Abstract painting of a swirling black hole in space with colourful cosmic dust and light patterns.

Cosmic amnesia

A black hole rings like a struck bell, then settles into silence, forgetting almost everything about its history. Why?

essayAstronomy

Cosmic amnesia

A black hole rings like a struck bell, then settles into silence, forgetting almost everything about its history. Why?

Richard Dyer

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essayCognition and intelligence

The fog of hunger

From childhood, women are trained to restrict their appetite. And there’s a huge, hidden, cognitive price to pay for it

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A lively snowball fight with people in winter clothing throwing snow outside amidst a snowy background.

essaySports and games

More nothing now

We are most human when we play freely, imaginatively, pointlessly. Gamification risks atrophying that most precious capacity

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essayPolitics and government

Upend the trickle-down

Neoliberal policies have hollowed out democracies and spawned unchecked oligarchs. Grasping their structure points to a fix

Les Coleman

Medieval painting of a man in a bath, attended by various people under a tree with heart-shaped leaves.

essayHistory

Medieval mental health

Saffron and ostrich liver were prescribed but so were exercise, gardens, animals, socialising, and music

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Vintage photo showing a woman in a retro futuristic kitchen operating a round appliance with a clear dome lid.

essayComputing and artificial intelligence

Who will taste the cherries?

The computist has one dream: to debug the subjectivity out of all of human knowledge, creating a pure, frictionless world

Liam Spradlin

Painting of a spectacled owl with bright yellow eyes against a dark background, highlighting its feathers and beak.

videoMetaphysics

The alien worlds beside our own – a journey into animal eyes

14 minutes

Painting of a man walking on a path through a hilly landscape away from a town, with a bird flying overhead, both casting long shadows on the ground.

essayDemography and migration

Chasing la dolce vita

Homecomings, fantasies, food and ghosts – how the myth of eternal return keeps the Italian diaspora in a state of longing

Ben Faccini

Marble painting of a peacock beside a pedestal with a sphere, abstract shapes in the background.

videoHistory of technology

The millennia-long history of our obsession with fake marble

22 minutes

Photo of a scene from a film showing a soldier in muddy gear behind sandbags in a jungle, reflected on an iPad screen.

videoTechnology and the self

Are we ever really done seeing a movie? On ‘Platoon’ and memory

10 minutes

Two children engrossed in watching a cartoon on TV in a dimly lit room with curtains and a table.

essayChildhood and adolescence

The bombarding of childhood

It’s not just screen time: the problem with children’s media is that it has become relentlessly hectic, loud and bright

Natalia Kucirkova

Medieval painting of two men riding a donkey, a man is in a window, script beneath, with decorative clouds overhead.

essayHistory of science

Penchants of the polymaths

The fathers of Islamic science hold lessons for students: breadth over specialisation, and never let constraints get in the way

Mariam Sabri

Illustration of a robot reading with a thought bubble showing ancient cave paintings of hunters and a deer.

videoPhilosophy of mind

Could there ever be a viable test for artificial consciousness?

6 minutes

essayHistory

Medieval mental health

Saffron and ostrich liver were prescribed but so were exercise, gardens, animals, socialising, and music

Katherine Harvey

Painting of three figures with a flag on a dot-patterned background in red, yellow, purple and white.

videoArt

Meet the Aboriginal Australian artists painting over the colonial past

11 minutes

The imprint of a hand, made with black ink on beige paper, showing both the thin and wide creases on the palm and fingers.

essayHistory of science

Our eloquent hands

Physicians reject palmistry as nonsense. But reading the creases of our palms for hidden meaning is what doctors have always done

Alison Bashford

Photo of Earth from space showing clouds, oceans and land masses against a starry black background.

videoSpace exploration

Is this Artemis II timelapse the ‘Pale Blue Dot’ for our times?

11 minutes

A lorry on a long desert road with rocky terrain and mountains in the background under a partly cloudy sky.

essayHistory

Continental divide

A century ago, the Pan-American road promised a new era of fraternity between the two continents. Did it succeed?

Shawn Miller

essayPolitics and government

Upend the trickle-down

Neoliberal policies have hollowed out democracies and spawned unchecked oligarchs. Grasping their structure points to a fix

Les Coleman

Collage of two vintage photos featuring historic figures, one tipping a hat, the other in a thoughtful pose.

essayStories and literature

Neuroqueering on the lawn

Hans Christian Andersen’s tantrum in Charles Dickens’s garden was a case of ‘too muchness’, emotions bursting past respectability

Siobhan Unwin & Kathryne Ford

essaySports and games

More nothing now

We are most human when we play freely, imaginatively, pointlessly. Gamification risks atrophying that most precious capacity

Justin Neuman

Lush green gardens with tall tree-like structures and a glass dome in the background under a cloudy sky.

essayNations and empires

The Singapore strategies

The nation’s water is secure, but its food is another matter: lessons from the city-state in efficiency versus self-sufficiency

Peter A Coclanis

essayCognition and intelligence

The fog of hunger

From childhood, women are trained to restrict their appetite. And there’s a huge, hidden, cognitive price to pay for it

Sarah Berg

Abstract painting with blurred blue, yellow and black shapes creating a soft, dreamlike texture.

videoMetaphysics

‘Repulsion, at the core of attraction’ – on the paradox of touch

7 minutes

Illustration of two people embracing while riding through green waters on a pink river dolphin wearing a hat, with houses and trees in the background.

essayAnthropology

Dolphins and other lovers

The Andoque of the Amazon know what we have forgotten: the forest’s most beautiful creatures are also its most dangerous

Eliran Arazi

Photo of a large petrified log with vivid red and brown hues in a desert setting with grass and a blue sky.

videoValues and beliefs

Thieves of ‘cursed’ rocks pen letters of remorse to a national park

14 minutes

Illustration of a chaotic procession with figures in historical costume, each with exaggerated expressions and dialogues.

essayPolitical philosophy

In praise of zealotry

Early feminists like Mary Astell and Catharine Macaulay refused their male peers’ advice to remain polite in debate. Why?

Geertje Bol

Photo of two dressed-up rodents in a salon, one holding a comb with a speech bubble that reads, “I’m a beautician not a magician,” behind the other holding a mirror.

videoProgress and modernity

Torrington has some 240 residents – and one unusual tourist attraction

14 minutes

Illustration of a worm underground beneath grass and wildflowers showing roots in a cross-section view.

essayEcology and environmental sciences

Worm munch matters

The lives that slither and scurry beneath the soil’s surface are vital for ecological health: now we can listen in to them

Ella Browning