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Science

Essays and videos exploring physics, evolution, cosmology and other frontiers in science

Astronomy Biology Biotechnology Chemistry Complexity Computing and artificial intelligence Cosmology Deep time Earth science and climate Ecology and environmental sciences Engineering Evolution Genetics History of science Human evolution Human reproduction Illness and disease Mathematics Medicine Oceans and water Palaeontology Physics Quantum theory Space exploration

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A person in blue jeans and black jacket resting in an alcove in an old red brick wall.

essaySleep and dreams

What sleep is

It is our biggest blind spot, a bizarre experience that befalls us every day, and can’t be explained by our need for rest

Vladyslav Vyazovskiy

A field of dry grass cluttered with computer company signboards.

essayKnowledge

Holes in the web

Huge swathes of human knowledge are missing from the internet. By definition, generative AI is shockingly ignorant too

Deepak Varuvel Dennison

Black and white photo of a young boy playing simultaneous chess against three suited men watched by a crowd.

essayNeurodiversity

The puzzle of the ‘idiot savant’

The convergence of singular talent and profound disability confounded scientists eager to place humans into neat categories

Violeta Ruiz

Photo of an older man in a checked shirt and brown jacket speaking, bar with framed photos in the background.

videoCosmology

Are observers fundamental to physics, or simply byproducts of it?

10 minutes

Graphic with a vertical split between a red and brown background, with a brown circle at the centre of each half.

essayNeuroscience

Brain man

How can you have a picture of the world when your brain is locked up in your skull? Neuroscientist Dale Purves has clues

Asif Ghazanfar

Microscopic images of cells showing vibrant colours in various patterns against a black background.

videoBiology

For 3 billion years, life was unicellular. Why did it start to collaborate?

4 minutes

Silhouette of a person sitting against a bright window with lens flare effects and a partial view of the outside city.

essayIllness and disease

I made it fun

Warren met his cancer diagnosis with tenacious optimism. But can positive thinking really affect the course of the disease?

Kirtan D Nautiyal

Underwater photo of a mother whale swimming with her calf in deep blue ocean water.

essayEvolution

Should we edit nature?

Countless species are dying from human-induced environmental change. Should we use genetic technology to alter and save them?

David Farrier

A man in a white suit and bowtie standing in front of the Mark Twain Riverboat entrance by a river on a sunny day.

videoTravel

Retracing Mark Twain’s path, a filmmaker sets out to understand the mighty Mississippi

28 minutes

Black and white photo of a child chasing a rolling tyre on a cobblestone street with a blurred motorcycle passing by.

essayPhilosophy of science

Breaking the chain

The role of the conscious observer has posed a stubborn problem for quantum measurement. Phenomenology offers a solution

Steven French

Digital image showing Orion’s Belt constellation now and altered after 4 million years.

videoAstronomy

Visualisations explore what the deep future holds for our night sky

6 minutes

Painting of a group gathered around an orrery, with expressions of curiosity and wonder illuminated by its light.

essayArt

In the glow of the candle

Joseph Wright of Derby put science at the centre of his art. Eclipsed in his lifetime, his work still burns with radical ideas

Charlotte Mullins

A volcanic crater lake with green water surrounded by mist and rocky terrain.

essayEarth science and climate

When sleeping volcanoes wake

The next global disaster may be triggered by a catastrophic eruption. How can we prepare for the fire beneath our feet?

Mike Cassidy

Photo of a car’s interior at night with motion blur, showing a driver’s arm steering through illuminated streets.

essayIllness and disease

Katie’s story

Frontotemporal dementia is rare and ruthless. When it robbed Katie of her husband at 33, his story became her life’s work

Lynn Hallarman

Close-up digital illustration of a lysosome showing detailed proteins in various colours on its surface.

videoBiology

Dive deep into an egg cell to see how ageing reboots when a new life begins

2 minutes

A scientist standing a large metal tunnel with hexagonal gold mirrors at the end of it.

essayCosmology

The Big Bang’s big gaps

The current theory for the origin of the Universe is remarkably successful yet full of explanatory holes. Expect surprises

Jim Baggott

Silhouette of a bird on a branch against a golden sunset sky.

essayAnimals and humans

Life thrums with music

Listen to the boundless sounds of nature, the great animal orchestra, whose songs imbue the world with fresh meaning

Jay Griffiths

A woman and four children inside a car, under an orange sky. A boy is in the driver’s seat, the woman in the passenger seat.

essayMetaphysics

Reality is evil

Everything eats and is eaten. Everything destroys and is destroyed. It is our moral duty to strike back at the Universe

Drew M Dalton

People relaxing in a lush garden with inflatable flamingos and laptops by a pool.

essayProgress and modernity

Authenticate thyself

Data has created a new and paradoxical social order: the promise of emancipation is made possible by classifying everything

Marion Fourcade & Kieran Healy

Photo of an astronaut beside a large boulder on the Moon’s surface with lunar rover in the background against a dark sky.

essayPalaeontology

Life happened fast

It’s time to rethink how we study life’s origins. It emerged far earlier, and far quicker, than we once thought possible

Michael Marshall

3D colour spectrum graph with X, Y, Z axes and a colourful curved surface on a black background, digital rendering.

videoMathematics

After centuries of trying, we’ve yet to arrive at a perfect way to map colour

20 minutes

Abstract digital art with geometric shapes in various colours, forming the shape of a person’s head and shoulders, featuring black glasses in the centre.

essayEthics

The incompleteness of ethics

Many hope that AI will discover ethical truths. But as Gödel shows, deciding what is right will always be our burden

Elad Uzan

Illustration of a blue dragonfly, a green leaf insect and a brown butterfly wing on a light background.

videoHistory of science

Insect aesthetics – long viewed as pests, in the 16th century bugs became beautiful

8 minutes

A stork and chicks in a nest on a metal pylon above a grassy landscape with a river in the background.

essayAnimals and humans

To build a nest

Throughout the animal kingdom, the parents of newborns must strive to create snug sanctuaries in a hazardous world

Helen Jukes