Essay/Astronomy In the beginning Cosmology has been on a long, hot streak, racking up one imaginative and scientific triumph after another. Is it over? Ross Andersen
Essay/Cosmology 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
Essay/Food & Drink Sacrament Wine is an elixir, a miracle-worker and shapeshifter – no wonder even the most secular of us hold it sacred still Ross Andersen
Essay/Ethics Hell on Earth What happens to life sentences if our lifespan is radically extended? A philosopher talks about future punishment Ross Andersen
Essay/Architecture & Landscape Embracing the void The ancients had pyramids to tame the sky’s mystery. We have Star Axis, a masterpiece forty years in the making Ross Andersen
Essay/Computing & 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
Essay/Deep Time The vanishing groves A chronicle of climates past and a portent of climates to come – the telling rings of the bristlecone pine Ross Andersen
Essay/Family Life Korean Thanksgiving ‘Take a photo of the spread,’ my mother says. ‘This way you can remember what to arrange when I’m dead.’ Mary H K Choi
Essay/Digital Culture Future reading Digital books stagnate in closed, dull systems, while printed books are shareable, lovely and enduring. What comes next? Craig Mod
Essay/Data & Information Broken links When no ancient chat or post is beyond the grasp of Google, what matters more: the right to forget, or to be remembered? Alana Massey
Essay/Cultures & Languages Origins Paleogenetics is helping to solve the great mystery of prehistory: how did humans spread out over the earth? Jacob Mikanowski
Essay/Cities Homes for the homeless San Francisco’s homeless are harangued and despised while conservative Utah has a radically humane approach Susie Cagle
Essay/Knowledge When the truth hurts The truth about health or personal relationships can entail pain and regret. Is it sometimes better to stay in the dark? Jess Whittlestone
Essay/Knowledge Rock of ages Archaeologists used to be obsessed with religion. Now they can’t be bothered with it. Is the field worse off? Rose Eveleth
Essay/Architecture & Landscape Desert utopia It might be pleasing to dream of arcologies, mega-cities, and space colonies – but no one can design the perfect human community Jared Keller
Essay/History What lies beneath Why do archaeological fraudsters work so hard to deceive us? Because bad science makes for good stories Ted Scheinman
Essay/Death To heaven and back Is the heaven tourism memoir spiritual kitsch for the superficial seeker, or an earnest attempt to wrestle with death? Mya Frazier
Essay/Childhood & Adolescence Where’s Bobbi Fischer? Little girls sign up to play chess in droves. So why are so few of the world’s top players women? Hana Schank
Essay/Biology Earth’s aliens Alien lifeforms might be living right under our noses, but how can we find them if we don’t know what we’re looking for? Sarah Scoles
Essay/Deep Time Last hominin standing Was human evolution inevitable, or do we owe our existence to a once-in-a-universe stroke of luck? Dan Falk
Essay/Digital Culture Pornucopia Critics say that porn degrades women, dulls sexual pleasure, and ruins authentic relationships – are they right? Maria Konnikova
Essay/Cultures & Languages See through words The metaphor designer isn’t trying to make something beautiful. She wants to change your view on things. Here’s how Michael Erard
Essay/Design & Fashion Losing the thread Older than bronze and as new as nanowires, textiles are technology — and they have remade our world time and again Virginia Postrel
Essay/Human Rights When a child goes to war Our myths are full of young heroes yet our media calls them tragic victims. What is the truth about child soldiers? Malcolm Harris
Essay/Demography & Migration Against generations Generational thinking is seductive and confirms preconceived prejudices, but it’s a bogus way to understand the world Rebecca Onion
Essay/Earth Science The fire age We can melt ice sheets and cook landscapes. When humans made fire, they made themselves and their planet too Stephen J Pyne
Essay/Biology Rethinking extinction The idea that we are edging up to a mass extinction is not just wrong – it’s a recipe for panic and paralysis Stewart Brand
Essay/Memoir A conscientious objector Jacob Bridge is a popular lieutenant in the US Marines who woke up one day with an urgent need to leave the military. Why? Lyle Jeremy Rubin
Essay/Astronomy Life in the dark In the dark corners of our galaxy, there are billions of rogue planets roaming around, starless – can they support life? Sean Raymond
Essay/History of Technology Into the mystic From Stonehenge to Silicon Valley: how technology nurtured New Age ideas in a world supposedly stripped of its magic Benjamin Breen
Essay/Ecology & Environmental Sciences Anthropocene fever The Anthropocene idea has been embraced by Earth scientists and English professors alike. But how useful is it? Jedediah Purdy
Essay/Memoir Like a prayer Even secular people need time out to meditate, reflect, and give thanks. Is prayer the answer? Heather Havrilesky
Essay/Food & Drink To tip or not to tip? Rude in Tokyo, rude not to in New York – tipping mystifies tourists, economists and anthropologists. Should we stop? Julian Baggini
Essay/Computing & Artificial Intelligence Get under the hood Our laptops are sleek and polished. Our operating systems are fluid and intuitive. Computing is easy and that’s a problem Samuel Arbesman
Essay/Digital Culture Fact-checking grandma The internet is rife with myths, scams and hoaxes. When any claim can be checked out, why does fiction still trump fact? Lyz Lenz
Essay/Cultures & Languages From Aesop to doge The animal who speaks in a human voice is a figure of the most enduring imaginative power. What do we hope to hear? Stassa Edwards
Essay/Engineering A fault in our design We tend to think that technological progress is making us more resilient, but it might be making us more vulnerable Colin Dickey