“If you want to tell grown-up fairy tales, you have to look for the dark side” - Juan Antonio Bayona.

A Chronicle of Strange Disappearances. By Scott Corrales.

It feels like a thousand tiny pinpricks – though a few shakes and it is usually all over. What causes the strange sensation? Jason G Goldman investigates.

Normally I'm reluctant to engage in psychologizing. It's impolite to presume knowledge of other people's subconscious minds and to infer motivations that are supposedly hidden even from the persons under consideration. Besides, psychologizing is a double-edged sword... By Michael Prescott.

Hopes&Fears answers questions with the help of people who know what they’re talking about. Today we ask the experts about common visions while tripping on psychoactive substances.

What doctors used to call mass hysteria usually occurs among close-knit groups as anxiety weaves its way through, causing physical symptoms. By Ian Sample.

The unusual couple behind an online encyclopedia of psychoactive substances. By Emily Witt.

A mysterious bright light in the sky over Los Angeles sends Californians into panic - only for it to be explained as an offshore missile test.

“‎Life is a shipwreck, but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats” – Voltaire.

Some breathe fire. Others live in water. But there's one thing all dragons have in common: they’re totally badass. By Jessica Phelan. (2014)

How to Live with Mystery in a Culture Obsessed with Certainty and Definitive Answers. By Maria Popova.

On humanity's often fanatical, obsessive, and fearful road to the cosmos over the course of the 20th century. By John Higgs.

There’s a perfectly reasonable explanation for the stunning sky display. By Mark Molloy.

New research suggests hallucinations can occur in relatively healthy people. By Simon Makin.

The late neuroscientist spoke to Motherboard in 2012. By Alex Pasternack.

No one knows who or what is responsible for long-delayed echoes in radio transmissions. By Daniel Oberhaus.

There simply are some unseen elements in life that defy scientific cause and effect. By Ross Kenneth Urken.

To celebrate Halloween, Nature brings you the undead results that physicists can neither prove—nor lay to rest.

“Even today, there is a small cadre of Hollow Earth believers who are fighting valiantly to validate their ideas through books, websites, meetings and some extremely ambitious travel plans...” By Eric Grundhauser.

South African soccer has a long tradition of players using traditional medicine and black magic to gain a psychological edge. By Nick Kariuki.