42: The Answer to Almost Everything

Can we dig our way through the Earth?

This report explores the challenges and insights gained from deep drilling into the Earth. Research...

Could We Live on the Moon?

A new lunar cycle begins with 95 planned missions over the next ten years, including contributions...

Should we use lotteries instead of elections?

The ancient Greeks practiced sortition as a cost-effective method to prevent corruption and abuse o...

How Much Does Life Weigh?

A research team led by Israeli biologist Ron Milo has attempted to calculate the total mass of all...

Will we move onto the water?

Climate change could cause sea levels to rise by up to 20 millimeters per year by the end of the ce...

Can Algorithms Make Us Healthy?

Bodily data, from genes to the microbiome, could indicate diseases early if analyzed precisely. Com...

What if there were no mucus?

Mucus, a versatile substance in nature, fulfills various functions: It can glide, stick, select, an...

How do we solve the nuclear waste puzzle?

Long considered clean and inexpensive, nuclear energy raises a major problem: ultimate radioactive...

What if Fear Didn't Exist?

Life would be fantastic if we were never scared. We could cross deep ravines on tightropes, ski dow...

What if the ice disappeared?

With global warming, the melting of the ice is accelerating. The Arctic is warming two to three tim...

Do We All hear the Same Thing?

From birth we are surrounded by sounds which, often without our knowledge, influence our view of th...

Are we too pessimistic?

Although we are mostly optimistic about our own lives, we tend to be rather pessimistic when we con...

Does the Perfect Song Exist?

What's the recipe for making a song a global hit? Musicologists, brain scientists and professionals...

Are we alone in space?

The universe is vast. So vast that it defies the imagination. To the point that we find it strange...

Why Do We Eat What We Eat?

Tea of coffee? Fish or meat? Every day human beings make around 200 decisions about what to eat. Bu...

What is the secret of light?

Light, as both a wave and a particle, travels at a constant speed. A beam of light originating in t...

Can we save the trees?

Drought and insects threaten forests. What can be done to save them? In northern France, researcher...

What if dust didn't exist?

Nobody likes dust. Attempts to get rid of it are futile; it always comes back. And that's a good th...

Geoengineering: Earth's Last Resort

To tackle climate change, one option is to artificially cool the Earth or capture CO2. The field of...

Could Algae Save the Planet?

The fact that we have a breathable atmosphere on Earth is largely down to algae. Could these aquati...

Will Messenger RNA Save Us From Cancer?

The sharpest weapon of the pandemic has given us a vaccination technique that almost no one knew ab...

Will We Stop Flying?

Giving up flying overnight would cause global logistical problems, as many delivery chains would be...

Will We Like Robots?

It is estimated that there are now more than 1.7 million robots with social capabilities in the wor...

The Purpose of Parasites

Parasites get a bad rap: they can make us sick or even kill us. For centuries, we have been trying...

Could We Sleep Less?

We spend a third of our lives sleeping. Is it possible for us to sleep less and enjoy extra waking...

Are Cryptocurrencies the Future?

In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to introduce Bitcoin as legal...

Do We Live in a Black Hole?

Black holes can tell us a lot about the universe. But could they hold the key to understanding our...

The Power of Dreams

Humans spend up to six years dreaming over the course of their lifetime. What if dreams were more t...

Where do people migrate to?

Researchers are searching for patterns and models to predict migration. Factors such as technologic...

What Do Animals Talk About?

The mystery of animal communication stands in contrast to human language: Elephants use infrasound,...

Are we getting dumber?

The Flynn effect showed an increase in intelligence scores since the 20th century. However, since t...

Do Computers Have Biases?

Let's not kid ourselves: everyone has biases. Whether it's filling a position, granting credit, or...

How can everyone be fed?

Modern, highly efficient agriculture feeds many people, but it is reaching its ecological limits wi...

Are We Doing More Drugs?

Drugs have a bad press. But scientists have long been convinced that the use of psychedelics can so...

Are We Ready for Mars?

