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The 20th-century Austrian-British philosopher Karl Popper believed that any theory that was not ‘falsifiable’ – capable of being tested and proven incorrect – should be dismissed as unscientific. He was particularly critical of Marxist theory, which he believed was constantly being revised by its adherents to account for its failed predictions, and therefore could not possibly be scientific. The falsification principle is a cornerstone of the modern scientific method, but some contemporary scientists, cosmologists and philosophers believe it might need to be revised as they investigate concepts such as string theory and the multiverse, which come up against the limits of what is testable – at least for now.
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Biology
The idea that life on Earth originated elsewhere is not as far out as it seems
6 minutes
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Biology
Flicker through the eclectic beauty and biological diversity of 2,400 leaves
3 minutes
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Metaphysics
Bertrand Russell wanted to kill off causation. Can contemporary philosophy rescue it?
8 minutes
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Ethics
How many monkeys is it worth sacrificing to save a human life?
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History of science
Bat-people on the Moon – what a famed 1835 hoax reveals about misinformation today
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Human rights and justice
Thirty years after one teenager shot another, is it time to forgive?
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Biotechnology
What it’s like to wear a prosthetic that ‘feels’
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Chemistry
A square inch in a Petri dish becomes a grand stage for chemical transformations
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Medicine
What is it like to be a paramedic, navigating human emergency?
17 minutes