Aeon is a magazine of ideas and culture. Visit aeon.co for more.https://bsky.app/profile/aeon.cohttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mvrw6fz54v2fIn this lyrical Essay, the astronomer Richard Dyer explores how the remarkable ‘amnesia’ of black holes – which contain no trace of their history, nor any distinguishing features – elucidates the fundamental physics governing our own storied and feature-rich world https://aeon.co/essays/black-holes-ring-like-bells-what-happens-next-is-stranger18 Sep 2026 10:05 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvrw6fz54v2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mvppnspxey27Have you ever wondered how animals see the world? In this short poetic documentary, the director Carlo Nasisse probes the diverse visual experiences of creatures big and small https://aeon.co/videos/the-alien-worlds-beside-our-own-a-journey-into-animal-eyes17 Sep 2026 13:03 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvppnspxey27https://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mvpgplwm6r2hHow do we decide which version of a design is better? In this Essay, the designer Liam Spradlin @iamli.am investigates the origins and true cost of ‘computism’ – an ideology in which human subjectivity is being replaced by data analysis buff.ly/in7Yu1k https://aeon.co/essays/if-computers-count-all-the-petals-who-tastes-the-cherries17 Sep 2026 10:23 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvpgplwm6r2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mvmvskm44u2mIn this engaging video, PhD student Mary McGillivray (@_theiconoclass) gives a comprehensive deep dive into the inventive ways humans have found to fake marble throughout history, and explores what is behind this millennia-long fascination buff.ly/kqjdrYw https://aeon.co/videos/the-millennia-long-history-of-our-obsession-with-fake-marble16 Sep 2026 10:15 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvmvskm44u2mhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mvkfdpiexq2fIn this deeply personal Essay, author Ben Faccini explores the intense pride that many descendants of Italian migrants feel towards their heritage – and the ways traditions, values and ideas of ‘Italian-ness’ have endured long after families have left the country itself buff.ly/66PnMdp https://aeon.co/essays/italianness-is-a-state-of-travelling-in-both-directions15 Sep 2026 10:15 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvkfdpiexq2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mvi7s23zqx2vAre we ever really done seeing a movie? Watch this deeply personal video essay, where US filmmaker Kevin B Lee recalls watching Vietnam War film Platoon in 1980s San Francisco buff.ly/tOAcoHg https://buff.ly/tOAcoHg14 Sep 2026 13:30 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvi7s23zqx2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mvhu2gmz7q2vIn our increasingly digital world, many parents, educators and caregivers are becoming cautious of the amount of screen time children have. In today’s Essay, the children’s literacy expert Natalia Kucirkova suggests that we should focus more attention on the pace of children’s media https://aeon.co/essays/its-not-just-screen-time-kids-are-bombarded-by-hectic-media14 Sep 2026 10:00 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvhu2gmz7q2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mvfudygtrs2fPhysicians reject palmistry as nonsense. But reading the creases of our palms for hidden meaning is what doctors have always done. An Essay by Alison Bashford https://aeon.co/essays/what-palmistry-and-medicine-have-always-had-in-common13 Sep 2026 15:00 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvfudygtrs2fhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mvacpgcmpr2dThe Pakistani historian of science Mariam Sabri explores the lives of four titans of early Islamic science to find that beyond their superficial differences, they shared something essential: ’none let a single discipline set a boundary on their thinking‘ https://aeon.co/essays/four-islamic-polymaths-prove-breadth-beats-specialisation11 Sep 2026 10:01 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mvacpgcmpr2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mv64gg4mw42hAre computers capable of conscious states? Today's Video unpacks John Searle's ‘Chinese room’ experiment and considers how his argument – that the pattern recognition of computers only simulates understanding – holds up in an era of increasingly complex AI https://aeon.co/videos/could-there-ever-be-a-viable-test-for-artificial-consciousness10 Sep 2026 13:03 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv64gg4mw42hhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mv5sh3heqj2gIn this historically rich Essay, Katherine Harvey explores the surprisingly modern views our medieval ancestors held about mental health and what we might learn from their approach https://aeon.co/essays/the-curio-cabinet-of-medieval-mental-health10 Sep 2026 10:05 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv5sh3heqj2ghttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mv3by4p72i2lIn today's Video, British artist Patrick Waterhouse invites Aboriginal Australian artists to revise the narrative imposed by colonial archives like maps and photographs through the traditional technique of dot painting buff.ly/QpSPDtK https://aeon.co/videos/meet-the-aboriginal-australian-artists-painting-over-the-colonial-past09 Sep 2026 10:05 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mv3by4p72i2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3muyrj6d4352dWhat do medicine and palmistry have in common? In this intriguing Essay uncovering the history of the so-called ‘simian line’ palm crease, the science historian Alison Bashford shows how fortune tellers and doctors alike act as semioticians of the body https://aeon.co/essays/what-palmistry-and-medicine-have-always-had-in-common08 Sep 2026 10:05 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3muyrj6d4352dhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3muwbmbum5624In his decade long journey from Rio de Janeiro to Washington DC, Leônidas Borges de Oliveira championed the ideals of a Pan-American Highway that would connect the continents. But what came of these dreams of fraternity? buff.ly/sVFquYT