As soon as weightlessness sets in in Earth orbit, everything floats, including bodily fluids. Most...

Can we glimpse the afterlife?

Brain researcher Gerhard Roth describes near-death experiences as frequent encounters with bright l...

Could we become immortal?

Humanity has dreamed of a Fountain of Youth since the dawn of time. A dream that may have become re...

Could We Live Without Agriculture?

Both a blessing and a curse, farming feeds us humans but is also harmful to the environment. Agricu...

How dangerous is space weather?

We like to talk about the weather because it affects us every day. But have you ever heard of space...

Will we travel to Mars?

According to Elon Musk, we could soon be living on Mars. Yet, this idea seems unrealistic: extreme...

Can We Create Money from Nothing?

Imagine a friend wants to borrow your car, you promise to provide one even though you only have a w...

How do we end wars?

With over 13,000 nuclear weapons in the world, there is a risk of massive destruction. The program...

Is Space Being Stolen From Us?

Getting into space has never been easier and the resources of our solar system are highly coveted....

What Power Do Thoughts Have?

It has been known since antiquity that thoughts have an influence on health. Research, such as imag...

Can We Trust Ourselves?

We cannot escape our fate and we cannot escape ourselves. But we also have our limits: confused thi...

Are we more intelligent in swarms?

Swarms are fascinating phenomena without clear leadership. In beehives, anthills, in the sky, or in...

The Search for a Universal Theory

Formulating the theory of everything, the one that would describe all the laws of the Universe from...

Can we turn crap into gold?

Humanity has been hoping for a sensational discovery. Ever since we succeeded in converting wind an...

Are You Psychopathic?

Psychopaths like Ted Bundy are not isolated cases; approximately 1-2% of the population are conside...

How does a wave become rogue?

Every seven days, a large ship goes missing. This is due, among other things, to monstrous waves th...

Do We Need Economic Growth?

All living beings stop growing at some point. The global economy is different: it just keeps growin...

Are we gambling away our lives?

Humans don't just play for fun, but also for evolutionary reasons. Playing helped hunter-gatherers...

Why do we have limits?

Usain Bolt ran 100 meters in 9.58 seconds, Petra Felke threw the javelin 80 meters. These are absol...

Where to Find Perfect Energy?

Energy from fossil fuels such as coal, oil, and gas made modern life possible in the first place; h...

What if sharks disappeared?

As fascinating as they are frightening, sharks are now threatened. Of the 536 species known today,...

Are Animals Self-Aware?

For a long time, humanity was relatively unanimous: animals are little more than biological machine...

Why do We Fall in Love?

When we're really in love, all hell breaks loose. The heart races, palms sweat, the mouth goes dry...

What if nature had a price?

"Be careful! It's precious!" – we've probably all heard such warnings as children, for example, whe...

Can we copy our blood?

The search for artificial blood that could solve several problems, such as anemia, the risk of dise...

Why do we hate?

Dealing deeply with hate is no fun. But as with all unpleasant things, it helps to confront the iss...

Could We Bring Back the Wooly Mammoth?

Researchers want to use cloning and gene editing to bring back lost species. If humanity played God...

Can seals go to court?

Andreas Weber, biologist and philosopher, argues for granting animals and plants the right to defen...

Do colors manipulate us?

We already see in everyday life how much colors control us: we're often warmer in a red down jacket...

Will there be a new 'human species'?

Modern civilization does not mean the end of evolutionary adaptation. Researchers like Frank Rühli...

Is There a Male Fertility Crisis?

A man has enough sperm. Or so you might think - up to 600 million per ejaculation. And yet there is...

Can Cities Save the World?

Yes, urban life can make a crucial contribution to saving the planet, according to sustainability r...

When the Heavens Rain Down

The fear that the sky could one day fall on our heads dates back to the dawn of time. The impact of...

Do Fungi Rule Us?

What do we know about fungi? They are neither animals nor plants. Some are poisonous, many are deli...

