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Science

Essays and videos exploring physics, evolution, cosmology and other frontiers in science

Astronomy Biology Biotechnology Chemistry Complexity Computing and artificial intelligence Cosmology Deep time Earth science and climate Ecology and environmental sciences Engineering Evolution Genetics History of science Human evolution Human reproduction Illness and disease Mathematics Medicine Oceans and water Palaeontology Physics Quantum theory Space exploration

Digital artwork of a forest inside a circular frame with geometric lines, displayed against a black background.

essay

Stories and literature

Laboratories of the impossible

By testing the boundaries of reality, Spanish-language authors have created a sublime counterpart to experimental physics

Joshua Roebke

Close-up photo of a textured surface with vibrant purple, orange and blue abstract patterns.

video

Film and visual culture

Our world has very different contours when a millimetre is blown up to a full screen

8 minutes

Abstract digital art of glowing, multicoloured clusters against a dark background, resembling molecules in space.

video

Physics

Groundbreaking visualisations show how the world of the nucleus gives rise to our own

10 minutes

A solitary figure walking up misty stairs toward an unclear building, creating a mysterious atmosphere.

essay

Philosophy of science

The nature of natural laws

Physicists and philosophers today have formulated three opposing models that explain how laws work. Which is the best?

Mario Hubert

Drawing of Earth and the Moon in orbit with straight lines trailing off each on a white background with grey specks.

video

Physics

To change the way you see the Moon, view it from the Sun’s perspective

5 minutes

A sea turtle swimming underwater in clear turquoise water with sunlight shimmering on the surface.

essay

Philosophy of science

Elusive but everywhere

A new theory argues that unseen ‘fields’ guide all goal-directed things in the Universe, from falling rocks to voyaging turtles

Daniel W McShea & Gunnar O Babcock

Illustration of a person reading a book with glowing hot air balloons and mountains emerging from the pages.

essay

Physics

The city of wisdom

Don’t be intimidated by physics: it is made of stories and metaphors. Learn these and the field will open up to you

Jamie Zvirzdin

Black and white photo of a vintage race car numbered 6 speeding past blurred spectators emphasising motion and early motor racing.

essay

History of science

Clock time contra lived time

Henri Bergson and Albert Einstein fundamentally disagreed about the nature of time and how it can be measured. Who was right?

Evan Thompson

A digital painting of abstract shapes and lines featuring colourful spheres with light trails against a wavy background.

essay

Physics

Chasing ghost particles

Without the neutrino, the Universe might be an empty void. But this inscrutable particle isn’t giving up its secrets easily

Corey S Powell

A man playing a piano in a dark room with animated planets and stars floating around him, illuminated by soft light.

video

Physics

The rhythms of a star system inspire a pianist’s transfixing performance

5 minutes

Two beetles with translucent wings flying against a pink background.

video

Biology

Beetles take flight at 6,000 frames per second in this perspective-shifting short

9 minutes

Close-up of two black optical devices with visible yellow light inside the lenses, set against a blurry background.

video

Physics

What does it look like to hunt for dark matter? Scenes from one frontier in the search

7 minutes

Abstract black-and-white image featuring a spherical shape at the centre surrounded by an intricate web of swirling, crisscrossing lines, creating a three-dimensional effect. The background is dark, enhancing the contrast and emphasising the white lines and central sphere.

video

Physics

Imagining spacetime as a visible grid is an extraordinary journey into the unseen

12 minutes

Image of M87 galaxy showing a bright yellowish central core with a jet of blue plasma extending outward into space. The background is filled with faint stars and a hazy, brownish hue

essay

History of science

His radiant formula

Stephen Hawking’s greatest legacy – a simple little equation now 50 years old – revealed a shocking aspect of black holes

Roger Highfield

A close-up of an orange and black butterfly perched on a leaf with a soft, pastel-coloured background.

essay

History of ideas

Chaos and cause

Can a butterfly’s wings trigger a distant hurricane? The answer depends on the perspective you take: physics or human agency

Erik Van Aken

Artistic depiction of a black hole with light bending around its event horizon. A bright swirl of light contrasts against the dark background, illustrating the gravitational pull and bending of light.

video

Physics

The abyss at the edge of human understanding – a voyage into a black hole

4 minutes

A woman with brown hair wearing a dark blazer and light-coloured top is speaking, gesturing with her hand. The background is out-of-focus greenery.

video

Cosmology

Tiny, entangled universes that form or fizzle out – a theory of the quantum multiverse

11 minutes

Close-up microscopic view of Diatom plankton with transparent, geometric shapes connected by thin, radiant lines, set against a dark background.

video

Metaphysics

Simple entities in universal harmony – Leibniz’s evocative perspective on reality

4 minutes

Illustration of a man in a suit, looking down, with a background of indistinct figures in a hallway. The colours are muted, creating a sombre atmosphere.

video

Cosmology

The Indian astronomer whose innovative work on black holes was mocked at Cambridge

13 minutes

An elongated, rocky interstellar object travelling through space with stars in the background, emitting a faint, translucent tail.

video

Astronomy

Seven years later, what can we make of our first confirmed interstellar visitor?

59 minutes

Four blue, irregularly shaped objects with black squiggly lines attached, displayed in a sequence against grey and white backgrounds.

video

Physics

Is it possible to design a shape to roll along any fixed path?

4 minutes

A circular space station with solar panels and lights orbiting above a planetary surface.

video

Space exploration

Mind-bending speed is the only way to reach the stars – here are three ways to do it

5 minutes

An intricate paper snowflake cutout against a dark blue background with stylised trees and grass.

video

Physics

Find the building blocks of nature within a single, humble snowflake

4 minutes

Childlike drawing of buildings, a house, pyramids, and a Greek temple on a curved surface under a starry sky with a radiating sun. Stick figures roam between structures.

video

Physics

Why the golden age of total solar eclipses is already behind us

5 minutes