It was back in 1972 that my older sister Penny brought home an LP by this weird-looking young man who dressed in what to my 11-year-old eyes looked very much like women’s clothes (I hadn’t come across the word “androgynous” back then). It was of course the masterpiece that is The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, and David Bowie was the “man who fell to Earth”. I was immediately hooked.

Bowie tragically passed in 2016. But his spiritual progeny perhaps – people who like to think of themselves as “starseeds” – walk among us. Starseeds apparently believe they have come to Earth from other dimensions to help heal the planet and guide humanity into the “golden age” – a period of great happiness, prosperity and achievement. So they’ve clearly got their work cut out.

But there’s every chance that these other dimensions from whence our starseeds have apparently arrived may indeed exist. At least, that’s what some theoretical physicists have been trying to puzzle out. One idea is that life on Earth is so unlikely that it is either a coincidence, or that our existence is only one in a multiverse of dimensions, where different laws of physics apply. Our author says he would almost bet his dog’s life that this is the case. Well, you know how I feel about our dog.

But this, very roughly, is the idea behind the movie that swept the field at the Oscars last weekend. Everything, Everywhere, All at Once sounds fascinating, playing as it does with Daoist philosophy while romping at breakneck speed through space and time.

Back here on Earth, on the international affairs desk, it has seemed of late that everything is happening everywhere at the same time. What appear to be major political shifts in the Middle East, which, in the case of the detente announced between Iran and Saudi Arabia, highlight China’s growing role as a power broker, have been accompanied this week with further destabilisation in eastern Europe thanks to Russia’s war with Ukraine.

Meanwhile, across our global network, we reported on the discovery of fossilised tracks from a long-extinct giant zebra in South Africa, we offered speculation as to why the ancient Greeks and Romans were so coy about women’s sexual organs, and – given yesterday was St Patrick’s Day – we explored how the legend of the snake-bothering cleric became an excuse for Americans to dye their beer green.

As ever, can I exhort you to take time out to listen to our podcast, The Conversation Weekly. This week’s episode looks back 20 years to the invasion of Iraq and we speak to two researchers who examine the impact the invasion and conflict have had on the lives of Iraqis.

Jonathan Este

Associate Editor, International Affairs Editor

Welcome to the new reality. sun ok/Shutterstock

Starseeds: psychologists on why some people think they’re aliens living on Earth

Ken Drinkwater, Manchester Metropolitan University; Andrew Denovan, University of Huddersfield; Neil Dagnall, Manchester Metropolitan University

We’ve spent ages learning about the people who think they’ve come from another planet, so you don’t have to.

Do universes pop up as bubbles from a multiverse? arda savasciogullari/Shutterstock

The multiverse: our universe is suspiciously unlikely to exist – unless it is one of many

Martin Rees, University of Cambridge

In the multiverse, a few universes should, statistically speaking, be life-friendly.

Details from the poster for Everything, Everywhere, All At Once. Courtesy of A24

Oscars 2023: The philosophy of Everything Everywhere All at Once explained

Kiki Tianqi Yu, Queen Mary University of London

Everything, Everywhere, All at Once invokes Daoism, the Chinese school of thought that pursues balance and harmony.

kirill_makarov via Shutterstock

Middle East: recent developments could rewrite the political map – but a lot will depend on Israel

Paul Rogers, University of Bradford

There are big power plays afoot in one of the world’s most contested and unstable regions.

From Beijing with friendship? It’s complicated. Xinhua/Alamy Stock Photo

Saudi-Iran deal won’t bring peace to the Middle East but will enhance China’s role as power broker

Simon Mabon, Lancaster University

Detente between Tehran and Riyadh will not magically solve all the political and sectarian tensions in the Middle East.

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