The A***hole Effect

Pushing to the front of a line, parking a car quickly on a bicycle lane, occupying seats on a train...

How It All Ends

The universe could be heading towards different scenarios, including the "Big Freeze" as it expands...

When Will the World End?

From Armageddon to Extinction Rebellion, the end-of-the-world narrative is a socio-cultural phenome...

How to Travel Through Time?

Is time travel just science fiction? Not quite: scientists from the fields of quantum physics, stri...

Mind Reading: A Reality?

We can't see inside other people's minds, but we sometimes believe we can read their thoughts. When...

Surviving Our Polluted Planet

Chemistry makes our sweaters softer, our world more colourful and pleasant, and it can even save li...

The Chaos of Chance

Chance, destiny, predestination, God. People have come up with many explanations for events that ei...

Who Owns the Sea?

The vast sea - a symbol of boundlessness. But is it really so? Who does the sea actually belong to?...

Do Animals Appreciate Beauty?

The beauty of the peacock troubled Darwin for a long time. It didn't quite fit into his theory of e...

Will a new wind soon blow?

Many researchers believe that we won't experience more and more wind in the world, but rather less...

Are we going to disappear beneath the waves?

Let's be honest: when we think about rising sea levels, we initially think that the water rises the...

Are We All Bisexual?

Most people can tell quite early on whether they are attracted to women or men. But what if our des...

The Advent of Turbo-Evolution

The dominance of our species has consequences: we have created conditions that fuel rapid evolution...

Why do we lose our memory?

We've all experienced it: a name that slips our mind or a new password. Forgetting is annoying and...

Humanity's True Nature

Humans lie, deceive, and wage merciless wars. Sometimes it seems as if evil is typically human. On...

Can We Live Without Electricity?

Humanity is dependent on electricity. Power outages have been rare for us so far, but our electrici...

What Happens When the Glaciers Disappear?

Glaciers are wonders of nature and tourist attractions, and they are also the largest reservoirs of...

Could We Reach the Stars?

Since the dawn of time, mankind has aspired to one thing only: to go further and further beyond the...

Is Lying Good For Us?

From a very early age, we are instilled with the idea that lying is wrong. Yet learning to lie is a...

Will we one day be cryogenically frozen?

Some people dream of being cryogenically frozen. It's a way to defy death, to come back when things...

Will we run out of sand?

Whether in mobile phones, glass or even in our underwear, sand is everywhere in our lives. Without...

What's So Funny?

Adults laugh 20 times a day, children up to 500 times. But where does humour begin and end? And why...

The Origin of Life

While scientists agree on the date (4 billion years ago), their opinions diverge on the place and c...

Does Punishment Work?

When we harm someone, we may be punished, the point of which is to be made aware of the harm we hav...

What Are Our Imaginations For?

We spend large stretches of our waking hours imagining things or just daydreaming. Why are we so of...

Can We Trick Our Genes?

Our genes determine many of our characteristics: our build, our height, the colour of our eyes or e...

Amasia: The Supercontinent of the Future

The biggest movement in our lives is one that we don't even notice: The continents of the earth are...

Do Dogs Really Love Us?

Every dog ​​owner knows this well: the relationship between humans and dogs is unique. A powerful a...

Do We Need Corruption?

Corruption has been part of society since the dawn of time, swallowing up colossal sums of money wh...

Are Animals Cleverer than Us?

Vultures can spot a dead antelope from five kilometres away, while seals can dive into deep water,...

Are Billionaires a Problem?

The richest man in the world - Frenchman Bernard Arnault - is worth more than 200 billion euros. Ar...

How strongly does our mother tongue shape us?

Words shape our thoughts. And it is most often in our mother tongue that we reflect, that we find t...

Do We Live in a Multiverse?

The idea that our universe isn't as unique as we think is not only captivating the imaginations of...

Does History Repeat Itself?

Wars, pandemics, economic crises...: so many episodes during which we look back and wonder if histo...

Are there too many of us on Earth?

