Chimpanzees favour the colour red. Junglefowl prefer symmetry. Our shared capacity for aesthetic pleasure is cause for wonder ...

If an outright refusal feels rude but you don’t want to have to explain, here’s how to say ‘no’ the Japanese way ...

A Norwegian filmmaker turns the lens on herself to reflect on the complications of grieving her estranged, abusive father ...

What studying people without a ‘mind’s eye’ reveals about the role of imagery in the experience of emotion and memory ...

Knowing the reasons people opt not to know – and the consequences of that choice – could help us see when it’s problematic ...

Swapping office work for the herding life, Adham finds a sublime freedom in the rugged terrain of the Pyrenees ...

Other practices like sermons, yoga and retreats can also trigger ‘spiritual boredom’. Here’s why it’s normal and even useful ...

Some musical rhythms are built to get us bobbing, foot-tapping or dancing. Researchers show how rhythmic complexity matters ...

Yet another important factor to consider in memories for fiction is believability. This is distinct from ‘ontological intuitiveness’ (our sense that dragons are not real or that humans cannot fly). It ...

The novelist and poet Ursula K Le Guin shows we can reject nihilism and naive optimism by practising our collective freedom My friend told me that more than half the students in his environmental ...

How to be an emotional leader In times of change and pressure, a set of skills known as ‘psychological flexibility’ can help you and your team to thrive by Selda Koydemir ...

Today’s global problems are caused by broken systems, but the studios still feed us a diet of movies focused on individuals ...