How small creatures helped James connect with the human-scale world
Directed by Spencer MacDonald
Animals
You can think like an animal by silencing your chattering brain
The desire is partly whimsical, but a brief shapeshift across the taxonomic gulf could help us better empathise with animals
by Bryony Tolhurst
Learn to tune into birdsong – respite and fascination await
Listening deeply to the sounds of birds is a powerful form of meditation and a first step towards a rewarding new hobby
by David M Logue
Why, in a universe of pain, I’m saving stranded earthworms
Any action can seem futile amid so much suffering. I’ve realised the important thing is to stop despairing and do something
by Claire E Schultz
A makeshift community of people and migratory birds converge on a strip mall
Directed by Henry Davis
I learned to hear the music of Earth’s underwater musicians
If we consider the sounds of whales and other organisms with an open mind, we find a strange beauty – and can even join in
by David Rothenberg
Same-sex sexual behaviour in mammals evolved to keep the peace
Although these new findings can’t tell us much about human sexuality, they could help to solve an evolutionary paradox
by Shayla Love
If animals are persons, should they bear criminal responsibility?
Were medieval trials of animal criminals not a sign of backwardness, but in fact strangely progressive?
by Ed Simon
Human exceptionalism imposes horrible costs on other animals
We owe it to other animals and to ourselves to resist human exceptionalism. Accepting their inner lives is the first step
by Barbara J King
Two newlyweds carve out a life on a small rock island, among the seabirds
Directed by George Pretty
A basic sense of numbers is shared by countless creatures
Birds, bees, cats and other animals have an ability to use numbers. How can this help us understand people with dyscalculia?
by Brian Butterworth
Time to move beyond the anecdotes around animal-assisted therapies
There’s so much excitement about using animals to help children with mental health problems, but what does the science say?
by Mirena Dimolareva
Sex lives of the pygmy seahorses – a hidden, miniature marvel
Randy females, pregnant males and breeding quartets: the secret sex lives of the pygmy seahorses of Sulawesi in Indonesia
by Richard Smith
Grey whales taught me how to mother, how to endure, how to live
When I was in crisis, grey whales taught me how to mother and how to endure, till I could find my own paths through change
by Doreen Cunningham
The search for life beyond Earth is peculiar, from a parrot’s perspective
Directed by Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla