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Science

Essays and videos exploring physics, evolution, cosmology and other frontiers in science
Photo of a person in a winter coat and beanie looking at a snow-covered town, with mountains in the background.

video

Earth science and climate

There’s a ‘climate bomb’ ticking beneath the Arctic ice. How can we prepare?

8 minutes

Silhouette of a person walking through a spray of water at sunset with cars and buildings in the background.

essay

Neuroscience

The melting brain

It’s not just the planet and not just our health – the impact of a warming climate extends deep into our cortical fissures

Clayton Page Aldern

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

video

Knowledge

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

4 minutes

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

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.

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

A person wearing a sun hat and sunglasses, standing in front of a snowy mountain range under a clear blue sky.

video

Earth science and climate

The only man permitted in Bhutan’s sacred mountains chronicles humanity’s impact

22 minutes

A measure for depth of water stands upright in a dried up landscape that was formerly a lake

essay

Information and communication

Beware climate populism

The most ardent deniers of anthropogenic climate change today will become the climate conspiracy theorists of tomorrow

Ákos Szegőfi

A man in a hat stands next to a door covered with yellow caution tape, casting a shadow on the rough grey wall.

essay

Earth science and climate

When does after begin?

Three earthquakes hit Mexico City on the same date in 1985, 2017 and 2022. The coincidence left the city stranded in time

Lachlan Summers

Illustration of a prehistoric forest with various dinosaurs, including herbivores, a pterosaur flying, and a small carnivorous mammal-like creature.

essay

Palaeontology

The dinosaurs didn’t rule

When we think of changes in Earth’s history as changes of dynasty we miss out on understanding how life really works

Riley Black

Two small ancient stone statues, each depicting a seated figure, displayed on dark stands in a dimly lit setting.

essay

Stories and literature

Poet of impermanence

Enheduana is the first known named author. Her poems of strife and upheaval resonate in our own unstable times

Sophus Helle

A cityscape view with reflections of people on windows and a dramatic cloudy sky in the background.

essay

Earth science and climate

Deep warming

Even if we ‘solve’ global warming, we face an older, slower problem. Waste heat could radically alter Earth’s future

Mark Buchanan

A dramatic black-and-white landscape of a vast lake, surrounded by mountains, under a large, turbulent sky filled with clouds.

essay

Anthropology

Memories within myth

The stories of oral societies, passed from generation to generation, are more than they seem. They are scientific records

Patrick Nunn

Pigs grazing in a green meadow with scattered trees under a partly cloudy sky.

essay

Earth science and climate

The return of silvopasture

This ancient practice, nurturing animals and trees in an ecological system, fights climate change and restores the land

Liz Carlisle & Niki Mazaroli

An aerial view of a swampy area with scattered patches of brown vegetation and reflective blue water.

video

Earth science and climate

A biologist on the sorrows of documenting the Great Salt Lake’s collapse

6 minutes

Person with a notepad and pencil wearing a red hat, standing in a dense forest with fallen trees and foliage.

essay

Environmental history

Disturbance

How atomic doomsday experiments, fuelled by Cold War fears, shaped then shook ecologists’ faith in self-healing nature

Laura J Martin

People in protective suits walk through a dense, tropical forest with tall trees and lush greenery.

essay

Space exploration

There’s no planet B

The scientific evidence is clear: the only celestial body that can support us is the one we evolved with. Here’s why

Arwen E Nicholson & Raphaëlle D Haywood

Colourful coral reef underwater with vibrant pink and yellow corals, small fish swimming among them, and a reflective water surface above.

essay

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

Elderly man with a walking stick stands smiling in a grassy field with wildflowers, near a beach and ocean under a cloudy sky.

essay

History of science

A singular scientist

James Lovelock was a visionary whose greatest ideas were made possible by his unshakeable independence

Roger Highfield

Underwater view of a vibrant coral reef with various coral species in clear blue water near the ocean’s surface.

essay

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

Abstract image of tree branches with green and yellow hues, featuring a textured, cracked pattern on the left side.

video

The environment

Photographs of rainforests dissolving in acid strike a beautiful note of warning

10 minutes

Silhouette of a person with a hat standing amid thick smoke outdoors, holding a long stick and looking into the distance.

video

Ecology and environmental sciences

To renew Yosemite, California should embrace a once-outlawed Indigenous practice

6 minutes

A ship emitting smoke sails between large icebergs under a gloomy, overcast sky.

essay

Earth science and climate

The Antarctic paradox

The most protected place on Earth has become one of the most threatened – and threatening. Can its problems be solved?

Alejandra Mancilla & Peder Roberts

Illustration of a large, checkered dome with people working inside and on the perimeter, featuring a map overlay and a detailed cityscape in the background.

essay

Earth science and climate

A new Earth rises

How did the planet replace the nation-state to become the prime political object of the 21st century?

Erik Isberg

Graduate in cap and gown looking at a colourful sky with pink clouds during sunset.

video

Childhood and adolescence

When Paradise, California burned, its teens became instant climate refugees

23 minutes