Philip Ball
Freelance writer, London
Philip Ball is a British science writer, whose work appears in Nature, New Scientist and Prospect, among others. His latest book is The Book of Minds (2022). He lives in London.
Written by Philip Ball
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Evolution
What on earth is a xenobot?
The more we understand how cells produce shape and form, the more inadequate the idea of a genomic blueprint looks
Philip Ball
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Human evolution
Homo imaginatus
Imagination isn’t just a spillover from our problem-solving prowess. It might be the core of what human brains evolved to do
Philip Ball
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Biology
Life with purpose
Biologists balk at any talk of ‘goals’ or ‘intentions’ – but a bold new research agenda has put agency back on the table
Philip Ball
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Future of technology
Sim ethics
Say you could make a thousand digital replicas of yourself – should you? What happens when you want to get rid of them?
Philip Ball
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Mathematics
How natural is numeracy?
Where does our number sense come from? Is it a neural capacity we are born with — or is it a product of our culture?
Philip Ball
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Quantum theory
Quantum common sense
Despite its confounding reputation, quantum mechanics both guides and helps explain human intuition
Philip Ball
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Cosmology
Life rocks
Could meteorites be akin to lifeboats from other planets? Or do they reveal more about life on Earth than off it?
Philip Ball
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Stories and literature
Why our imagination for alien life is so impoverished
Philip Ball
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Music
The story trap
We use neat stories to explain everything from sports matches to symphonies. Is it time to leave the nursery of the mind?
Philip Ball
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Philosophy of science
Too many worlds
Nobody knows what happens inside quantum experiments. So why are some so keen to believe in parallel universes?
Philip Ball
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Beauty and aesthetics
Beauty ≠ truth
Scientists prize elegant theories, but a taste for simplicity is a treacherous guide. And it doesn’t even look good
Philip Ball
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Engineering
Machine envy
Giant instruments are giving us a sea of data. Can science find its way without any big ideas at the helm?
Philip Ball