In a century, the number of humans on Earth has more than quadrupled, rising from nearly 2 billion...

Is stress good for us?

The relationship between stress and humans is anything but a love affair. According to the WHO, 85%...

Do Disasters Make Us Better?

Humanity survived the last Ice Age as well as the plague that decimated half of Europe in the 1300s...

Is the Metaverse Real?

We still work in office buildings, buy our groceries at the supermarket and visit museums in the fl...

Do We All Have a Doppelganger?

Stories of unrelated people who look exactly alike are common. While having a doppelganger could po...

Could We Programme Evoluton?

Although our planet has already overcome numerous crises, Homo Sapiens have disrupted the natural w...

Is There an Upside to Climate Change?

Periods of climate change in the past have caused mass extinctions. But they have also led to the e...

Do We Need More Utopias?

Depictions of the future in popular science fiction novels or films are often bleak, while positive...

Can we control clouds?

Clouds carry water particles, which they release onto Earth as rain. However, the way they distribu...

Does Sugar Make Us Stupid?

Our view of sugar has changed drastically. Once seen as a healthy appetite suppressant in the 1960s...

What if the poles reversed again?

In theory, it's simple: the North Pole is in the north, and the South Pole is in the south. And a c...

What power do smells have?

Many people don't consider their sense of smell particularly important. However, if we had to give...

Can We Shrink the Economy?

It seems that economic growth is a prerequisite for collective prosperity. But what if this is just...

How Do Plants Live?

Do houseplants grow faster when we talk to them? Does a cactus get bored in a pot? Do plants have h...

How to Become Popular

Like food, drink or sex, feeling valued is one of our most basic needs: we aspire to be loved, some...

Do We Need to Have Power?

From the sandbox to the office, power dynamics shape our lives. Power can change our personalities...

Should Humans Be Smaller?

Is being big and strong necessarily the key to success? Not really: it's the small creatures that s...

Is AI Out of Control?

The fantasy of artificial intelligence developing a life of its own and unleashing an army of robot...

Are Invasive Species Always a Problem?

Raccoons, tiger mosquitoes, grey squirrels... these invasive species can destroy crops, transmit fa...

Would We Be Happier Without Happiness?

Happiness increases our satisfaction, our cognitive capacity and our motivation, but being happy is...

Why Do We Cry?

All terrestrial species are capable of crying, but human beings are unique in being the only specie...

Could Sea Currents Change?

The sharp decline in ocean circulation since the 1950s is probably related to human activity. Its c...

Could Matriarchy Be the Solution?

Imagine a world where men were at home with the children, while women were heads of state and compa...

Are Aliens Like Us?

For many scientists, the emergence of living organisms elsewhere in the universe is only a matter o...

Is Pain Necessary?

Pain has a bad reputation, and we go to great lengths to avoid it: from painkillers to general self...

Do Animals Have Better Societies?

Societies built by humans, rarely seem to stand the test of time, whereas ants have been living in...

How Powerful are Maps?

Why do so many world maps place Europe at the centre? Why not Australia? And why is the north alway...

Does Quantum Physics Change Our Reality?

Our universe is made up of two worlds: the one we can see, and the microscopic world of quanta made...

Why Do We Have Less Sex?

There have never been more opportunities to meet new sexual partners in our liberated world of dati...

Has Slavery Made Us Racist?

What is the link between racism and slavery? How do racist theories to justify the transatlantic sl...

Why Is Housing So Expensive?

Everywhere is Europe, it seems, housing is becoming more expensive and more of a burden on househol...

Can We Make Friends with Our Enemies?

Long-running conflicts and wars in our world feed into the pessimistic idea that reconciliation is...

Can We Replace Pollination?

For millions of years, there has been an intimate pact between plants and their pollinators: with r...

Are We Taking Enough Risks?

If we wanted to completely avoid risk, we would not be able to leave the house in the morning, and...

Who Really Were Our Ancestors?

Nations invent stories about their glorious pasts and links to ancient peoples on the land. But who...

