette of a man, a child, and a cow with large horns sitting on the ground at sunset.
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essay

Progress and modernity

In praise of magical thinking

Once we all had knowledge of how to heal ourselves using plants and animals. The future would be sweeter for renewing it

Anna Badkhen

Microscopic view of various microorganisms and particles in a blue liquid, showing a large oval-shaped microorganism amidst smaller particles.
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video

Biology

An elegy for a dying microbe explores what we really mean by ‘death’

9 minutes

Painting of a riverside scene with a large windmill, boats on the water, and three women standing on the bank next to a dock, under cloudy sky.
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essay

History of technology

Learning to love monsters

Windmills were once just machines on the land but now seem delightfully bucolic. Could wind turbines win us over too?

Stephen Case

Split image showing two types of coral, a hard coral on the left and a soft coral with tentacles on the right, both in deep blue light.
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video

Biotechnology

It’s our responsibility to engineer corals that can weather the world we’ve created

11 minutes

Abstract black-and-white image featuring a spherical shape at the centre surrounded by an intricate web of swirling, crisscrossing lines, creating a three-dimensional effect. The background is dark, enhancing the contrast and emphasising the white lines and central sphere.
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video

Physics

Imagining spacetime as a visible grid is an extraordinary journey into the unseen

12 minutes

Bright yellow bird building a nest with grass on a branch surrounded by green leaves.
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video

Engineering

For one of nature’s great builders, finding a mate means weaving the perfect nest

4 minutes

Image of M87 galaxy showing a bright yellowish central core with a jet of blue plasma extending outward into space. The background is filled with faint stars and a hazy, brownish hue
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essay

History of science

His radiant formula

Stephen Hawking’s greatest legacy – a simple little equation now 50 years old – revealed a shocking aspect of black holes

Roger Highfield

Close-up image of a jumping spider showing its detailed features, including multiple eyes, hairy legs, and fangs. The spider is facing forward with a white background.
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essay

Evolution

What is intelligent life?

Our human minds hold us back from truly understanding the many brilliant ways that other creatures solve their problems

Abigail Desmond & Michael Haslam

Mist-covered city skyline with a calm, reflective body of water in the foreground under a grey sky.
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essay

Pleasure and pain

Eulogy for silence

Tinnitus is like a constant scream inside my head, depriving me of what I formerly treasured: the moments of serene quiet

Diego Ramírez Martín del Campo

A close-up of an orange and black butterfly perched on a leaf with a soft, pastel-coloured background.
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essay

History of ideas

Chaos and cause

Can a butterfly’s wings trigger a distant hurricane? The answer depends on the perspective you take: physics or human agency

Erik Van Aken

X-ray image of a single flower with visible petals, stem, and internal structures on a black background.
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essay

Philosophy of mind

Do plants have minds?

In the 1840s, the iconoclastic scientist Gustav Fechner made an inspired case for taking seriously the interior lives of plants

Rachael Petersen

Image of a human colon highlighted in blue, with a contrasting yellow-orange background, taken using a medical imaging technique to show the internal structure.
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essay

Illness and disease

Getting past ‘it’s IBS’

While science illuminates the gut-brain relationship, doctors remain ignorant and dismissive of patients with gut problems

Xi Chen

Medieval manuscript illustration of a dragon with a red head, green and blue wings, and a snake-like tail, standing on a hill. The dragon is bordered by a decorative green frame with circular patterns and a blue border with white rings. The background features golden leaf motifs.
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video

Animals and humans

Why be dragons? How massive, reptilian beasts entered our collective imagination

58 minutes

View from space of Europe at night, showing bright city lights and the Northern Lights in the distance. The image features a clear outline of countries and coastlines illuminated by artificial light, with a dark sky speckled with stars overhead.
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essay

Ecology and environmental sciences

Dominion

To take care of the Earth, humans must recognise that we are both a part of the animal kingdom and its dominant power

Hugh Desmond

Close-up image of a hand holding a pile of vibrant red powder, possibly a spice or pigment, displaying a textured and granular surface. The background is blurred, ensuring the focus remains on the red powder and the hand.
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video

Biology

How the world’s richest reds are derived from an innocuous Mexican insect

5 minutes

Abstract artwork featuring geometric shapes, primarily red and black triangles, against a white background. Russian text is interspersed, with a red triangle pointing rightward and a large white circle on the right. Various smaller shapes and text elements are scattered around.
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essay

Quantum theory

Quantum dialectics

When quantum mechanics posed a threat to the Marxist doctrine of materialism, communist physicists sought to reconcile the two

Jim Baggott