Why Nothing Matters: The Science of Emptiness

Dig into the voids, pin-pricks and cut-outs of art and history, and those absences speak volumes about what’s been missed.

We asked a physicist and a philosopher to explain nothing, and it’s really something.

When people encounter nothingness, they often feel fear and despair. But Martha explains how we can transform our relationship with the void into one of creativity and genuine joy.

Absolute idleness is both harder and more rewarding than it seems.

Being silent allows us to channel our energies. It gives us the clarity we need to calmly face challenges and uncertainty.

The cause of these voids is thought to lie in the origin of the Universe.

Who decided that nothing should be something?

Deprived of external stimuli, the brain generates its own.

All the things that surround us and make us up weren’t always here. But where did it all come from?

Australian scientists taught bees the concept of zero — something human children struggle with.

This inquiry has long occupied scientists, philosophers, and deep thinkers alike, culminating in the most fundamental question.

The author and artist’s keynote address on our fractured attention spans went viral. Now she has a plan for how to heal them: lose ourselves in nature.