From ancient kings who disciplined errant monks to modern political battles over Gnanasara Thera, Sri Lanka’s history raises an uncomfortable question: should the saffron robe shield its wearer from accountability? The controversy
“Common sense (which, in truth, is very uncommon) is the best sense I know,” the 18th-century British writer Lord Chesterfield advised his son. But common sense doesn’t stay that way. While it appears to
More
A combination of a surgically implanted chip and augmented-reality (AR) glasses is giving hope to people who have lost their sight — allowing many to read again after years of blindness. According
More
In the wild, a mouse or rat leads a precarious life. In the city, they dodge traps, poisons, and broom-wielding humans. In the countryside, they face owls, shotguns, and more poison. As
More
(The Nobel Prize for Peace this year went to a person – María Corina Machado – who has called upon the US government to bomb her own country, Venezuela, and has supported
More
On a blustery September afternoon in Tuam, 20 miles north of Galway, the quiet streets of the Dublin Road estate conceal a harrowing past. Behind the rows of late-1970s terraced houses, a
More
Would dogs be better off without us? This may be a difficult question to consider if you live with a dog, love dogs, and find beauty in the enduring loyalty of the
More
by Durga Velayudham Greta Thunberg, barely out of childhood, became the centrepiece of a global spectacle once again. This month, she sailed into a war zone on a flotilla of boats, allegedly
More
What began as a quiet life of self-reliance in the Indian jungle ended in global headlines and a diplomatic tangle. In early July, Indian police on a routine patrol near Goa discovered
More
A deeper reach into human history is now possible, thanks to a growing body of archaeological data collected using advanced technologies and patient scholarly detective work accumulated across recent decades. Research into
More
Our chapter in the human evolutionary story is one of a globally connected population that has ballooned thanks to a suite of recent technologies. We frequently congratulate ourselves on these achievements, unique
More
Near-death experiences (NDEs) are a widely reported yet poorly understood phenomenon. Though there is no agreed-upon definition of an NDE, it has been described as “profound psychological events with transcendental and mystical elements, typically
More
Sherlock Holmes, the famous fictional detective, believed that his brother, Mycroft, could also have been a brilliant solver of crimes if he had not been so impossibly lazy. Mycroft was large and
More
The United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) has issued urgent new guidance, emphasizing that climate change, biodiversity loss, and pollution are already undermining fundamental human rights and threatening
More
Scientists have taken a major step toward a fertility breakthrough that could one day allow infertile women and gay men to have genetically related children. In a study reported by The Times
More
In a city that might have hosted a rival to Cambridge 800 years ago, a small but ambitious institution is challenging the traditional model of UK higher education. The New Model Institute
More