By Barry Smith, Director of the Institute of Philosophy, School of Advanced Study, University of London
Stuck in front of our screens all day, we often ignore our senses beyond sound and vision. And yet they are always at work. When we’re more alert we feel the rough and smooth surfaces of objects, the stiffness in our shoulders, the softness of bread.
In the morning, we may feel the tingle of toothpaste, hear and feel the running water in the shower, smell the shampoo, and later the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
Aristotle told us there were five senses. But he also told us the world was made up of…
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By Alexander Sergeant, Lecturer in Digital Media Production, University of Westminster
Despite the reputation of It’s a Wonderful Life as a heartwarming Christmas classic, both its fans and detractors like to remind audiences that it’s no feel-good film. For at least two-thirds of its running time, it is essentially the story of a man’s suicide attempt.
We watch as kind-hearted George Bailey has his dreams quashed, his ambitions curtailed and his business ruined. Then it gets even worse. At about two hours in, we watch this poor, despairing man standing on a bridge outside…
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By Damian Robinson, Director, Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology, University of Oxford
Franck Goddio, Visiting Professor, Oxford Centre for Maritime Archaeology, University of Oxford
Beneath the shifting waters of Alexandria’s eastern harbour, on Egypt’s Mediterranean coast, lie the drowned remnants of a once-splendid city – ports, palaces and temples swallowed by the sea. Submerged by earthquakes and a rising sea level, these lost monuments have become the focus of survey and excavations by the European Institute for Underwater Archaeology, in conjunction with Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Much of our recent work has centred around Antirhodos Island, revealing a temple to the ancient…
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By Nessa Keddo, Senior Lecturer in Media, Diversity and Technology, King's College London
Online adverts are sometimes so personal that they feel eerie. Even as a researcher in this area, I’m slightly startled when I get a message asking if my son still needs school shirts a few hours after browsing for clothes for my children.
Personal messaging is part of a strategy used by advertisers to build a more intense relationship with consumers. It often consists of pop-up adverts or follow-up emails reminding us of all the products we have looked at but not yet purchased.
This is a result of AI’s rapidly developing ability to automate the advertising content we are…
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By Anna Walker, Senior Arts + Culture Editor, The Conversation
Jane Wright, Commissioning Editor, Arts & Culture, The Conversation
Naomi Joseph, Arts + Culture Editor, The Conversation
In 2025, there was a lot of excellent art and culture to rave about.
Anora, a film about a sex worker who gets caught up in the world of a Russian oligarch’s son, won best picture at the Oscars. Nnena Kalu was the first disabled artist to win the coveted Turner Prize for her hypnotic multimedia work.…
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By Alice Vernon, Lecturer in Creative Writing and 19th-Century Literature, Aberystwyth University
Benson’s mother was Mary Sidgwick, whose brother Henry was a founding member and first president of the Society for Psychical Research.
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By Akanksha Awal, Lecturer, Social Anthropology, SOAS, University of London
In Beijing, while many of the ancient trees are fenced in by the local government to protect them from damage, the newer ones are still available for people to touch and gather around.
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By Eleri Sian Jones, Lecturer in Sport Psychology, Bangor University
Today’s sporting landscape increasingly accepts that athleticism doesn’t end when motherhood begins. High-profile athletes such as middle-distance runner Faith Kipyegon and rugby player Abbie Ward have helped redefine what’s possible after giving birth.
But for most athletic mothers, the picture is far more complicated than the stories in the media suggest. Understanding those complexities is essential if women are to receive the support they need to thrive postpartum.
Triathlon, which is built on three disciplines demanding relentless training, adds an extra layer of challenge.…
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By Frank Chouraqui, Senior University Lecturer in Philosophy, Leiden University
In practice, most of our experiences of shared realities are not involved in truth. Think of myths, neighbourly feeling, or the sense of community.
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By Ming Gao, Research Fellow of East Asia Studies, Lund University
Tabita Rosendal, Researcher at the Centre for East and South-East Asian Studies, Lund University
Distinctive in taste and famously divisive, durian is not everyone’s choice of fruit. This was certainly the case for some Chinese explorers when they first encountered it during the Ming Dynasty’s early maritime voyages.
One record dates back to 1413, when a translator called Ma Huan travelled to what is now Malaysia on a trip with diplomat and admiral Zheng He. In his travelogue, Ma…
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