https://aeon.co/essays/why-the-pan-american-highway-only-half-exists07 Sep 2026 10:15 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3muwbmbum5624https://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3muub2vfihe2dNeoliberal policies have hollowed out democracies and spawned unchecked oligarchs. Grasping their structure points to a fix. An Essay by Les Coleman https://aeon.co/essays/why-western-democracy-is-ailing-and-how-to-fix-it06 Sep 2026 15:00 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3muub2vfihe2dhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3murqm474lb2vWe are most human when we play freely, imaginatively, pointlessly. Gamification risks atrophying that most precious capacity. An Essay by Justin Neuman https://aeon.co/essays/play-is-doing-its-work-even-if-were-not-keeping-score05 Sep 2026 15:00 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3murqm474lb2vhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3muor2qukxt24In this Essay, Les Coleman expertly elucidates how damaging the neoliberalist revolution has truly been and offers a timely solution: more democracy can save democracy buff.ly/A6Mw7I6 https://aeon.co/essays/why-western-democracy-is-ailing-and-how-to-fix-it04 Sep 2026 10:30 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3muor2qukxt24https://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mumjsk7yw32lAfter traumatic childhoods, sisters Patte and Randa Starr have dedicated their golden years to having the carefree childhood they never had. This charming short film celebrates their irrepressible commitment to fun buff.ly/StNHns4 https://aeon.co/videos/after-traumatic-childhoods-two-sisters-dedicate-their-golden-years-to-fun03 Sep 2026 13:15 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mumjsk7yw32lhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mum76nj3yf24In their essay, Siobhan Unwin and Kathryne Ford explore the idea of neuroqueering – an act of excess which exposes the limits of societal expectations – and why we should resist the urge to contain or resolve public displays of excess https://aeon.co/essays/neuroqueer-expression-and-the-limits-of-social-tolerance03 Sep 2026 10:05 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mum76nj3yf24https://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mujqbo7iel2hIn this video, The celebrated Marxist geographer David Harvey gives viewers a tour of Manhattan’s newest redevelopment of Hudson Yards, exploring how spaces like these reflect the deeper tensions inherent in capitalist systems buff.ly/3C5xO7Z https://aeon.co/videos/a-tour-of-new-yorks-gaudiest-neighbourhood-with-the-marxist-geographer-david-harvey02 Sep 2026 10:33 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mujqbo7iel2hhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3muh6apaog527In today’s essay, author and New School professor Justin Neuman argues that we are most human when we play freely, imaginatively and pointlessly – and that the increasing gamification of our leisure risks turning even play into another form of work. buff.ly/4Y9QvsB https://aeon.co/essays/play-is-doing-its-work-even-if-were-not-keeping-score01 Sep 2026 10:05 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3muh6apaog527https://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3muexnjteeh2sIn this stop-motion animation, the French filmmaker Charlotte Arene demystifies concepts like electromagnetism, thermodynamics, special relativity and quantum mechanics by illustrating them at work in a cup of coffee https://aeon.co/videos/from-relativity-to-quantum-theory-our-physical-world-explored-through-coffee31 Aug 2026 13:01 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3muexnjteeh2shttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mueodsdiav2jThe idea of self-sufficiency is inherently appealing for city-states like Singapore. But the economic historian Peter A Coclanis questions whether these really are the right strategies to ‘render [populations] food-secure come hell or, more likely, high water’ buff.ly/tZOa4xa https://aeon.co/essays/did-singapore-go-wrong-in-its-quest-for-food-security31 Aug 2026 10:15 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mueodsdiav2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mu7teaa6iw2jA beautiful illumination of who we really are, this essay by Ronald de Sousa argues that human nature is not a predetermined fact but something we perpetually create https://aeon.co/essays/how-evolutionary-biology-makes-everyone-an-existentialist29 Aug 2026 12:01 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu7teaa6iw2jhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mu5gcur3ny2lIn Zanskar, a remote and desolate Himalayan desert valley in northern India, locals have long relied on the melting of glaciers every spring for water. But as temperatures continue to rise the rapid decline of these glaciers has forced the community to create their own water sources https://aeon.co/videos/can-monumental-ice-stupas-help-remote-himalayan-villages-survive28 Aug 2026 13:02 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu5gcur3ny2lhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mu54f46sgg2nIn today's essay, the climate scientist Rob Jackson argues that despite decades of inaction, recovery for the planet remains within reach https://aeon.co/essays/we-can-still-get-out-of-the-climate-hellocene-and-into-the-clear28 Aug 2026 10:05 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu54f46sgg2nhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mu2lw5kh2n2yIf you have ever wondered how to reconcile your love of nature with the fear of being eaten, read this essay to explore what happens when we accept our place in the food chain https://aeon.co/essays/nietzsches-startling-provocation-youre-edible-and-delicious27 Aug 2026 10:05 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mu2lw5kh2n2yhttps://bsky.app/profile/aeon.co/post/3mty44n2fg62sMeticulously researched and epic in scope, this documentary by John D Boswell surveys geoengineering projects – some quite speculative, others already underway, but all of them at least theoretically possible buff.ly/WWAi3TD https://aeon.co/videos/building-a-prosperous-future-demands-bold-ideas-these-are-some-of-the-boldest26 Aug 2026 10:17 +0000at://did:plc:wh7fvtae3qacq2q5vfpsacdp/app.bsky.feed.post/3mty44n2fg62s