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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

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

Geometric shapes with triangular patterns in blue, purple, and yellow on a black background. Shapes include squares, triangles, cones, and other polyhedra.

video

Film and visual culture

Stop-motion origami unfurls in a playful exploration of how senses overlap

3 minutes

Man with glasses speaking, wearing a brown shirt. Background is blurred with a colourful painting visible.

video

Metaphysics

Why mathematical truths exist with or without minds to consider them

8 minutes

Hand holding a paintbrush colouring a vintage map of England with various regions in different colours.

video

Mathematics

How a curious question about colouring maps changed mathematics forever

9 minutes

Carl Sagan in a beige blazer and red jumper holding a model against a clear blue sky.

video

History of science

How an ancient polymath first calculated Earth’s size, as told by Carl Sagan

7 minutes

A man playing a Yamaha piano with headphones on. Abstract, white ribbon-like lines float above, on a black background.

video

Music

As a pianist strikes a chord, visualisations of his notes appear in real time

5 minutes

A felted wool fox sculpture with bright yellow eyes stands in front of a blurred background of green trees.

video

Logic and probability

Chew over the prisoner’s dilemma and see if you can find the rational path out

6 minutes

People standing in long, winding queues in a desert camp with numerous tents in the background under a clear blue sky.

essay

Ethics

Moral mathematics

Subjecting the problems of ethics to the cool quantifications of logic and probability can help us to be better people

Elad Uzan

Cartoon astronaut with clock eyes, wearing a white helmet against a black background.

video

Physics

An interstellar voyage explores the ‘paradox’ of twins separated by light years

6 minutes

Abstract artwork featuring two interconnected blue shapes, one with concentric circles and the other with a droplet-like form, against a beige background.

essay

Mathematics

Imaginary numbers are real

These odd values were long dismissed as bookkeeping. Now physicists are proving that they describe the hidden shape of nature

Karmela Padavic-Callaghan

Illustration of a person standing on top of a pyramid made from large bricks, with small plants growing around the structure.

video

Mathematics

How a verbal paradox shattered the notion of total certainty in mathematics

5 minutes

Typed title page stating “Intelligent Machinery” by A.M. Turing (1948) on an orange background.

essay

Computing and artificial intelligence

AI’s first philosopher

Alan Turing was a pioneer of machine learning, whose work continues to shape the crucial question: can machines think?

Sebastian Sunday Grève

Abstract image featuring a metallic sphere inside a grey circular tunnel, viewed towards a blurred gradient background.

essay

Philosophy of science

What is a law of nature?

Laws of nature are impossible to break, and nearly as difficult to define. Just what kind of necessity do they possess?

Marc Lange

Two scatter plots with points in a circular pattern centred at origin, labelled x and y axes ranging from -1 to 1.

video

Logic and probability

The unresolved probability paradox that goes to the heart of scientific objectivity

8 minutes

Two people walking past The Bank of New York sign, which reads “Founded 1784,” engraved on a stone wall.

essay

Economics

A softer economics

Financial markets are entangled and uncertain. When will economists let go of physics envy to embrace the quantum revolution?

David Orrell

Illustration of a person meditating in a cross-legged position with graphs and documents floating around their head.

video

Information and communication

The modern world is littered with statistical noise. Here’s how to find the signal

5 minutes

A corridor with numbered wooden doors and illuminated wall lights stretching into the distance.

video

Mathematics

Check in to the Hilbert Hotel, and learn why some infinities are bigger than others

6 minutes

A vibrant casino exterior with neon lights and swirling ceiling designs in red, orange and white against a twilight sky.

essay

Mathematics

Mathematics for gamblers

If philosophers and mathematicians struggle with probability, can gamblers really hope to grasp their losing game?

Catalin Barboianu

$Three origami figures in front of geometric light patterns on a black background, featuring a flower, a crane, and a rooster.$

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Engineering

Why are NASA engineers borrowing techniques from origami artists?

5 minutes

A woman with glasses and curly hair, wearing a brown top is speaking while sitting on a black chair.

video

Mathematics

Against ‘beauty’ in science – how striving for elegance stifles progress

9 minutes

Digital illustration of an orange clock on a black background with two yellow spheres and elliptical orbits, resembling a solar system.

video

Chemistry

There was nothing quick about how we arrived at the standardised second

6 minutes

A horizontal traffic light with lights transitioning from green, through yellow, to red against a grey sky.

video

Mathematics

Delight as the hard-edged world melts into a full-rainbow spectrum of reality

2 minutes

Illustration of two people in blue attire studying a solar system diagram with mathematical equations on a black background

video

Physics

A millimetre makes a world of difference when calculating planetary trajectories

6 minutes

Image showing a grid of binary numbers and letters (T, H) converted into a black-and-grey chequered pattern with a blue square, digital.

video

Mathematics

This puzzle is nearly impossible – but working out why is its own brain-teaser

19 minutes