Latest Articles

Latest Articles

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

Are you Homo Curiosus or Homo Definitus? 
New robot seeks to bring convenience to your life, and can master new tasks on the fly.
Journalists often hype the most alarming aspects of the news. In the process, they sometimes create and reinforce common fears that far exceed the actual danger.
Alas science does not operate outside the human realm, but as an extension of our natural capabilities — the good as well as the bad ones.
"I would like to be remembered as someone who was not afraid to do what she wanted to do, and as someone who took risks along the way in order to achieve her goals."
"We need to go back to the discovery, to posing a question, to having a hypothesis and having kids know that they can discover the answers and can peel away a layer."
Researchers delve into Facebook, looking into what our status updates say about our personalities.
Currently, scientists and physicians have a limited understanding of the complex issue of pain and how to treat it. Pain or numbness is perceived by the brain using signals sent by the peripheral nervous system and it is hard to determine how a person’s nervous-system cells react and respond to stimuli. While it is relatively easy to collect a blood or a skin sample or even a tissue biopsy, it is not possible to sample portions of a patient’s neural system. A recent breakthrough finds a way around this problem.
How many cumulative hours have you wasted waiting for your chat partner to respond to you? A new program created by an MIT Ph.D. student offers an opportunity to make your instant message intermissions as productive as possible.
3mins
No, Stephen J. Dubner doesn't actually endorse bank robbery. What he does endorse is amusing deconstructions of cultural acts or items — robbing banks, for instance — and analyzing data to stumble upon intriguing observations.
Birds can differentiate empty peanut shells from full ones — without even cracking them open.
Mavens are defined as experts in their field, and identifying them can help businesses innovate and grow. So, researchers have developed a test to figure out whether someone is a maven.
A galaxy cluster that’s been actively devouring matter for hundreds of millions of years blows all the records away. “The world exploded into billions of atoms, and when it rearranged […]
Fleeing the Norman Conquest, English émigrés established a now-forgotten New England on the northern shore of the Black Sea.
The most famous logic puzzle from the best police comedy on television, and how to (finally) solve it! “I have made the most important discovery of my career, the most […]
4mins
When we think about ISIS it's important to try to understand what they are and why they're as effective as they are.
The Nobel Prize-winning mathematician whose life inspired the 2001 film A Beautiful Mind was killed today, along with his wife, in an automobile accident. 
More evidence that thin models are doing nothing for some target markets.
How do you increase the chance that a user will comment on your photo? Researchers say use a warm filter.
Don't expect the president to be a prolific tweeter, nor for him to offer any glimpses into his personal psyche.