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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

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A brightly lit circular structure with red, orange and blue elements, resembling part of a scientific or industrial machine.

ideaPhysics

Why we can stop worrying and love the particle accelerator

Joel Frohlich

A person in a lab coat holding multiple vials and labelled containers with blue gloved hands in a laboratory setting.

ideaMedicine

Gentle medicine could radically transform medical practice

Jacob Stegenga

Abstract close-up view of human skin folds lit with warm lighting. The background is dark, highlighting the textures.

essayBiology

The obesity era

As the American people got fatter, so did marmosets, vervet monkeys and mice. The problem may be bigger than any of us

David Berreby

A scanning electron microscope image showing pollen tubes in vivid pink growing from pollen grains of cucumber on the stigma.

essayHuman reproduction

The macho sperm myth

The idea that millions of sperm are on an Olympian race to reach the egg is yet another male fantasy of human reproduction

Robert D Martin

Close-up of a yellowish amphibian embryo with black markings inside a transparent egg, on a dark background.

videoBiology

Watch a single cell become a complete organism in six pulsing minutes of timelapse

6 minutes

Elderly Chinese women dancing in a row on a sunny promenade with mountains in the background and seagulls flying above.

ideaMedicine

Lifestyle changes, not a magic pill, can reverse Alzheimer’s

Clayton Dalton

Vintage photo of Albert Einstein and Niels Bohr in hats and suits walking down a street with trees and buildings in the background.

ideaHistory of science

What Einstein meant by ‘God does not play dice’

Jim Baggott

Illustration of an astronaut in an orange spacesuit running on a red-orange alien planet with a blue trail beneath him.

essayCosmology

Exodus

Elon Musk argues that we must put a million people on Mars if we are to ensure that humanity has a future

Ross Andersen

A child in a pink top and striped leggings sitting on the floor picking up pieces of a broken white plate with bare feet.

essayChildhood and adolescence

Childhood, disrupted

Adversity in childhood can create long-lasting scars, damaging our cells and our DNA, and making us sick as adults

Donna Jackson Nakazawa

A spacecraft orbiting Saturn with its rings visible above and the planet’s atmosphere below, in dark space.

ideaPhilosophy of science

Why philosophy is so important in science education

Subrena E Smith

Diagram of the solar system showing the positions of spacecrafts Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, New Horizons, and planets.

ideaCosmology

Our Universe is too vast for even the most imaginative sci-fi

Michael Strauss

A vintage photo of 15 mugshots of women, arranged in a 3x5 grid on a beige background page.

ideaComputing and artificial intelligence

Algorithms associating appearance and criminality have a dark past

Catherine Stinson

Hands wearing gloves making pink candyfloss with a machine, surrounded by fluffy pink candyfloss strands.

essayIllness and disease

The case against sugar

A potent toxin that alters hormones and metabolism, sugar sets the stage for epidemic levels of obesity and diabetes

Gary Taubes

Four people with bicycles watch an aeroplane take off, seen from behind under a cloudy sky.

essayFuture of technology

The golden quarter

Some of our greatest cultural and technological achievements took place between 1945 and 1971. Why has progress stalled?

Michael Hanlon

A newborn baby in soft warm lighting, cradled in someone’s arms with a peaceful expression and eyes closed.

essayEvolution

War in the womb

A ferocious biological struggle between mother and baby belies any sentimental ideas we might have about pregnancy

Suzanne Sadedin

Illustration of hands holding a many-sided geometric object and a compass, with a ruler lying beside them on a tabletop.

essayPhysics

Radical dimensions

Relativity says we live in four dimensions. String theory says it’s 10. What are ‘dimensions’ and how do they affect reality?

Margaret Wertheim

Close-up of a smiling mouth with braces, showing pink lips and metal orthodontic brackets on teeth.

ideaAnthropology

It’s not that your teeth are too big: your jaw is too small

Peter Ungar

Photo of a person using a laptop at a table in a dimly lit room with a plant, drink and sanitiser bottle in the background.

ideaComputing and artificial intelligence

Coding is not ‘fun’, it’s technically and ethically complex

Walter Vannini

Film still from Grease showing a young crowd in 1950s-style diner, with Olivia Newton John in a yellow dress smiling at John Travolta in a booth.

ideaPleasure and pain

Psychogenic shivers: why we get the chills when we aren’t cold

Félix Schoeller

Abstract photo of colourful light trails on a black background, creating an intricate, chaotic pattern of lines and waves.

ideaPhilosophy of science

You thought quantum mechanics was weird: check out entangled time

Elise Crull

Medieval manuscript depicting a nude woman riding a green, phallic-shaped animal, surrounded by Latin text.

essayHistory

The salacious Middle Ages

Medieval people feared death by celibacy as much as venereal disease, and practiced complex sexual health regimens

Katherine Harvey

Black and white photo of a silhouetted person pressing their hands against curtains with light filtering through from behind.

essayConsciousness and altered states

Hallucinogenic nights

Sleep paralysis has tormented me since childhood. But now it’s my portal to out-of-body travel and lucid dreams

Karen Emslie

Photograph of a small green frog with bright red eyes sitting on the edge of a green leaf, surrounded by darkness.

essayPhysics

Time is an object

Not a backdrop, an illusion or an emergent phenomenon, time has a physical size that can be measured in laboratories

Sara Walker & Lee Cronin

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

videoEcology and environmental sciences

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

4 minutes