Science

The skyhook solution

Space junk surrounds Earth, posing a dangerous threat. But there is a way to turn the debris into opportunity

Angelos Alfatzis

A scientist’s poor eyesight helped fuel a revolution in computer ‘vision’

9 minutes

Struggling to learn how to do a backflip, Nikita takes on an unusual training regimen

12 minutes

When algae met fungi – the hidden story of life’s most successful partnership

4 minutes

From helicopter flybys to trail cameras, there’s no one way to count a wolf

8 minutes

Explore a bioluminescent world of cellular life via cutting-edge microscopy

27 minutes

The final ethical frontier

Earthbound exploration was plagued with colonialism, exploitation and extraction. Can we hope to make space any different?

Philip Ball

Panspermia

It’s possible that frozen worlds with subterranean oceans are incubators of organic life. But then how did life get here?

Balazs Bradak

Physician, invade thyself

Eager for medical breakthroughs, some doctors take enormous risks experimenting on themselves. Should we celebrate them?

Tom Doyle

Uncertain contact

The detection of alien life won’t be obvious. It’ll be partial and inconclusive: a perfect task for the scientific method

Jaime Green

In 1886, a US agency set out to record new fruit varieties. The results are wondrous

5 minutes

A song of ice, fire and jelly – exploring the physics and history of the trumpet

9 minutes

More than pink

The culture around breast cancer is full of positivity and femininity. But it comes at the expense of the marginalised

Philippa Hetherington

How a curious question about colouring maps changed mathematics forever

9 minutes

We are not empty

The concept of the atomic void is one of the most repeated mistakes in popular science. Molecules are packed with stuff

Mario Barbatti

A dreamy tribute to the music of Brian Eno, rendered in paint, soap and water

2 minutes