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Small Spaces in the City review: Can we thrive in a smaller future?

12 February 2024

As we increasingly live in cities, tiny apartments are likely to become the norm. A new exhibition has clever space-managing ideas – but also stark warnings about the health challenges ahead

Cillian Murphy is J. Robert Oppenheimer in OPPENHEIMER, written, produced, and directed by Christopher Nolan.

Oppenheimer review: Great film goes to the heart of atomic warfare

19 July 2023

Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer tells the story of the man who changed the world forever by developing the atomic bomb. An excellent script and terrific acting capture the awful dilemma of scientists who work for governments – especially in wartime

Signature Entertainment Handout Film Still: Cerebrum. Tobi King Bakare as William and Ramona Von Pusch as Amelia .

Cerebrum review: An enigmatic slice of sci-fi horror

12 July 2023

William returns home to recover after a terrible car accident leaves his world in pieces. Great performances and a chilling script make for an intriguing debut, says Simon Ings

RB64AM Sigmund Freud (1856-1939). Austrian neurologist, known as the founding father of psychoanalysis

The Age of Guilt review: Can Freud shed light on the internet?

5 July 2023

Sigmund Freud thought we had a superego, an unconscious power that criticised and punished us. Does this idea help explain the internet’s excesses, asks Mark Edmundson's intriguing new book

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Best science books and must-reads for your next break

21 June 2023

Travelling is a great time for a rethink, whether it's about the human mind or the evolution of cats – or even the importance of red algae for Earth. Our selection of great books has it covered

Kris Tompkins holds up a heartshaped rock during her hike up the mountain range in Patagonia, Chile. (Jimmy Chin)

Wild life review: The couple who bought up Chile to conserve it

14 June 2023

What made Doug and Kristine Tompkins quit their corporate lifestyle and start buying swathes of unused land in South America? An engrossing documentary tells their story, says Simon Ings

Orion Nebula in Infrared NASA ID: PIA25434 This new image of the Orion Nebula produced using previously released data from three telescopes shows two enormous caverns carved out by unseen giant stars that can release up to a million times more light than our Sun. All that radiation breaks apart dust grains there, helping to create the pair of cavities. Much of the remaining dust is swept away when the stars produce wind or when they die explosive deaths as supernovae. This infrared image shows dust but no stars. Blue light indicates warm dust heated by unseen massive stars. Observed in infrared light ? a range of wavelengths outside what human eyes can detect ? the views were provided by NASA's retired Spitzer Space Telescope and the Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE), which now operates under the moniker NEOWISE. Spitzer and WISE were both managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Southern California, ...more 508 Description:This infrared image of the Orion Nebula features plenty of dust but no stars. In these infrared wavelengths, it's possible to see hot spots where new stars are forming, while unseen bright, massive stars have carved out caverns of empty space. Date Created:2022-11-22 Center:JPL Keywords: Herschel Space Observatory , Spitzer Space Telescope , Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) , Orion Nebula Secondary Creator Credit: ESA/NASA/JPL-Caltech Visit JPL Website

Under Alien Skies review: A terrific guide to our spectacular universe

7 June 2023

Phil Plait, the man behind the Bad Astronomy blog, is a great guide to the wonders of the cosmos. But would it be a bad thing if his new book created a fresh reverence for our home planet among some readers?

Hang Son Doong A Crack In The Mountain - PRINCIPLE FILM STILL.

A Crack in the Mountain review: Stunning cave shows tourism's paradox

17 May 2023

A poignant documentary tells the paradoxical story of a vast, remote cave in Vietnam that looks likely to turn into a major tourist attraction

The Human Mind review: Ambitious, up-to-the-minute guide to the mind

11 May 2023

From perception and behaviour to choice and morality, psychologist Paul Bloom’s book on the mind takes us on a comprehensive journey of what it means to be human

Big data. Information concept. 3D render

The Battle for Your Brain review: A guide to neuro nightmares ahead

19 April 2023

How will we find a way through the new minefield of brain tracking and hacking? Ethicist and lawyer Nita Farahany's book is an excellent, if troubling, look at neurotechnology