The Fourth Age under the dominion of men isn’t going too well, is it? Did the free peoples of Middle-earth really combine to overthrow Sauron so that the world would be delivered on a plate to the likes of Donald Trump and Elon Musk? I think not. But how might things have worked out differently? One alternative not discussed at the Council of Elrond is that Galadriel might take the ring. While Elrond does say, ‘If any of the Wise should with this Ring overthrow the Lord of Mordor using his own arts, he would set himself on Sauron’s throne, and yet another Dark Lord would appear’,[1] Galadriel is not a ‘he’. Moreover, she is not even from the same type of story as Gandalf, Aragorn and Faramir, male characters who demonstrate their goodness by refusing to take the ring when they have the opportunity. For Galadriel is clearly a figuration of the Fairy Queen in the same way that Lórien, the enchanted realm she rules in which time passes in a different manner to outside its borders, is a figuration of fairy land or Faery, as it is sometimes known.[2]

Artemis II astronauts updated the iconic 1968 image during their 2026 loop around the Moon.

The photographer who snapped the photos of the Artemis II crew’s return to Earth spent years honing his craft on a Navy aircraft carrier.

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The Y chromosome doesn’t seem to do much except determine sex – but its loss in older men might be linked to heart disease, cancer and Alzheimer’s.

On war and what we have to choke down.

Criticism of public schools is not entirely wrong – but by ignoring unequal conditions, it misdiagnoses the problem and misplaces responsibility.

OpenAI has some big questions. It doesn’t have unique tech. It has a big user base, but with limited engagement and stickiness and no network effect. The incumbents have matched the tech and are leveraging their product and distribution. And a lot of the value and leverage will come from new experiences that haven’t been invented yet, and it can’t invent all of those itself. What’s the plan?

Like Imperial Japan before us, the United States has substituted tactical and operational planning for strategic thinking.

"We were attracted to the idea of providing a play-by-play of the progression of measles in granular detail."

The highest ranking Black leader in NYC has thoughts about John Davidson and the 2026 BAFTA Awards Tourette's incident.

Our understanding of migraine is starting to shift, overturning ideas of what's a symptom and what's a trigger, and which part of the brain is key for developing effective treatments.

A blog series in which I reread LOTR 50 years after I first read it, age 10, over the winter of 1975-76. Pippin and Merry come as a double act (not exactly ‘dumb and dumber’, but not a million miles from that either) in the Jackson film version of LOTR, providing both light relief and…

Learner drivers in New South Wales are subject to some of the most stringent requirements before getting their licences – but our study shows it doesn’t necessarily make them safer drivers.