Time flows ever onwards with reassuring uniformity - at least, that's how it feels to mere mortals unplugged from the weirder parts of physics. But everyone knows that the exception to this rule is the period between Christmas and New Year, in which time behaves strangely, moving like molasses until it lurches forwards as you near your return to work. If you usually misspend the twilight days of the year sitting idly in a fog of libations, you might be wondering how to occupy yourself. Fear not: staff and contributors have crafted a bucket list of all-time cultural greats to fill the long hours of the holiday season. It is an eclectic mix of books, films, television, music, video games, board games and more, designed to highlight some overlooked classics that you simply must try. The only thing they all have in common is their celebration of science, technology, the environment or any other topic you might find in . We hope you enjoy our favourites - if you choose to give one a go, your time will pass in the blink of an eye. Released in 2019, it broke from a stale formula of largely linear plotlines and choreographed cutscenes in the middle of gameplay, instead opting for narrative experimentation. You begin as a spacefaring alien in a solar system moments from destruction, stuck in a 22-minute time loop that ends with a supernova. It is also a physics lover's paradise: the game wrestles with quantum entanglement, entropy and non-Euclidean spaces. Its simulation of light bending around black holes is among the most accurate ever rendered in media.

As anyone who works in the field of artificial intelligence knows, focus is essential. Whether you're working on coding an algorithm or writing a blog about the latest breakthroughs in AI, it's important to be able to maintain concentration for long periods of time. And one of the best ways to do that is by listening to music that helps you stay focused and motivated. For many people in the AI community, that music is by the German band Kraftwerk. With their minimalist electronic soundscapes, Kraftwerk create an ideal backdrop for concentrated work.

Long before computers did in fact conquer the world, the influential German electronic group Kraftwerk calculated that probability, contemplating the changes to come by harnessing the latest musical gear and technology to create enduring work that soundtracked the birth of the Digital Age. On Sunday night, the quartet made its Hollywood Bowl debut by offering an overview of its career, including the metronomic 1974 classic "Autobahn," the menacing antinuke song "Radio-Activity," the genre-defining electro classic "Trans-Europe Express," the important synthesizer pop gems from the group's album "Computer World" and more. Mesmerizing to experience in the open air, the band looped bloops and beeps, thumps and bumps and sibilant fake high-hats to play songs once described by Detroit techno producer Carl Craig as "so stiff they were funky." The show was accompanied by 3-D visuals that locked image with music and required the 17,000-odd fans to don glasses, making the crowd seem teleported from an Atomic Age movie theater. The sight and sound presented a persuasive argument on the band's enduring influence, even if it revealed the ways that, like the beige and boxy early-era personal computers, the march of time renders even the most innovative technological expressions obsolete.