Is a World Without Violence Possible?

Why is violence still so prevalent in our society, when the state is supposed to ensure everyone's...

Can We Remember Precisely?

Memory is our identity: our representation of the world, ourselves and others is based on what we r...

What Holds the Universe Together?

Beyond what human beings can see, exists something that makes up 80% of the universe. Scientists ar...

Do We Need God?

Religious faith is in decline in Europe, and yet 70% of human beings in the world believe in the ex...

What Protests Work?

All over the world, people are taking to the streets about injustice, freedom, and calling for more...

How do Children Function?

You might think that children are small, unfinished people who don't yet understand the world. Perh...

Will We Grieve Differently in Future?

With the increase in the world population in recent decades, there have never been as many people l...

Do We Need Weapons for Peace?

Every year, astronomical sums of money are spent worldwide on arms, when it would be a thousand tim...

What Should We Actually Eat?

Are eggs good for us? Are eggs bad for us? Official health advice sometimes to contradict itself. W...

Are We Ready for Aliens?

Although no proof of the existence of extraterrestrial life has yet been found, the discovery of ha...

How Important is Our Microbiome?

The human body is home to some 30 billion microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, viruses, algae). The com...

Why Is Wealth So Unfairly Distributed?

While some people spend millions on holidays in space or splash out on extravagant weddings, others...

What Makes Us Depressed?

20% of people will experience depression at some point in their lives. But what do we really know a...

Does the Perfect Code Exist?

People have always tried to find the perfect code to protect secrets. But even the very best codes...

Are We Ready for World Government?

Climate disasters, global inequalities, the threat of a third world war... Wouldn't it be reassurin...

Are We Wasting Period Blood?

Every month around 100 million litres of menstrual blood is thrown away or flushed down the toilet....

Can We Feel Time?

Time is one of the great mysteries of our lives. It passes the same way for everyone and yet everyo...

How Does Water Create Life?

Without water there would be no life on Earth. But what is so special about it? Research has shown...

Are Cyborgs the Future?

We humans think that we are the best creation on this earth. But with sickness, aging, brittle bone...

Can We Save Truth?

It may seem that the idea of Truth is under siege. Donald Trump, for example, was elected despite c...

Can We Cure Addictions?

Once you become addicted to a substance you can live a life of abstinence, but you are never consid...

Are We Too Curious?

Curiosity is at the very root of humanity's development, but it is often vilified and mistrusted. I...

What Did Dinosaurs Really Look Like?

No film has influenced our perception of dinosaurs more than Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park. But...

Can We Outwit Viruses?

Viruses are geniuses of evolution. They can constantly mutate, penetrate cells, mingle with our gen...

Where Does Madness Begin?

How can we define what is normal and what is mad? Although every human being functions differently,...

Should We Be Bored More Often?

Boredom has a bad reputation. All the more so as ennui is often accompanied by a feeling of emptine...

How Powerful is Disinformation?

In the AI era, highly convincing fake videos and pictures can be produced that can easily deceive....

Why Do Civilisations Fall?

Was the fall of the Roman Empire due to its decadent morals? Did the people of Easter Island exhaus...

Should We Argue More?

Fiery debates online, explosions of anger on the streets, tense conversations with our loved-ones:...

How Mathematic is the Universe?

Plant growth is determined by the golden ratio symbolised by the Greek letter Phi, pine cones grow...

Is The World Better Than We Think?

News and social media can often give us the idea that the world is a terrible place and its only ge...

How Smart Are the Animals We Eat

Animals raised for human consumption such as chickens, pigs, goats or cows, are rarely acknowledged...

Does Failure Help Us Succeed?

Setbacks and bad decision often leave a bitter taste in the mouth, but they can help you bounce bac...

Was Stone-Age Man Dumber Than Us?

We sometimes think of our ancestors in the stone age as primitive beings, unable to cope with compl...

The Age of Fire

Humans are the only species that can produce fire. For a long time, we lived intimately with fire,...

