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Science

Essays and videos exploring physics, evolution, cosmology and other frontiers in science
Tomorrow’s corals | Aeon
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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

Why whale song is like pop music | Aeon
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video

Biology

Like pop music, humpback whale songs spread, mutate, and fall out of fashion

9 minutes

Defend the deep | Aeon
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essay

Oceans and water

Defend the deep

Instead of letting waves of exploitation sweep through the deep ocean, we could choose to protect this vast living realm

Helen Scales

The undying hydra | Aeon
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video

Biology

Blend up a hydra, and its cells will coalesce back into a full creature. How?

5 minutes

They are prisoners | Aeon
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essay

Oceans and water

They are prisoners

Captive orcas are tormented by boredom and family separation, but they cannot be simply released. What’s the solution?

Lori Marino

Shorelines | Aeon
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video

Oceans and water

‘Natural souvenirs’ and ocean sounds form a sea-salty celebration of the shore

3 minutes

Here be black holes | Aeon
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essay

Astronomy

Here be black holes

Like sea monsters on premodern maps, deep-space images are science’s fanciful means to chart the edges of the known world

Surekha Davies

Illuminating biodiversity of the Ningaloo Canyons | Aeon
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video

Oceans and water

See what no human eyes have seen before, deep in the sea off Western Australia

5 minutes

Who was Jack Tar? | Aeon
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essay

Oceans and water

Who was Jack Tar?

He was a patriot and a prisoner, a delegate and a drunk; circling the globe when few Englishmen ever left their home counties

Stephen Taylor

The amazing underwater tape of the caddisfly | Aeon
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video

Evolution

When life is but a stream, insects need something extra-sticky to survive

4 minutes

Scenes from a dry city | Aeon
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video

The environment

This is what climate change looks like: the social fissures of Cape Town’s water crisis

13 minutes

One breath around the world | Aeon
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video

Sports and games

Dances with whales: the ethereal underwater vistas of an elite freediving team

13 minutes

When the monsoon goes away | Aeon
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essay

The environment

When the monsoon goes away

The imperious monsoon rains have ruled India for centuries. Already unstable, what happens if they shift fundamentally?

Sunil Amrith

Seafarers | Aeon
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video

Oceans and water

Not quite ashore – the in-between world of a cargo-ship rest stop

8 minutes

EXCLUSIVEH₂O | Aeon
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video

Film and visual culture

A meditative cinepoem from 1929 captures the reflective, ethereal wonders of water

12 minutes

This adorable sea slug is a sneaky little thief | Aeon
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video

Biology

Far from sluggish: the remarkable sea creature that weaponises its dinner

4 minutes

Ama | Aeon
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video

Dance and theatre

Deep, free, elemental: a dance to celebrate women, in the world’s deepest diving pool

6 minutes

Our aquatic universe | Aeon
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essay

Astronomy

Our aquatic universe

We know that the Universe is awash with watery moons and planets. How can we pinpoint which of them could support life?

Tim Folger

The world in a corner | Aeon
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video

Nature and landscape

How the vast powers of the sea shape life on a sacred peninsula in Oaxaca, Mexico

21 minutes

The last whalers | Aeon
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essay

Work

The last whalers

Men from the Shetland Islands worked the whaling expeditions to the Antarctic. Until the whales were gone

Lyndsie Bourgon

Water valley | Aeon
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video

War and peace

How the contours of fresh water help to shape the Israeli-Palestinian conflict

5 minutes

Stop boycotting SeaWorld if you care about marine conservation | Aeon
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idea

Ecology and environmental sciences

Stop boycotting SeaWorld if you care about marine conservation

Samantha Muka

Thirty days of a cargo ship’s voyage | Aeon
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video

Progress and modernity

From the Red Sea to Hong Kong in 10 minutes – a stunning cargo-ship timelapse

10 minutes

The bloop | Aeon
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video

History of technology

How oceanographers captured a mysterious undersea noise – and the public’s imagination

7 minutes