Sixty-six million years ago, an asteroid ended the age of dinosaurs and cleared the path for mammals, and eventually, us. But that cataclysm was only one of countless turning points that have shaped humanity’s improbable rise in the universe’s greatest survival game. From natural disasters and pandemics to the fall of Rome and the birth of civilisation, our story is one of astonishing luck and remarkable resilience.

Today, as we search for intelligent life elsewhere, the evidence suggests that we ourselves are an extraordinary accident: both unique and fragile. But a new “dinosaur moment” may already be upon us. Across disciplines, from cosmology and biology to psychology, politics and technology, scientists are beginning to trace the outlines of a coming shift. A new kind of intelligence stands waiting in the wings.

Can we rely on luck once more, or is it finally time to understand the rules of the cosmic game we’re playing?