Latest Articles

Latest Articles

The newest essays, interviews, and features from Big Think.

MRI brain scan images with a large red heart shape digitally added to the center of the brain on the main scan in the middle.
3mins
Falling in love can feel like finding “the one.” But to your brain, romance may look less like affection and more like craving, stress, and reward.
Unlikely Collaborators
black hole central singularity
Yes, "the laws of physics break down" at singularities. But relativity itself would have to be wrong for black holes to not possess them.
The word "nihilism" in bold black font, evoking the mood of literary classics, is scratched out with rough, black scribble marks.
From mysterious villages to absurdism at the gallows, these books explore the origins, consequences, and possible responses to nihilism.
Black and white photo of a NASA Earth Survey Aircraft parked on a tarmac, with four people crouching in front of it and another plane taking off in the background.
Long before “move fast and break things,” aerospace pioneer Kelly Johnson built the Skunk Works — Lockheed Martin’s R&D arm famous for its problem-solving and revolutionary creations.
Image of a galaxy cluster with three marked regions labeled A, B, and C; the right side shows JWST zoomed-in views of red objects, hinting at possible black holes before galaxies—labeled QSO1A, QSO1B, and QSO1C.
It's the Universe's ultimate chicken-and-egg question: what came first, the galaxy or the black hole? One Little Red Dot proves the answer.
Book cover of "The Shortest History of Soccer" by Brian D. Bunk, featuring a green background, white and yellow text, and a soccer ball illustration at the bottom—perfect for those curious about the origin of soccer.
Soccer emerged from chaotic folk games, elite school rivalries, and evolving rules that transformed a rough pastime into the beautiful game.
A man wearing glasses and a dark blazer gestures with his left hand while looking forward against a plain light background.
19mins
David Epstein argues that the myth of the lone genius is a story we tell, but the actual history of innovation is far more interesting.
Illustration of a shadowy, humanoid creature with glowing eyes, long fingers, and pointed ears, hunched over against a green background.
8mins
L..A. Paul spent her career at Yale studying the decisions that remake you from the inside out — and why rational thinking fails exactly when you need it most.
A chart showing the masses of black holes and neutron stars detected by LIGO-Virgo-KAGRA, highlighting how gravitational wave astronomy has become a mature science. Masses are plotted in solar masses on a logarithmic scale.
In 2016, humanity announced our first successful gravitational wave detection. 10 years and 389 events later, here's how far we've come.
Two scenes: Top shows climbers on an ice-covered terrain, embodying fun and success. Bottom captures an airplane in flight against a clear sky.
Fun in business is no laughing matter — it can create a golden strategic advantage and bring serious success in the long term.
A hexagonal telescope with a gold exterior and an open, black interior is shown against a black background, highlighting NASA habitable worlds observatory science.
The Astro2020 decadal report set the USA's agenda for space and ground-based astronomy. Here in 2026, we're clearly on the wrong course.
A man sits on a chair with hands folded in his lap, facing forward, against a white backdrop with green and teal concentric circles in the background.
1hr 1mins
David Epstein walks through decades of research exploring why constraints, not freedom, are the engine behind creativity, focus, and breakthrough.
A color-coded map of the United States shows state-by-state data ranging from red (lower values) to green (higher values), with a scale from 102.6K to 133.0K.
Since 2018, around 103,000 millionaires moved out of California — and 133,000 millionaires moved in to Florida
kaon decay
Two discrete symmetries, charge conjugation and parity, must be violated together for our Universe to exist. We haven't found enough of it.
Four workers assemble a large wooden tank using scaffolding and ladders at an outdoor construction site, with stacks of materials in the background.
What would your company do if it lost all its customers at once?
A spreadsheet with tan cells displays a pixelated red frowning face made by filling selected cells.
Humans are naturally creative, but adulthood often teaches us to value productivity over play.
A human skull, a game controller, and small artifacts are partially buried in dirt at an archaeological dig site with excavation tools nearby.
Your brain responds to game-like mechanics with focus, persistence, and engagement — the exact qualities you need to stay motivated.
Illustration of a brain with legs standing on a platform, surrounded by yellow rays and red and yellow dots on a pink background.
New research suggests fun isn’t a distraction from learning — it’s the brain’s way of rewarding us for navigating uncertainty, discovering patterns, and staying mentally alive.