The Four-Dimensional Trap
Time travel is science fiction's favourite wish-fulfilment toy. But once you account for the cosmic movement of the Earth and the messy physics of matter displacement, the fantasy quickly turns into orbital suicide.
Opinions & Essays
Essays, commentary, and opinion pieces that sit alongside The Butterfly Effect.
When Turtles *Were* Plastic
How a viral video of a sea turtle turned plastic straws into public enemy number one, ignoring the historical irony that synthetic plastic was invented, at least in part, to save turtles from human slaughter.
The Unthinkable Spectacle: When Former Power Sells Luggage
In 2007 Mikhail Gorbachev sat for a Louis Vuitton campaign beside the Berlin Wall. The last Soviet leader with a soft leather bag: what becomes possible once a power stops believing its own story.
History Is What Got Written Down
Historians mistook the diaries of the rich for the lives of everyone. We are making the same mistake with modern data - we have just swapped one filter for a shinier one.
The Meaning of Talib
The Taliban banned Afghan girls from schools in 2022. The global response has mostly been to wait. There is a better option - and it does not require the Taliban's permission.