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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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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

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

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

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

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

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

A man with a beard sitting in a large, well-lit room with a high ceiling during an official meeting or conference.

essayEconomics

The new astrology

By fetishising mathematical models, economists turned economics into a highly paid pseudoscience

Alan Jay Levinovitz

Black and white photo of a woman and a sleeping child in her arms in a moving car, taken from the side showing their upper bodies.

essayHuman reproduction

We are multitudes

Women are chimeras, with genetic material from both their parents and children. Where does that leave individual identity?

Katherine Rowland

A colourful grasshopper with a metallic blue green body and yellow legs on a white background.

essayBiology

Die, selfish gene, die

For decades, the selfish gene metaphor let us view evolution with new clarity. Is it now blinding us?

David Dobbs

Two workers in a smoking landfill, surrounded by thick mist and steam, with vent pipes visible in the background.

essayFuture of technology

Hail the maintainers

Capitalism excels at innovation but is failing at maintenance, and for most lives it is maintenance that matters more

Andrew Russell & Lee Vinsel

Illustration of abstract buildings with floating clouds around them, depicted in a blue-green colour scheme with a grey background.

essayComputing and artificial intelligence

Creative blocks

The very laws of physics imply that artificial intelligence must be possible. What’s holding us up?

David Deutsch

Illustration of a Stegosaurus with maroon plates grazing in a grassy area with mountains and a setting sun in the background.

essayBiology

Does life have a purpose?

Nobody expects atoms and molecules to have purposes, so why do we still think of living things in this way?

Michael Ruse

Five boys in white medical gowns and green surgical caps sitting on a sofa against a plain wall, looking at the camera.

essayBioethics

Boys and girls alike

An un-consenting child, an unnecessary, invasive surgery: is there any moral difference between male and female circumcision?

Brian D Earp

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

essaySpace 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

Nick Bostrom standing inside a large, intricately designed building with arched supports and a dinosaur skeleton overhead.

essayComputing and artificial intelligence

Omens

When we peer into the fog of the deep future what do we see – human extinction or a future among the stars?

Ross Andersen

Abstract painting of a machine-like face on an orange background, exhaling a ribbon with words like ‘bald’ and ‘kissed’, with a small human figure.

essayLanguage and linguistics

Real talk

For decades, the idea of a language instinct has dominated linguistics. It is simple, powerful and completely wrong

Vyvyan Evans