Near-death experiences are caused by changes in how the brain operates, say researchers. By Alex Therrien.

From a childhood hallucination to the halls of theoretical physics. By Alan Lightman.

A quiet bombshell of a biography that reclaims a revolutionary Thoreau for the 21st century. By Daegan Miller.

You don’t need drugs or a church for an ecstatic experience that helps transcend the self and connect to something bigger. By Jules Evans.