To celebrate New Scientist magazine’s 50th birthday, we have decided to tackle the truly big questions, with the help of some of the leading lights in science. Please note the eight features below are premium content – click here to subscribe.
What is reality? By Roger Penrose
Can we be sure that the world we experience is not just a figment of our imaginations?
If we encountered alien life, chances are we wouldn’t recognise it – not even if it were here on Earth
Do we have free will? By Patricia Churchland
The more we find out about how the brain works, the less room there seems to be for personal choice or responsibility
Is the universe deterministic? By Vlatko Vedral
However you look at it, the answer seems to be “maybe”
What is consciousness? By Paul Broks
How does the brain, with its diverse distributed functions, come to arrive at a unified sense of identity?
Will we ever have a theory of everything? By Michio Kaku
2000 years of rational enquiry may be approaching their crowning glory. Just one more push could be enough
What happens after you die? By Mary Roach
We have all wondered if there is an afterlife, but only a few are brave – or foolish – enough to try and find out
What comes after humans? By James Hughes
All species are fated either to die out or to evolve into something else – all except humans, who have a chance of a transcendent future
