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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

LatestPopular

Photo of an ocean sunset seen through a round window with a warm sepia tone across the sky and water.

essay

Language and linguistics

The grammar of a god-ocean

To truly explore alien languages, linguists must open themselves to the maximum conceivable degree of cosmic otherness

Eli K P William

A man in a blue shirt playing a saxophone against a dark background.

essay

Consciousness and altered states

Kind of confusing

Is consciousness like jazz, something hard to pin down? Or is it more like the biology of dolphins, odd but natural?

Tim Bayne

Illustration of an ancient Greek temple with the golden ratio spiral overlay, featuring bright colours and clear skies.

video

Mathematics

Spiral into the ‘golden ratio’ – and separate the myths from the maths

4 minutes

A hospital room with a patient in a gown and headscarf speaking to a doctor, while a man stands nearby taking notes.

essay

Illness and disease

The power of the ‘C’ word

Saying the word ‘cancer’ changes a person’s life and can lead to overtreatment and fear. Is the word too hot to use at all?

Benjamin Chin-Yee

Yellow slime mould on textured tree bark, showcasing intricate branching patterns.

essay

Biology

Memories without brains

Certain slime moulds can make decisions, solve mazes and remember things. What can we learn from the blob?

Matthew Sims

3D rendering of an ancient water clock with zodiac signs and blue water flowing into a container on a wooden surface.

video

Engineering

How water-based clocks revolutionised the way we measure time

10 minutes

Painting of blind men with sticks leading one another, one has fallen, landscape and church in the background.

essay

Thinkers and theories

The French liar

René Descartes, the founder of modern philosophy, was furiously condemned by his contemporaries. Why did they fear him?

Sandrine Parageau

Illustration of a crab using a laptop, captioned “Homo-crustaceous digitalis” on a textured background.

essay

The future

Homo crustaceous

‘Everything becomes crab’ is more than an absurd meme. The crab is a deep symbol of our devil’s bargain with technology

Michael Garfield

Photo of a busy street corner with people gathering outside a cafe named Dante in a city setting on a cloudy day.

essay

Neurodiversity

Rethinking adult ADHD

The diagnostic category of adult ADHD is becoming more inclusive. That’s not the same as it being overdiagnosed

Margaret Sibley

Illustration of two turquoise beams pointing from the Milky Way galaxy toward another galaxy on a black background.

video

History of science

How we came to know the size of the Universe – and what mysteries remain

26 minutes

Satellite image of South Dakota with glowing yellow lines representing data or energy pathways overlaid.

video

Ecology and environmental sciences

Join endangered whooping cranes on their perilous migratory path over North America

6 minutes

Daguerreotype of a man in a Victorian-era suit holding a rod with one eye closed, framed by an ornate gold border.

essay

History of science

Injury and inhibition

The misunderstood story of Phineas Gage shows that we need a new way of understanding the experiences of brain injury survivors

Ben Platts-Mills

Vintage painting of a man with glowing eyes surrounded by floating spheres on a decorative background.

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Stories and literature

Merveilleux-scientifique

With brain swaps and death rays, a little-known French sci-fi genre explored science’s dark possibilities a century ago

Fleur Hopkins-Loféron

Black birds flying over snowy mountains with dramatic cloudy skies in the background.

essay

Evolution

Empire of flight

They have big brains, long childhoods and sociable, curious minds. So why haven’t birds developed complex culture?

Antone Martinho-Truswell

Weathered hands holding a small, carved stone tool with intricate details, set against a blurred background.

video

Archaeology

At a prehistoric pigment mine, researchers glimpse our earliest moments in the Americas

25 minutes

Black and white photo of a woman and man sitting on a sofa holding a newspaper with a front-page story about a UFO sighting.

essay

History of science

Incredible testimonies

In the 1980s, thousands of Americans began to suspect they may have been abducted by aliens. What happened?

Greg Eghigian

Abstract painting of textured forms resembling fibres and foliage overlaid on an antique map background.

video

Art

Defying classification, fantastical artworks reframe the racism of Carl Linnaeus

8 minutes

Futuristic digital artwork of Earth with two large transparent rings arching over it in space.

video

Engineering

Building a prosperous future demands bold ideas. These are some of the boldest

40 minutes

Renaissance drawing of two figures in robes in a circle on aged paper. One figure points to a celestial object composed of concentric circles on the left.

essay

Philosophy of science

Why philosophy of physics?

Some physicists reject philosophy as a distraction from ‘real’ science but it is in fact both useful and beautiful

James Read

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History of science

A nasogenital tale

A bizarre theory (and a gory surgery) in fin-de-siècle Vienna help us get a grip on how science and medicine actually work

Urte Laukaityte

Aerial photo of a large circular crater with a dark centre in a brown landscape, resembling an impact site.

video

Environmental history

In Kazakhstan, ‘atomic lakes’ still scar the landscape decades after Soviet nuclear tests

13 minutes

Aerial photo of turquoise ocean with a sinuous sand-coloured formation running diagonally, creating a striking contrast.

essay

Oceans and water

An oceanic tempo

An appreciation of the immensity embedded in the ocean’s cycles offers a way to reimagine our relationship with time

James Bradley

Infrared image of the Milky Way shows a glowing red band of stars across a blue background, indicating cosmic dust and gas.

essay

History of science

The light beyond sight

Only a tiny sliver of the Universe’s light can be seen by human eyes. But today we’re catching glimpses of the invisible

Corey S Powell

Black and white photo of a woman cycling down a street with a wicker basket on the bike. She wears a checked coat.

video

History of science

Meet the Quaker pacifist who shattered British science’s highest glass ceilings

14 minutes