Nature and Cosmos
The ecology of Pooh
Adults may feel exiled from the intensity and sweetness of childhood places. But perhaps there are surprising ways home
Nest of spies
The cuckoo is both an icon of Englishness and a symbol of suspicion and deceit — a perfect pet for an MI5 officer, then
The ache for immortality
The Voyager probes speed on with their messages of humility and greatness, strange memorials to a spacefaring age
Small things
The discovery of a microscopic world shook the foundations of theology and created modern demons
Not just a pretty boy
Intelligent, devoted, alien – parrots are unlike any other pet. But what does the complex human-avian bond say about us?
Yosemite reverie
‘At times it returns, in the motionless calm of the day, that memory of living immersed, absorbed, in the stunned light’
This world is enough
For the first time in history we could end poverty while protecting the global environment. But do we have the will?
Is there life on Mars?
Our curiosity about the Red Planet has always been tinged with fantasy – but wishful thinking needn’t be mistaken