Humans experience the world subjectively. What does that mean for scientific research?

The dreaming brain, as understood by scientists

Technology has advanced to where the seemingly separate fields of psychology and neuroscience are asking the same questions about dreams, such as whether they're more closely related to perception or visualization. Some field-intersecting findings include research that shows people with impaired face perception don't dream of faces, those with brain legion-related cognition difficulties deal with similar issues in dreams, and children's dreams change in parallel to their cognitive development.

Examining self-diagnosed synesthesia

A growing number of people on social media claim to have a perceptual condition that lets them smell colors, see music, or taste sounds. But do they really?

Color originates from the brain processing light of varying wavelengths

Various geometric models, including Newton's color circle of hue and saturation and the horseshoe-shaped XYZ space for mixing colors via vector mathematics, have been proposed to describe colors accurately. However, these models do not encapsulate the variety of psychological effects that cause perceived colors to differ from mathematical representations.

Dr. Bruce Greyson on what we know, and how to study, near-death experiences

Considered one of the premier researchers on near-death studies, Dr. Bruce Greyson discusses what researchers know (and don't know) about what happens as we near death, and recounts his decades of observations on the phenomenon.

What pupils can reveal about a person’s thoughts and feelings

Eyes have long been said to be the window to the soul. In this article, a psychologist and pupillometrist explores research demonstrating pupils as a window into the mind. Pupils tell us how intensely someone is exerting mental effort, or even reveal what a person is imagining. Read this article for insight into the field of pupillometry and how it can offer insights into our psyches.

Psychedelics set off a flurry of brain activity that may permanently alter it

The brain seems to experience a sharp increase in communication between areas that generally don't interact. New research suggests a thin, sheet-like gray matter structure tucked deep within the brain, between the insular cortex and striatum, may be the key to this change. The area is centrally located and home to many of the receptors that psychedelics target, potentially rewiring the brain and rewriting thought patterns.

How the buildings you occupy may affect your brain health

Beautiful spaces filled with light and natural motifs aren't just aesthetic, but likely key to your health. Researchers had study participants view photographs of two distinct buildings, one designed with more natural elements while the other featured more abstract shapes and lines. Using electroencephalograph readings of each participant, they discovered participants had less brain inflammation while viewing the "biophilic," or natural, architecture. Learn more about the interdisciplinary framework of so-called neuroarchitecture here.

The perception of haunted places is influenced by psychology, setting and suggestion

Gothic architecture and tragic histories contribute to the perception of hauntings. Infrasound and black mold can cause experiences reminiscent of paranormal phenomena. Although paranormal investigators use technology to seek natural explanations, many paranormal experiences remain non-falsifiable.

Why your favorite color is probably blue

From a young age, we are primed to choose a favorite color, but strangely as we grow up, our preference often changes—and it’s largely due to influences outside our control.

Colorizers convert Hubble's gray scale images into color composites of different wavelengths

The near-infrared and ultraviolet light captured by the space telescope is not visible to human eyes, but observational data of these types of light can be filtered and modified into visible colors. Many detailed images of astronomical objects are the result of combining these artificially colored images into layers.

Pareidolia: the cognitive bias of finding meaning in randomness

Many people equate "random" with "well-spaced," creating a cognitive bias that influences how people interpret events. This article explains how people tend to assume a generative force behind the patterns produced by randomness. This phenomenon, known as pareidolia, is seen in claims ranging from backward messages hidden in reversed audio recordings to tea leaf readings.

The overview effect is a cognitive shift experienced when viewing Earth from space

Astronauts regularly report profound realizations after seeing Earth from space for the first time, sometimes prompting significant philosophical changes, including a greater awareness of the interconnectedness and fragility of life.

Friedrich's perspective draws in viewers

Friedrich produced several works, including "Wanderer," portraying figures with their back to the viewer. The effect—called Rückenfigur, or ”figure from the back”—can create complex emotions of longing, immersion, or awe.

Scientific progress works toward absolute truth, but can never reach it

Through the acquisition of scientific knowledge, scientists construct explanations of the world, which are rigorously tested and verified until they narrow down to a leading theory of the natural world. However, because of how science works, these ideas will never become factual, as they must always remain open to be iteratively revision based on new data.

General relativity describes a singularity as the final moment in time

Using Penrose diagrams—mathematical structures that compress all of space and time—physicists can observe the path of light and which events can affect one another. The space-time maps help visualize the structure of black holes and describe what happens when objects fall in.

The research that led to sour

Scientists are trying to figure out if there are unique receptors that respond to the molecules that make up flavors we associate with calcium, blood, batteries, and other items that often escape dinner menus. Taste researcher Dr. Danielle Reed says the minimum evidence for a taste category typically involves identifying dedicated receptors and then removing them to show the taste vanishes.

