Get curated editors’ picks, peeks behind the scenes, film recommendations and more.
Most adults seem to agree that the older you get, the quicker time flies by. This feeling might, on its surface, seem like one of life’s more enigmatic qualities. But according to the US neuroscientist David Eagleman, there’s actually a pretty straightforward scientific explanation for this phenomenon: habitual situations require much less of our attention than novel ones and, as we age, we become much more likely to be fixed in our routines, and much less likely to encounter anything out of the ordinary. So, as Eagleman suggests in this animation from BBC Ideas, if you want to pump the brakes on your experience of time, try pursuing new experiences – large and small.
Video by BBC Ideas
Animator: Peter Caires
video
Life stages
At 14, Asal is excited about her engagement. Her relatives all have their own opinions
33 minutes
video
The future
What’s the healthiest way to handle a creeping feeling that the world is ending?
15 minutes
video
Psychiatry and psychotherapy
Pondering the peculiar one-sided intimacy of the client-therapist relationship
3 minutes
video
Family life
Fifty years ago, a train collided with Jack and Betty’s car. Here’s how they remember it
9 minutes
video
Medicine
What is it like to be a paramedic, navigating human emergency?
17 minutes
video
Art
At 95, an artist paints swiftly to capture the fugitive light
6 minutes
video
Computing and artificial intelligence
Teaching an AI to beat video games still takes human imagination
5 minutes
video
Social psychology
Social contagions can cause genuine illness, and TikTok may be a superspreader
10 minutes
video
Virtues and vices
From violent criminal to loving parent – a son’s story of his father’s transformation
23 minutes