Scientists entered people’s dreams and got them ‘talking’

For the first time, researchers have had “conversations” involving novel questions and math problems with lucid dreamers—people who are aware that they are dreaming. The findings, from four labs and 36 participants, suggest people can receive and process complex external information while sleeping.

Black Feminist Visions

Pieces like Lavar Munroe’s Virgin and Child (2020) consider the bond that a mother has with her child through bold strokes of color and expressive mark-making. Other works are more introspective, focusing on the relationship that one has with themself. For example, Zanele Muholi’s self-portraiture explores themes of race, sexuality, and labor; their gaze is penetrating, and it’s clear they have agency. All of these artists have stories to tell, and the importance of their work transcends aesthetic appeal. 

Life on the streets of the French town branded as ‘lost to Islam’

Hairdressers and their clients hit the headlines after local teacher Didier Lemaire claimed there were no mixed salons in Trappes – suggesting the town was in the stranglehold of Islamic radicalisation. He also claimed schoolchildren were banned from singing and some women barred from cafes. Lemaire has since been placed under police protection following alleged death threats. The accusations came on the eve French MPs voted on a controversial bill to combat Islamist extremism, put forward after the brutal murder of teacher Samuel Paty last October.

The Limits of Thought

This is an introduction to the life, work, and legacy of the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein. There is little doubt that he was a towering figure of the twentieth century; on his return to Cambridge in 1929 Maynard Keynes wrote, “Well, God has arrived. I met him on the 5:15​ train”. Wittgenstein is credited with being the greatest philosopher of the modern age, a thinker who left not one but two philosophies for his successors to argue over: The early Wittgenstein said, “the limits of my language mean the limits of my world”; the later Wittgenstein replied, “If God looked into our minds he would not have been able to see there whom we were speaking of”. Language was at the heart of both. Wittgenstein stated that his purpose was to finally free humanity from the pointless and neurotic philosophical questing that plagues us all. As he put it, “To show the fly the way out of the fly bottle”. He was something of a philosopher's philosopher. But how did he think language could solve all the problems of philosophy? How have his ideas influenced contemporary culture? And could his thought ever achieve the release for us that he hoped it would? Melvyn Bragg discusses Wittgenstein and these questions with Ray Monk (Professor of Philosophy at the University of Southampton), Barry Smith (Lecturer in Philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London), and Marie McGinn (Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at the University of York).

Photographing Black Style

“Black Lens: Photographing Black Style” brings together emerging Black photographers from across the globe who document Black style in order to explore the multiplicity of Black culture, people, and history. Through their nuanced images of Black life and experiences, these artists remind us of the important role that Black style plays in preserving African diasporic histories and cultures. Equally importantly, their work offers an exciting opportunity to reflect on and reimagine the future of Black style. 

A Democratic member of Congress invoked Reconstruction-era

A Democratic member of Congress invoked Reconstruction-era anti-Ku Klux Klan laws in a lawsuit filed along with the NAACP against former President Donald Trump, his lawyer, and the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers right-wing extremist groups

Chick Corea dies at 79

“Like a runner loves to run because it just feels good, I like to play the piano just because it feels good,” 

Iron Ox year of 2148

some local people refer to Losar as Bal Gyal Lo, where Bal refers to Tibet, Gyal to the King and Lo to the Year

Don’t burn wood, don’t burn food. Stop fake renewables!

When you think 'renewables' you probably think of solar panels and wind turbines. The truth is that in Europe almost 60% of what we call 'renewables' is actually wood and crops. Yes! European dirty coal power plants now burn trees and crops on a mass scale. The EU calls it green energy and subsidises it. We can change this. EU leaders are rethinking the law that allows this to happen.

Stand With Belarus

Solidarity day with Belarus

Songbirds rely on an autism gene for memorization

Juvenile zebra finches practice their fathers’ song thousands of times a day over three months. They rehearse the song tens of thousands of times until it is a close match. 

7 aerial photos that show how human activity is dramatically reshaping our planet

The state of Rondônia in western Brazil has become one of the most deforested parts of the Amazon rainforest. Once home to 80,000 square miles (or 207,199 square kilometers) of forest, the past three decades have seen rapid clearing and degradation. By 2003, an estimated 26,000 square miles (or 67,340 square kilometers) of rainforest — an area that’s larger than the state of West Virginia — had been cleared.

Particle That Is a Portal to a 5th Dimension

“This could also eventually lead to an interesting cosmological history of the universe and might lead to the production of gravitational waves.” 

Human rights groups call for Winter Olympic boycott

More than 180 organisations have called on governments to boycott Beijing 2022 because of reported human rights abuses against ethnic minorities

ICIJ nominated for Nobel Peace Prize for combating dark money flows

Three Norwegian lawmakers have nominated the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and the Global Alliance for Tax Justice for a Nobel Peace Prize, citing the organizations’ “success in building global alliances” to increase transparency in the global financial system. “The outstanding work of the ICIJ to expose illicit flows, and the mammoth achievement of the GATJ to build national and international pressure for accountability and fair taxation — warrants attention, recognition and support,” the letter says

Thousands arrested at protests in support of Kremlin critic Navalny

Russian authorities mounted a massive effort to stem the tide of demonstrations after tens of thousands rallied across the country last weekend in the largest, most widespread show of discontent that Russia had seen in years. Despite threats of jail terms, warnings to social media groups and tight police cordons, the protests again engulfed cities across Russia's 11 time zones