Instant Genius

What really happens in our brains when we sleep

Every night when we fall asleep, our brains and bodies switch into a mode of functioning that’s entirely different from that of our waking lives. During sleep, our bodies

How evolution made the strangest creatures on Earth

Evolution by natural selection has given rise to a fascinating tapestry of living organisms, each occupying their own individual niche. The result is a world filled with

The often-bizarre history of mind-machine interfaces

Since the discovery of electricity, scientists, inventors and engineers have attempted to figure out ways in which this often-mysterious force could influence our brains

Why our brains crave answers and the psychology of explanation

Almost as soon as we are able to speak, we start asking our parents, relatives, and teachers an almost frustratingly large number of ‘why questions’. It’s an essential pa

Why our online lives are making us sick and how to fix it

Over the last decade or so, it’s become abundantly clear that eating a diet based on ultra-processed food is damaging to our bodily health. Could it be that our informati

Why tuning into your body’s natural rhythms is the key to productivity

Sometimes, no matter how busy we are or how hard we work, when we look back on our day, it can seem like we didn’t really achieve very much. Why is this and what can we d

How maths underpins almost every aspect of our lives

For many of us, maths is simply a subject we studied at school to help us learn how to count, add one thing to another, and carry out everyday tasks such as managing our

Why bogs are one of the planet’s most undervalued ecosystems

For those of us who live in towns and cities, bogs may seem to be a rare environmental relic left over from times gone by, or perhaps something we’ve only encountered ons

Why leaves are one of nature’s most versatile creations

From the neatly curated English country garden to the wild jungles of the Amazon, the Earth is host to a staggeringly diverse range of plant life. One of the key reasons

How to make buildings without harming the Earth

Every built environment we spend our time in, our homes, offices, music venues or sports stadiums – is designed and constructed after hours of consideration about form an

Why humans are wired to appreciate beauty

A late summer sunset, a peaceful, verdant forest, or a Shakespearean sonnet – these are all things that move us emotionally thanks to what we perceive as their beauty. Bu

How safety engineers test everyday products to destruction

Whenever we buy a new product or use a service, we simply expect it to work as advertised, usually without giving much thought to how it came to being in the first place.

Why we need to be taking asthma more seriously

Currently, around one in ten of us are living with asthma. For many, the symptoms can be relatively mild, but for others, attacks can be severe, debilitating, and even li

What our evolutionary history can teach us about eating well

These days, supermarket shelves are filled with thousands of different products all vying for our attention; the options are almost endless. However, if we look back in t

Why Smell is Our Most Overlooked Sense

Though often thought of as the poor cousin to our other senses, our sense of smell has played a key role in human life since its very beginnings. It helps us to determine

Are We Living in a Simulation? How to Tell If Reality Is Fake

The possibility that we may be living in a simulation created by a more technologically advanced civilisation has occupied the minds of scientists, philosophers and ficti

Why we need to rethink our ideas about laziness

Often in life, we find ourselves being accused of being lazy or accusing others of acting lazily, or maybe even becoming frustrated by what we see as laziness in our own

Why interpersonal conflict is a natural, healthy part of life

No matter how gently or politely we live our lives, at one point or another, it’s inevitable that we’ll find ourselves in a situation in which we disagree with another pe

The hidden reasons common knowledge shapes our lives

When we know a certain fact about the world or hold a certain belief how do we know that others also know this, how do we base our thoughts and actions on our knowledge o

Why understanding how time works is the biggest mystery in science

When most of us think about time our minds likely turn to thoughts of the second hand that ticks around a clock, or maybe the occasions we’ve been late to catch a bus. Bu