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At its best, American football is full of grace, strategy and thrills. Unfortunately, many of the components that have made the sport so popular – speed, power, contact – also make it extremely dangerous, especially when played at the highest level. Recent research has overwhelmingly shown that, over time, even routine football collisions contribute to chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease. However, the most dangerous hits are those that result in traumatic brain injuries. In 2017, the National Football League (NFL) recorded the highest number of such injuries since it started keeping track six years ago, even as it has attempted to make the game safer. A different kind of ‘highlight reel’, this short film from the US filmmaker and data visualisation artist Josh Begley features all 281 reported concussions from the 2017 NFL season. By manipulating the speed and direction of the footage, Begley grapples with both the sport’s allure and its brutality.
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Earth science and climate
The only man permitted in Bhutan’s sacred mountains chronicles humanity’s impact
22 minutes
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Cosmology
The Indian astronomer whose innovative work on black holes was mocked at Cambridge
13 minutes
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Art
‘If you’re creative, why can’t you create a solution?’ One artist’s imaginative activism
17 minutes
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Death
A hunter’s lyrical reflection on the humbling business of being mortal
6 minutes
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Astronomy
Seven years later, what can we make of our first confirmed interstellar visitor?
59 minutes
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Physics
Is it possible to design a shape to roll along any fixed path?
4 minutes
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Art
More than breathtaking, ‘The Birth of Venus’ signalled an aesthetic revolution
19 minutes
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Biotechnology
The two women behind a world-changing scientific discovery
14 minutes
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Childhood and adolescence
Striking shadow puppetry illuminates a skater kid’s memories of Boy Scout camp
12 minutes