Latest Articles

Latest Articles

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

an image of a star burst in the sky.
What began as an annoyance ended as a Nobel Prize-winning discovery about the Big Bang and the origin of the Universe.
a collage of a woman sleeping on a pillow next to a bowl of food.
More than a third of Americans don’t get enough sleep. Diet is an important, under-recognized culprit.
competency framework
A competency framework is a way to align individual performance with organizational goals. Read on to learn how.
sun red giant swallow planet
Many planets will eventually be devoured by their parent star. For the first time, we caught a star in the act, eating its innermost planet!
a painting of a group of naked men riding bicycles.
The deep-thinking oddballs of West Coast cycle racing valued mid-ride marijuana over sports science.
A woman with curly hair, wearing a red blouse, smiles at the camera against a plain white background.
4mins
Asking the wrong questions can hold you back. Natalie Nixon explains how to ask divergent questions to become a great thinker.
a map of europe showing the percentage of people in each country.
The average age of cannabis users is increasing. Weed may fall out of fashion before it becomes legal everywhere.
a collage of photos with a whale tail.
Nobody knows where the word "penguin" comes from.
a group of wooden buildings sitting on top of a lush green hillside.
Stone buildings in northern India reveal secrets of old structures that could save lives.
a painting of an egyptian vase with egyptian symbols on it.
To protect yourself, you need an antifungal rather than an amulet.
a red poster with a portrait of a man.
Piano Sonata No. 23 offers a window into the way culture became an instrument of Soviet state policy.
universe expand energy
The conservation of energy is one of the most fundamental laws governing our reality. But in the expanding Universe, that's just not true.
a row of wind turbines against a blue sky.
Wind farms seem less productive when scientists incorporate more realistic atmospheric models into their output predictions.
a man in a space suit with a camera in his hand.
It's not about fairness. It's about using every possible advantage.
Close-up of a painted eye on a textured surface, featuring green, white, black, and a small area of orange.
5mins
Humans, like animals, are driven by instincts. But we also have wants. Here’s what that means for our lives.
jwst background galaxies
These high-mass, rapidly star-forming galaxies have called modern cosmology into question. But hi-res simulations show no tension at all.
an older woman with glasses is covering her face.
Neuroscientists hope to learn more in the hope of finding a way to reverse dementia.
a black and white photo of a man sitting on a rock.
Far from being a “dead” pursuit that focuses on old ideas, modern philosophy proposes and debates important, new concepts. All of us can learn from it.