Why Does Music Move Us?

Music has immense power: it can lift or lower our mood and make us forget the world. But why is mus...

Optimisation: Is It Making Us Mad?

On social media everyone seems to be optimising themselves into healthy, perfect humans. But is our...

Is a Superbug Pandemic Coming?

Our use and overuse of antibiotics means that bacteria – those little masters of evolution – are be...

Can Humans Hibernate?

Hibernation in humans – so far, it's pure science fiction. However, some researchers suspect that h...

Does Society Need Alcohol?

Success, failure, birthdays, funerals… any occasion can be an excuse to drink. However, the line be...

...We Make Free Decisions?

In a democratic society, decisions are taken on the basis of free will. But is this really always t...

What was there before the Big Bang?

The planets, the galaxies, the universe: Has it always been there – or was there a beginning? The B...

How Powerful Are Images?

Would Donald Trump have won the US election if not for the now-iconic photo of him with a bloody ea...

How Does the Female Orgasm Work?

For centuries, female sexuality was neglected and considered uninteresting by men. The apogee came...

Is Space Debris Dangerous for Earth?

Everything that goes up must come down. But what about space debris? Will rockets and unused satell...

Can Our Brains Still Concentrate?

In a world full of push notifications, quickfire TikTok videos and constant distraction, deep conce...

Why Do We Love Horror?

Why do we like to be terrified by scary movies? When watching horror, people experience an intense...

Does Planet Nine Really Exist?

In 2006, the International Astronomical Union voted to demote Pluto to a "dwarf planet," reducing t...

Are We An Evolutionary Superspecies?

From the deserts of Australia to the steppes of Siberia, no other mammal has colonised more habitat...

Are Wasps Game Changers of Evolution?

Wasps are much more than just an inconvenience for al fresco diners. As one of the very first socia...

Why do we sing?

Songs are considered part of humanity's cultural heritage, and all over the world, their social fun...

How monogamous are humans?

Monogamy – a lifelong promise of love or an outdated ideal? Despite high divorce rates and the incr...

Why Do We Love Gold?

The term "gold rush" speaks volumes about our special relationship with the shiny precious metal. F...

Do Emotions Control the Markets?

The stock market is the temple of rationality, figures, data and models. But what happens when emot...

What if life were mirrored?

Imagine for a moment that everything was reversed. It may sound mind-boggling, but it is not entire...

Do we need the alpha male?

Dominant, strong, a “real man.” Women want him, men want to be like him. This is the image of the “...

Black Holes: A Future Energy Source?

We know black holes as destroyers: they tear apart stars, devour light and bend space-time. At the...

Is Brain Washing Possible?

Is it possible to ‘reboot’ a human brain like we can for a computer? A dream for some and a nightma...

Why Are We So Competitive?

From childhood onwards, we compare ourselves to others and try to be better than our neighbour. But...

Do we need siblings?

Has Globalisation Failed?

With wars, financial crises, and energy crises, global trade seems to be suffering. But is globalis...

How does trash change the world?

To be remembered, to leave a legacy – that's what everyone wants. But what if, in 100,000 years, al...

Is vacation really relaxing?

Need a vacation? It's a sign that it's time to rest and relax. Yet, scientists can't explain what h...

Can we change?

Is our personality fixed from birth – or can we consciously change it? Can composure be learned, co...

Is there another Earth in the universe?

"There is no Planet B!" This slogan is a constant at all pro-climate demonstrations. But what would...

Can AI Feel Us?

Our feelings are something very intimate, something that belongs only to us—or at least we wish it...

Does a Trauma Lie Dormant in Everyone?

When the subject of trauma arises, most people immediately think of extreme events: war, violence,...

What's behind UFOs?

Can states go into debt indefinitely?

In reality, no state ever repays its debts. And yet, insolvency doesn't necessarily lead to bankrup...

Does scrolling make teens stupid?

A hotly debated topic: the impact of social media on young people. While Australia has already bann...