Diving into the ring of darkness beyond things easily answerable, asking ‘Why?’ questions is what make humans awesome - by Eric Schwitzgebel Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A British Museum curator explains why making sense of archeological ruins is like finding a single brick in a huge soil heap - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
How French modernists from Proust to Mallarmé were alarmed and inspired by the voracious dynamism of the newspaper world - by Max McGuinness Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘We share and feel the same pain’: the mothers looking for their children who disappeared in Mexico en route to the US - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Despite decades of inaction we can avert the climate Hellocene and restore the atmosphere to keep our world habitable - by Rob Jackson Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Adam Smith agreed that vanity was all too human. But one saw it as a vice; the other, as a necessity - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Nurses experience deep suffering when they can’t act according to their moral compass. Our research shows a way forward - by Cynda Hylton Rushton Read at Aeon | Continue reading
All of our religions, stories, languages and norms were muddled and mixed through mobility and exchange throughout history - by Inanna Hamati-Ataya Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Returning to the cold case of the disappearing frogs of Costa Rica, a biologist reveals a hard truth about life on Earth - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Praying is a cognitive practice full of problem-solving resources. You can learn from it even if you don’t want to do it - by Eleanor Schille-Hudson Read at Aeon | Continue reading
The history, development and force of the sublime in Western art shows how what we fear and wonder at changes over time - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
We surveyed thousands of scientists in four countries and learned just how important beauty is to them - by Bridget Ritz & Brandon Vaidyanathan Read at Aeon | Continue reading
The stories of two Muslim immigrants who fought for the Union show that the American Civil War was an international fight - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Knitting and embroidery are laden with stereotypes of domestic femininity – and the subversive potential for protest - by Gemma McKenzie Read at Aeon | Continue reading
In his work on republicanism as a living idea, J G A Pocock showed that contesting history is part of a robust civic life - by Rosario López Read at Aeon | Continue reading
The self-sacrifice of ants to save their colonies is an allegory and a euphemism in one family’s story of fleeing Vietnam - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
By testing the boundaries of reality, Spanish-language authors have created a sublime counterpart to experimental physics - by Joshua Roebke Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A portrait of the Texas coastline occupied by SpaceX reveals the footprints we leave on Earth in the quest to reach beyond it - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Metamorphic rocks are our emissaries from the deep, travelling to alien realms and revealing the restless nature of Earth - by Marcia Bjornerud Read at Aeon | Continue reading
When you aim a powerful macroscopic camera at everyday items, the micro-world around us becomes only faintly familiar - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The British Empire used a great democratic ideal to manufacture racial difference and rationalise colonial domination - by Kanika Sharma Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Often metaphorical and allusive, the philosopher’s work will long be remembered for how it grappled with everyday thought - by Tim Bayne Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘That’ll be a thing to remember’ – a soldier’s account of the ‘Christmas truce’ of 1914 in a stirring letter to his wife - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Religious ritual to appease the gods or free expression of human agency? For the ancient Romans, dance could be both - by Karin Schlapbach Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘Are you a mind with a body or a body with a mind?’ The legacy of a 1970 ‘head transplant’ experiment performed on monkeys - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The progressive and remarkably innovative Woodmead School briefly flourished amid the viciousness of apartheid South Africa - by David Dyzenhaus Read at Aeon | Continue reading
Reviving the nearly lost printing processes of Shakespeare’s day is a labour of love and an act of connection with the past - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
It was thought that science could tell us about the origins of the Universe. Today that great endeavour is in serious doubt - by Daniel Linford Read at Aeon | Continue reading
In creating anonymous summaries, AI flattens out all the fascinating architecture of thought that makes the internet hum - by Collin Jennings Read at Aeon | Continue reading
‘Tiny problems become big ones when tigers are involved’: the day a young (and reckless) animal keeper danced with death - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
How San Francisco’s free rides system can help us understand anarchist theory and the work of the late, great James C Scott - by Reyko Huang Read at Aeon | Continue reading
China does not allow assisted reproduction for unmarried women. So now they travel to the US for egg-freezing treatments - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
In a changing climate, the instinct is to save everything you can. But maybe letting go is braver – and better for the future? - by Dan Hancox Read at Aeon | Continue reading
When he saw colours, Kandinsky heard music. Exploring the role of synaesthesia in his increasing move towards abstraction - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
Why did Julian S Huxley, first director of the UN agency, think eugenics held the key to a more evolved, harmonious world? - by Stefan Bernhardt-Radu Read at Aeon | Continue reading
During the Cold War, Oxford philosophers worked together to aid dissidents behind the Iron Curtain. I was one of them - by Cheryl Misak Read at Aeon | Continue reading
The ancient letters of a Roman soldier reveal the hazards and routines of army life, from signing up all the way to retiring - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
If it’s true that we live in a vast multiverse, then our understanding of identity, morality and even God must be reexamined - by Emily Qureshi-Hurst Read at Aeon | Continue reading
At a week-long police boot camp, a shy girl from Copenhagen learns to handcuff suspects, respond to riots and handle guns - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
As a child, I was torn from a culture that I never knew. It is a loss that defines me, even as I struggle to define the loss - by Jelena Markovic Read at Aeon | Continue reading
A brief, animated history of astronomy shows how a sophisticated understanding of the night sky made us who we are - by Aeon Video Watch at Aeon | Continue reading
The endless battle over his legacy testifies to his great authority – and the power of his thought to make the world better - by Edith Hall Read at Aeon | Continue reading
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