Menu
Aeon
DonateNewsletter
SIGN IN

Sally Davies

Senior Editor, Aeon+Psyche

Sally is a writer and editor with interests spanning science, philosophy, feminism and the arts. She was digital editor of FT Weekend and the technology and innovation correspondent for the Financial Times. Sally founded the Libreria bookshop in east London as its director, and was on the original editorial team of Nautilus Magazine.

Written by Sally Davies

Edited by Sally Davies

Rubens painting Venus and Cupid reimagined with Venus on the left gazing in a mirror at her mastectomized breast. A cherub like Cupid to the right holds the mirror
Save

essay

Illness and disease

More than pink

The culture around breast cancer is full of positivity and femininity. But it comes at the expense of the marginalised

Philippa Hetherington

Ink wash painting of a dragon emerging from clouds, showing detailed dragon face, claws, and scales against a smoked, cloudy background.
Save

essay

Metaphysics

We are interwoven beings

A dragon needs the clouds and the wind in order to fly. What happens when we too relinquish individualistic reasoning?

Mercedes Valmisa

Loon swimming on a misty lake with a dark forest in the background, creating a serene and tranquil atmosphere.
Save

essay

Evolution

Fortune favours the shrewd

Attaining and maintaining power lies at the heart of almost all animal societies. And it’s as devious as human politicking

Lee Alan Dugatkin

Microscopic image of a green cell adjacent to a larger pink cell on a black background.
Save

essay

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

A street scene with a shoe shiner, a man reading a newspaper, and people wearing traditional attire in front of a vibrant, orange wall.
Save

essay

Ethics

Through the eyes of another

It’s impossible to shed our individual biases. So the best way to establish objectivity is by taking on new perspectives

Heidi Maibom

Japanese macaques relaxing in a hot spring with a snowy landscape in the background. Several monkeys are at the water’s edge, while others are bathing.
Save

essay

Evolution

Connected-up-brains

Bat friends, monkeys sharing, and humans holding hands: the brains of social animals synchronise and expand one another

Sofia Quaglia

A black and white photograph of a shattered mirror, reflecting a blurry building and trees under a cloudy sky.
Save

essay

Quantum theory

Quantum Wittgenstein

Metaphysical debates in quantum physics don’t get at ‘truth’ – they’re nothing but a form of ritual, activity and culture

Timothy Andersen

Surrealist collage of a man with exposed ribcage, insects, plants, text, and other figures, set against an eclectic background.
Save

essay

Stories and literature

Kafka the hypochondriac

Franz Kafka believed illness was at the root of his writing yet he embraced wellness fads with hearty vigour

Will Rees

Close-up of a small tadpole with a rounded head and a long, thin tail, shown against a white background.
Save

essay

Cognition and intelligence

Modular cognition

Powerful tricks from computer science and cybernetics show how evolution ‘hacked’ its way to intelligence from the bottom up

Michael Levin & Rafael Yuste

Two boys navigating a large cart filled with debris through a vast rubbish dump, with buildings and goats in the background.
Save

essay

Design and fashion

The Waste Age

Recognising that waste is central, not peripheral, to everything we design, make and do is key to transforming the future

Justin McGuirk

Monkeys huddled around a campfire with burning logs, smoke rising from the fire, creating a warm scene on a rocky ground.
Save

essay

Evolution

Promethean beasts

Far from being hardwired to flee fire, some animals use it to their own ends, helping us understand our own pyrocognition

Ivo Jacobs

A rugged rock formation on Mars with layered, eroded surfaces and a small boulder perched on top under a dusty orange sky.
Save

essay

Space exploration

Decolonising the cosmos

Instead of treating Mars and the Moon as sites of conquest and settlement, we need a radical new ethics of space exploration

Ramin Skibba