On his final journey through Asia, Thomas Merton found some peace in the dialectic between refusing the world and loving it - by Drew Calvert Read at Aeon | Continue reading
The three generations of scientists dedicated to knowing a small sliver of Earth, one flower and one hummingbird at a time - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
There’s more talk of decolonisation than ever, while true independence for former colonies has faded from view. Why? - by Lydia Walker Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Take a closer look at the atomic nucleus, from the ancient Greek idea of the atom to its cutting-edge practical applications - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
In this 1976 interview, Otto Frank reflects on his decision to give his daughter Anne’s words to the world and their legacy - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Hibernation allows many animals to time-travel from difficult times to plenty. Could humans learn how to do it too? - by Vladyslav Vyazovskiy Read at Aeon | Continue reading
As the hearing parent of a deaf baby, I’m confronted with an agonising decision: should I give her an implant to help her hear? - by Abi Stephenson Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Step into the world of the enigmatic ‘Las Meninas’ – Diego Velázquez’s masterpiece of royal (and self-)portraiture - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Physicists and philosophers today have formulated three opposing models that explain how laws work. Which is the best? - by Mario Hubert Read at Aeon | Continue reading
As permafrost thaws at unprecedented rates, Arctic villages are beginning to sink. Here is what we need to do - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Olive oil was revered and cherished by the ancients. But its distinctive peppery taste is really a modern invention - by Massimo Mazzotti Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A stirring portrait of the radical husband-and-wife legal team who defended 1960s revolutionaries against the US government - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
In this tech-vexed age, our life on screens prevents us from experiencing the mysteries and transformative wonder of life - by Kirk Schneider Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Switch from the Moon’s orbit of Earth to its trajectory around the Sun, and you shift your entire view of our solar system - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Within less than a decade, Brazil will have as many evangelicals as Catholics, a transcendence born of the prosperity gospel - by Alex Hochuli Read at Aeon | Continue reading
On St Helena, the island famed for Napoleon’s tomb, burial sites for the transatlantic slave trade’s victims go unmarked - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Charles Darwin was fascinated by extravagant ornament in nature as Jane Austen was in culture. Did their explanations agree? - by Abigail Tulenko Read at Aeon | Continue reading
In this mediation on ‘après-coup’ in art, Cormac tries to understand why he’s still haunted by a scene from ‘Minority Report’ - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Everything in the Universe, from wandering turtles to falling rocks, is surrounded by ‘fields’ that guide and direct movement - by Daniel W McShea & Gunnar O Babcock Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Don’t be intimidated by physics: it is made of stories and metaphors. Learn these and the field will open up to you - by Jamie Zvirzdin Read at Aeon | Continue reading
The sensations of cooking stir up complicated questions about the relationship between a daughter and her mother - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
India’s ongoing subjugation of Kashmir holds portentous lessons about the nature of contemporary colonialism - by Hafsa Kanjwal Read at Aeon | Continue reading
What GPS tracking says about why the common whimbrel stops at a small spit of sand in South Carolina on its migratory route - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Social scientists cling to simple models of reality – with disastrous results. Instead they must embrace chaos theory - by Brian Klaas Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Arrested for supplying water to migrants from Mexico, an aid worker’s trial challenges the boundary between law and morality - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Before he was famous, Jean-Jacques Rousseau was Louise Dupin’s scribe. It’s her ideas on inequality that fill his writings - by Rebecca Wilkin Read at Aeon | Continue reading
For all the promise and dangers of AI, computers plainly can’t think. To think is to resist – something no machine does - by Alva Noë Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Before we ventured into space in 1961, we sent fruit flies, dogs and chimps to pave the way. This is their story - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Ancient Mesopotamians had a profound love of beer: a beverage they found celebratory, intoxicating and strangely erotic - by Tate Paulette Read at Aeon | Continue reading
This rollicking ode to modernity pairs Prokofiev with frenetic abstractions and Post-Impressionist animations of people at play - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Hens try to hatch golf balls, whales get beached. Getting things wrong seems to play a fundamental role in life on Earth - by David S Oderberg Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A Bible, a piece of wood, a song – a poignant portrait of the everyday family keepsakes that can bridge generations - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Our culture works hard to keep sex and death separate but recharging the libido might provide the release that grief needs - by Cody Delistraty Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Liberals have forgotten that in order for our lives not to be nasty, brutish and short, we need stability. Enter Hobbes - by Jennifer M Morton Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Mapping a fruit fly’s multitudinous neural pathways is a promising step towards a better understanding of the human brain - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Pau Cin Hau dreamt of an alphabet for a language that had never been written down. So began the religion of Laipianism - by Bikash K Bhattacharya Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Like ‘the property room of an opera house of a vanished civilisation’: the first thrilling glimpse inside Tutankhamun’s tomb - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
For centuries, the only way in which to illuminate the mysteries of black holes was through the power of mathematics - by Steve Nadis & Shing-Tung Yau Read at Aeon | Continue reading
In 2009, the ‘balloon boy’ incident captivated American television audiences – what did it reveal about profit-driven news? - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Mental health campaigns place huge trust in people’s ability to act as therapists. But when should professionals step in? - by Aaron Neiman Read at Aeon | Continue reading
The world sees Japan as a paragon of minimalism. But its hidden clutter culture shows that ‘more’ can be as magical as ‘less’ - by Matt Alt Read at Aeon | Continue reading
For a young girl living in 1980s Tehran, the small intrigues of everyday life take centre stage against a backdrop of war - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Medicine aims to return bodies to the state they were in before illness. But there’s a better way of thinking about health - by Jane Maienschein & Kate MacCord Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘It’s a beautiful world … when you’re free’: two teens grapple with how to live an authentic life in this vintage short - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The Mormon state is seen as deeply homophobic. Yet, from polygamy to pride, Mormons themselves are a distinctly queer lot - by Kristi Rhead Read at Aeon | Continue reading
DNA is nature’s highly efficient mechanism for data storage. Now, scientists are taking note to address our storage crisis - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The belief in witches is an almost universal feature of human societies. What does it reveal about our deepest fears? - by Gregory Forth Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Once lauded as a wonder of the age, cocaine soon became the object of profound anxieties. What happened? - by Douglas Small Read at Aeon | Continue reading