Phenomenology

Phenomenology

A blue hand holding a tool touches a red illustrated brain, with brain wave patterns shown in the background.
A new framework suggests that bursts of neural chaos could be the fingerprints of a conscious mind at work.
A split image explores the nature of life, with a gray rock on a dark background on the left and a colored microscopic view of a cell—hinting at intelligence—in vivid detail on the right.
Sixty years ago, a little-known philosopher challenged how science understands life. His perspective is finding new relevance in the age of artificial intelligence.
Diagram illustrating Earth's orbit around the Sun, showing the tilt of Earth's axis, the seasons, equinoxes, solstices, and directions to celestial poles.
Earth orbits the Sun while spinning on its tilted axis, with two annual occasions marking that maximal tilt. That's where solstices arise.
A split image showing the left half of a frog and the right half of a chemical structure on a green and white textured background.
5-MeO-DMT may offer a practical way to access and study consciousness in its most basic form.
Abstract illustration featuring five circles with various designs connected by curved white lines on a purple and blue background, symbolizing science or interconnected concepts.
A conversation with Annaka Harris on shared perception, experimental science, and why our intuition about consciousness is wrong.
A vivid depiction of a cosmic event showing a jet of orange and red energy extending from a bright source in the vastness of space, surrounded by stars and interstellar matter.
With the discovery of Porphyrion, we've now seen black hole jets spanning 24 million light-years: the scale of the cosmic web.
A collage features geometric shapes including a green triangle, a white sphere, a purple circle, and a white cube. Partially visible is a grayscale photo of a man wearing glasses.
By focusing on the role of human experience, we may uncover new insights on the fundamental structure of reality.
A display of various marble busts and sculptures arranged on two wooden shelves against a dark green wall.
An argument for emphasis on subjective experience.
A diagram of a circle and a linear arrow.
The "End of Days" defines how we see time.
Three young girls sitting on a bench and smiling.
After turning up hundreds of genes with hard-to-predict effects, some scientists are now probing the grander developmental processes that shape face geometry.
A man is having a near-death experience while laying in a hospital bed.
Only about 10% of patients survive cardiac arrest. Of the ones who do, many have amazing stories to tell.
An image of the earth resonating in space.
The Schumann resonances are the background hum of the entire planet. But they don't affect humans in any way.
A woman in a vibrant dress is standing against a minimalist backdrop.
Why does the DMT experience feel so familiar to some people — even those who are trying the psychedelic for the first time?
A phenomenological representation of a man's head with an intricate diagram.
The idea is to study the thing itself — be it a work of literature, death, family, a car, a vaccine, or the hospital — without preconceived notions, trendy easy answers, or dogma imposed on it.
a black and white drawing of a man holding a sword.
You know that ghostly feeling that someone is nearby even though nobody is? It could be a trick of neural timing.
A red-orange background with atom-like scribbles
The answer to the age-old philosophical question of whether there is meaning in the Universe may ultimately rest upon the power of information.
John Templeton Foundation
Sight helps you see a room, but interoception lets you sense it from inside your own body.
When it comes to vetting people for friendship, body odor seems to be a decisive factor.
extraterrestrial
It didn't look like anything I'd seen before, but I'd be a great fool to consider "aliens" as a reasonable possibility.
realism
Realism in science cannot be completely unmoored from human experience. Otherwise, realism ends up tortured with unreal paradoxes.
And after years of mystery, we finally know where they come from. Here on Earth, thunderstorms and accompanying lightning strikes represent tremendous releases of energy. It was way back in 2011 […]
This year’s June solstice coincides with a new Moon and an annular solar eclipse. Here’s how rare it truly is. As the Earth orbits the Sun, it rotates on its axis. […]
Did you experience totality? I did, for the first time. And it was, even as a well-prepared scientist, beyond anything I expected. “All that is nowAll that is goneAll that’s […]
For the central 8,000 light years, there are practically no tracers of new stars. What gives? “This suggests a lack of Cepheids in the inner 2.5 kpc region of the Galactic […]