How epigenetics blurs the line between nature and nurture

An exploration of the study of how behaviors and environment affect the way genes work — and how that complicates the nature-versus-nurture debate.

Studying 'sonic' black holes

If a fish screams as it falls down a cascading waterfall accelerating to ridiculous speeds, will his fish friends above hear him scream? This analogy, odd as it is, has become an essential tool in the astrophysicists kit for learning how enigmatic black holes operate. Lab experiments mirroring the so-called sonic black hole have achieved insights for their cosmic counterparts. Read how it works in this brief piece.

The double-slit experiment is observational evidence for the wave-particle duality

Light and electrons can behave like particles when observed, but they also exhibit wave-like properties in motion, creating patterns through interference. Even larger objects, such as baseballs, have wavelengths, but they are negligibly small compared to their size.

Research studies can be conducted inside or outside of living samples

While "in vitro" experiments occur outside living organisms for cost-effectiveness, "in vivo" experiments take place inside them, providing real-life insights at a higher cost and with increased ethical concerns. Alternatively, "in silico" methods use computational simulations.

Engineer explains VR at five levels of complexity

While its possible to grab a virtual reality headset and hop into an immersive world with little effort, a significant amount of technical and biological science has gone into creating the effect of a 3D world. This video breaks down the technology in five layers of increasing complexity.

Exploring the microscopic composition of blood

Visually, blood looks like a single, red fluid. Zooming in, it is one of the richest substances known, with hemoglobin, plasma, proteins, red and white blood cells, platelets, and more.

Explore a series of interdisciplinary explainers on climate science

From animations on the quantum mechanics of greenhouse gases to a photo essay on how scientists acquire climate data, this collection provides detailed explorations of how different branches of science have contributed to our understanding of climatology.

Depending on environment, aliens' bodies would have wide-ranging possibilities

Humans tend to imagine aliens as humanlike, but that's probably unlikely. From small space spiders to metallic carnivores, life on other planets—and how we could interact with it—is difficult to imagine.

Is life all about pleasure? Debating the Experience Machine

If you could plug into an Experience Machine that gave you total pleasure all the time, would you do it? Philosopher Robert Nozick thinks you wouldn't, using this as evidence against hedonism, the view that life is all about pleasure. Explore the nuances of the argument and counterarguments with this accessible article.

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Researchers believe the brain consolidates memories, processes emotions, and plans for the future during dream states

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

All rainbows are 'raincircles' caused by water droplets separating white sunlight into a spectrum of colors, but Earth's surface blocks the bottom half of the circle from our line of sight.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Learn how your body is, scientifically, like a firework with its own slow, controlled burn.

Planeterrellas create artificial auroras that mimic the atmospheric displays of light by setting up an electric field between two metal balls in a jar filled with a small amount of air.

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

Most of the observable universe's volume consists of voids and supervoids—enormous regions of space with little to no galaxies, stars, or light.

Explore the known asteroids, comets, and spacecraft involved in asteroid studies within our solar system with 'Eyes on Asteroids,' a 3D visualization from NASA.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Against his wishes, Albert Einstein's brain was removed before his cremation, and the pathologist responsible stored it for decades in mason jars within a beer cooler.

An investigation suggests a Scottish island became awash in forever chemicals via seafoam and seaspray—raising questions about what that means for the safety of other coastal areas.

Chaos theory—informally known as the butterfly effect—is the reason why weather forecasts are presented with probabilities rather than certainties.

When you complete a CAPTCHA on a website to prove you are human, you may be unknowingly training algorithms for self-driving cars, whose systems require training data to help identify crosswalks, bicycles, and other outdoor objects.

Fear or disgust related to clusters of holes and cracks, called trypophobia, may stem from evolutionary processes to help us avoid pathogens.

Georgia O'Keeffe's flower paintings are often assumed to be sexual, though the artist claimed she was simply interested in highlighting the beauty of flowers that most people neglect

Visualize how CRISPR-Cas9—a type of immune system used by single-celled organisms to attack invasive viruses—targets and makes precise changes to a gene's DNA.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

Dorothy's famous entrance into Oz in 'The Wizard of Oz' relied on analog tricks, including a body double and sepia-toned paint, as much as it did on technology

Existentialist writer Jean-Paul Sartre coined the famous phrase 'Hell is—other people' in his play 'No Exit'

Netflix profits when you're not watching, and its movies are designed that way—read a detail-rich critical essay exposing lesser-known Netflix takes

The Great Salt Lake's distinct dual coloration results from high-salinity organisms that only live in the northern portion and produce a purple protein.

The Brothers Grimm were lawyers before they were storytellers, but became interested in fairy tales as they began investigating how rules and customs had been passed down through cultures.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace