Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Vast lunar landscapes set to the aching, shimmering piano of Claude Debussy’s 1905 composition ‘Clair de Lune’ (French for ‘moonlight’) offer an enchanting melding of science and art through the interplay of light, texture and music. The video, which traces the flow of sunlight over the Moon’s surface, was created by NASA’s Scientific Visualization Studio using images captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. It was first shown at a celebration of NASA’s 60th anniversary along with a live performance of Debussy’s music.
video
Biology
The key to geckos’ unrivalled climbing skills isn’t sticky feet. It’s subatomic
4 minutes
video
Technology and the self
Greetings from Green Bank – the small town where modern technology is banned
10 minutes
video
Stories and literature
What makes John Keats’s ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ so enduringly powerful?
10 minutes
video
Human evolution
Far from frivolous, cuteness is a powerful – and still mysterious – force of nature
6 minutes
video
Dance and theatre
How a Noh mask-maker summons a lifelike face from a single block of wood
16 minutes
video
The ancient world
What wine vessels reveal about politics and luxury in ancient Athens and Persia
16 minutes
video
Art
David Goldblatt captured the contradictions of apartheid in stark black and white
15 minutes
video
Space exploration
In the search for life, might alien ocean worlds be a better bet than Earth-like planets?
5 minutes
video
Love and friendship
When drawing your muse hundreds of times becomes an exercise in love
7 minutes