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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
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

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

Image of an offshore wind turbine in the sea with a large LNG ship in the background under a partly cloudy sky in calm waters.
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essay

The environment

Decoupling

We need to find a way for human societies to prosper while the planet heals. So far we can’t even think clearly about it

Ville Lähde

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

Earth science and climate

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

22 minutes

Artwork depicting a silhouette of a person wearing a floral headband, with a natural background of plants and blurred scenery.
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video

Ecology and environmental sciences

The ancient Hawaiian myth that sparked a modern ecological breakthrough

10 minutes

Illustrated circle with colourful, abstract plant shapes and roots on a dark blue background.
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video

Deep time

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

4 minutes

Aerial view of a snowy forest from a helicopter, with a person in a helmet and green jacket pointing downwards.
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video

Ecology and environmental sciences

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

8 minutes

Close-up of tree roots and rocks on a forest floor, covered with moss and surrounded by dense greenery.
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video

Nature and landscape

Take a serene hike through an ancient forest, inspired by a Miyazaki masterpiece

6 minutes

Illustration showing a grid of nine eyes, each uniquely stylised, depicting a variety of creatures, including a human with a blue iris, a cat with a vertical slit pupil, and a toad with a heart-shaped pupil.
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video

Biology

To understand how an animal sees the world, start with the shape of its pupils

5 minutes

Person climbing a tall tree using a rope, viewed from the base looking upwards into the canopy of green leaves.
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video

The environment

Tree-sit with activists as they fight industrial logging from 100 feet above the ground

25 minutes

Illustration of three beige horses standing in a field, with green grass at their feet and a soft grey and white sky background.
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video

Animals and humans

Scientists brought a wild horse back from extinction. But is it truly the same animal?

5 minutes

A digital illustration of an ancient, twisted tree with sparse green leaves, set against a misty, green landscape and a bright, cloudy sky.
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video

Ecology and environmental sciences

The grassroots project that’s restoring an endangered Hawaiian ecosystem

22 minutes

A gecko with grey and orange spots rests on a piece of bark against a black background.
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video

Thinkers and theories

Is simulation theory a way to shirk responsibility for the world we’ve created?

13 minutes

Person in winter clothes looks up at a large metallic structure with triangle-shaped cutouts on a snowy day.
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video

Architecture

Modern architecture should embrace – not ignore or repel – the nonhuman world

8 minutes

A misty, moss-covered forest with twisted trees and dense undergrowth, creating a mysterious, green and lush atmosphere.
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video

Ecology and environmental sciences

In an ancient English rainforest, John creates charcoal and cultivates growth

12 minutes

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

Two stylised planets with blue oceans and brown land masses, surrounded by white clouds, float in a purple outer space background.
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video

Biology

The idea that life on Earth originated elsewhere is not as far out as it seems

6 minutes

A close-up of a green and brown maple leaf with distinct veins, set against a black background.
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video

Biology

Flicker through the eclectic beauty and biological diversity of 2,400 leaves

3 minutes

A large flock of birds fills the sky above a rural farmhouse surrounded by fields and trees under a pale blue sky.
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essay

Nature and landscape

Home and the birdsong

In the dark, sylvan villages of medieval England, people named places after the birds that filled the night with music

Michael J Warren

Two people in winter clothing walk through a snowy landscape, with buildings and power lines in the background under heavy snowstorm conditions.
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video

Knowledge

Yes, the Inuit have dozens of words for snow – but what does each one mean exactly?

6 minutes

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

A vast heathland landscape with purplish-brown vegetation under a partly cloudy sky, featuring a distant hill on the horizon.
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essay

Deep time

Mutual entrapment

As Neolithic people transformed prehistoric forests, they stumbled into an ecological trap. Domestication goes both ways

Mette Løvschal

Illustration of a farm with grazing cows, pineapples, strawberries, tomatoes, banana trees, a river, and a bird in the sky.
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video

Ecology and environmental sciences

Producing food while restoring the planet – a glimpse of farming in the future

7 minutes

Man in a blue shirt and cap playing a cello in a forest setting.
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video

Ecology and environmental sciences

Yo-Yo Ma performs a work for cello in the woods, accompanied by a birdsong chorus

4 minutes