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On a cosmic scale, we live laughably short lives on an almost completely inconsequential planet. On the planetary level, we could be described as a constantly evolving delivery system for our DNA, with – at best – marginal control over our surroundings. Part of the Munich-based design studio Kurzgesagt’s In a Nutshell series, Are You Alone? (In the Universe) is a short, animated appraisal of humanity’s place in the cosmos amid scientific findings that seem to keep making human existence less and less significant.
Video by Kurzgesagt
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Knowledge
Why it takes more than a lifetime to truly understand a single meadow
11 minutes
video
Physics
Groundbreaking visualisations show how the world of the nucleus gives rise to our own
10 minutes
video
War and peace
‘She is living on in many hearts’ – Otto Frank on the legacy of his daughter’s diary
12 minutes
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Art
Why Diego Velázquez needed a lifetime to paint his enigmatic masterpiece
31 minutes
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Earth science and climate
There’s a ‘climate bomb’ ticking beneath the Arctic ice. How can we prepare?
8 minutes
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Political philosophy
The radical activist couple who fought for social change in the courtroom
21 minutes
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Physics
To change the way you see the Moon, view it from the Sun’s perspective
5 minutes
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Human rights and justice
When a burial for slave trade victims is unearthed, a small island faces a reckoning
29 minutes
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Ecology and environmental sciences
GPS tracking reveals stunning insights into the patterns of migratory birds
6 minutes