#Aeon

Physics offered me a sense of order and purpose. But when life got messy I realised it had a much deeper insight to give

A girl’s story of forced marriage reveals how the Soviet invasion of 1979 transformed life in Afghanistan

Petty disputes, pleas for help and requests for gold – explore letters sent to Egyptian pharaohs more than 3,000 years ago

Grief is not only for the dead. When we are unable to honour other profound losses, we become strangers to ourselves

From Colombia to Syria, I’ve seen that capitalist logic can’t help to rebuild postwar countries but cooperatives can

A very modern conception of womanhood: in the Jazz Age paintings of Tamara de Lempicka, women were bold, free and stylish

Tribologists study friction: what happens when things rub together. It’s indispensable, from the wheel to the paths of stars

Disconnection is at the heart of today’s crises. So my husband and I chose a radical and revealing remedy: living communally

What happened when people in Bhutan, the last country on Earth without television, were allowed to watch it in 1999?

In tropical forests ruled by aggressive ants, these species have adopted a ‘fake it till you make it’ survival strategy

A world of violence sustains itself through guns, poverty and other social ills, but also through the minds it creates

For a decade, I’ve posted episodes of my memoir to Facebook. My readers correct my understanding of my past

A ball suspended in mid-air meets an athlete’s determination: in the traditional Inuit one-foot high kick, competitors must defy gravity

Humanity produces a staggering amount of new knowledge every day. The question is how to make sense of it all

In the wake of tragedy, an elderly couple must make a choice: should they let their son go to save the lives of others?

Sixteenth-century Venice wanted to expel its Jews but couldn’t do without them. Its compromise was the world’s first ghetto

From Lenape land to sprawling metropolis, this detailed timelapse animation captures the making of Manhattan

She was among the first to argue that prosperity, equality and the protection of nature are inseparable planetary goals

If the question makes no sense to you, try spending some time with the principle of sufficient reason

Built from vegetal materials, these majestic tombs housing Buganda kings bridge the realms of living and dead in Uganda