Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
‘What they should have sent was poets…’
Launched in December 1968, Apollo 8 was the first manned flight to reach the Moon, orbit it and return to Earth. The primary goal of the mission was to prepare for an eventual lunar landing, however, the flight is now best remembered for the unparalleled glimpses of Earth it provided and, in particular, the iconic photograph taken from lunar orbit that became known as ‘Earthrise’. Coinciding with the 50th anniversary of Apollo 8, this documentary from the director Emmanuel Vaughan-Lee features interviews with the crew members Frank Borman, James Lovell and William Anders, who took the famed picture. While reflecting on the life-changing experience of being the first people to view Earth from outside its orbit in the ‘inky black void’ of space, they detail how the unplanned photograph became their mission’s most lasting legacy, and gave them a newfound appreciation of their home planet.
video
Architecture
Why a sculptor pivoted from gallery installations to big-box stores design
9 minutes
video
Physics
Spectacular fractal patterns emerge when electricity meets a wooden surface
4 minutes
video
Mathematics
How a verbal paradox shattered the notion of total certainty in mathematics
5 minutes
video
Art
A mindbending trip that summons the forgotten women of surrealism
17 minutes
video
Metaphysics
To see the Universe more clearly, think in terms of processes, not objects
6 minutes
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
How machine learning can help historians decode ancient inscriptions
7 minutes
video
Animals and humans
What the ancient city of Kars looks like from the perspective of its stray dogs
9 minutes
video
Making
Ceramic designs spin to life in a tactile meditation on the art of pottery
9 minutes
video
Beauty and aesthetics
For Ruskin, words couldn’t capture nature’s palette. So here it is in black and white
6 minutes