In Japan, an year is more than just a number. But is this culturally rich system still relevant today? 30st April 2019 is going to be a momentous day for the people of Japan. For the first t...

Oftentimes, when a popular series is finished, the real stories have only just begun.

A tale of red orchids and butterflies, on a mountain in the heart of a city.

A brief history of how humans have tracked time

Your use of technology may be changing the way your brain works. But so is everything else.

Battle simulation, allegory, romantic pursue, and ‘the Immortal Game of 1851’.

The mythology, technology, and commercialism of our slumbers.

A poem about the Guesthouse at Ballyman

Reflections on my great-great aunt’s memoirs, family titbits, and perspectives on the coronavirus

Why are we turning out diets into personality traits?

A wander through the science and symbolism of majestic oaks, as we search for a way home to forests.

Eating more meat made us human. Now our survival demands we eat less of it.

Our incomplete education could end the world. Can the humanities save us from ourselves?

Are AI trained with computers and data? Yes — but first, you need a human. Look closely at the image on the screen. Scrutinise each pixel. Trace out the houses, the buildings, the lamp-posts...

Can diagnoses depend on your doctor’s mother tongue? My  passion for the nuances of language has deep roots in who I am as a  person. I study intercultural communication: it’s about how peop...

The new climate movement that thinks Greenpeace isn’t green enough One day in the middle of last October, Greenpeace experienced a sit-in by climate activists at their headquarters. Apparent...

Newton was an alchemist. Mary Poppins may have been a witch. What are scientists today?

Long before JPEGs, typewriting and knitting were making pictures from dots Type the symbols colon, dash, and right-parenthesis, and voìla, you get a smiley face. (Nowadays, most people leave...

The old type of printing-press is gone — but the lines they made us say are still very much around You press a button on the keyboard, and a metal block of the corresponding letter automatic...

Humans dream of contacting aliens — but will we understand what they’re saying? “Are we alone in the Universe?” That’s a question humans have been pondering all the time, including in this ...

A library without librarians, a bookshelf without books, and other wonders of the modern word. It’s late in the night, when most people are getting ready for bed — if they aren’t asleep alre...

You can’t always trust people to pay you — but what if you could trust the money itself? Money: what is it? We all use it. We all want it. We all think about how to make more. Money can be ...

Darkness is just the absence of photons. Or is it? A National Heritage is something special. Whether it’s a work of art or a natural wonder, it’s something unique that people are proud of. I...

Are today’s people really more tech-savvy? Or is it the other way round? Smartphones now outnumber computers, in terms of customer usage. Not everyone needs a laptop to work, but everyone ne...

I was reading a ‘book’ the other day. It was designed quite well. The hardest part of software design (or so they say) is not the program logic or intricate algorithms. It’s not the tracking...

No jaywalking allowed? Actually, roads were for people. Here’s how the cars took over. The city centre of Bogotá is quiet. Well, quieter than you might expect. The low purr of engines and th...

In order to truly read quickly, we need a language that’s seen and not heard. There are no staff in the Ximen Intelligent Library of Taipei. You pick the books you want, and an automated sys...

How do you pick up a tune, and hold it in your hand? A gentle music drifts around the room. It comes from the piano in the middle — an antique, with a sturdy wooden body and ivory keys. Insi...

Light, sight, and why things may not be the same colours they look Did you know that the sky looks blue? You probably did, specially if you’ve seen it. But just because it looks blue doesn’t...

What you speak is what you think. Or is it the other way round? What language do you think in? Sometimes, thoughts come into your head. Just like that. It’s only later that you put them int...

What’s a person? The answer’s not nearly as simple as you’d think. On the 16th of March 2017, the Parliament of New Zealand passed a new law recognising Te Awa Tupua as a legal person. That...

Who knew that Tomatoes could connect Tintin and The Pirates of the Caribbean?

It might not seem something as constant as length would have a history, but it does. In fact, it goes back to the times of ancient civilizations. To begin with, you can’t really specify the...