Search
Latest Articles
The newest essays, interviews, and features from Big Think.
37mins
A conversation with the molecular biologist who co-discovered DNA.
The annual cull of the endangered pilot dolphins just off the coast of the remote Faroe Islands is barbarism.
Many of the guests who we interview at Big Think can be described as “giants” in their fields, but this week we actually hosted our tallest guest ever. John Amaechi, […]
6mins
Theoretical physicist Michio Kaku sees two major trends today. One eventually leads to a multicultural, scientific, tolerant society. The other: to fundamentalism, monoculturalism, and (eventually) ruin.
4mins
Even if computer technology continues to double every 18 months—which is doubtful—we could put a chip in robots’ brains to shut them off if they start to get murderous.
2mins
The physicist believes that shape-shifting technology is near on the horizon. And “just decades away we will have something resembling Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak.”
1mins
At the heart of every galaxy like our own Milky Way lies a supermassive black hole, but scientists are unsure which develops first.
Disability is one of the areas where design can make the most meaningful difference in quality of life. This was certainly true of Amanda Boxtel, who has been confined to […]
This paper in the current issue of the journal Neuron claims to add some MRI findings to the evidence that human empathy and kindness stop at the border between “our […]
Re-election campaigns distract U.S. presidents from their executive duties. Should we eliminate them in favor of longer terms?
According to a new, nationally representative, dataset released this week, black Americans use condoms during vaginal intercourse significantly more than white Americans.
1mins
The answer to this question is at the cutting edge of science, but one theory states that dark matter is nothing but ordinary matter in another dimension hovering right above […]
Long week. I gave two exams, so I get to look forward to an exciting weekend of grading. Yup, that is the part of the job that is likely the […]
For those in the DC area, the following Oct. 11 event that I highlighted earlier this week, has been switched to the National Press Club due to demand for tickets. […]
J. M. Coetzee on Philip Roth's 'Nemesis': "A good education, and not just for older persons: how to dig a grave, how to write, how to face death, all in one."
A young violinist was made suicidal because of a critical byproduct of our time: the small inviolate zone of privacy that we all need has now become virtually impossible to maintain.
"Laptops in college classrooms are no longer just educational tools – they're distracting our future workers. During class, students tumble down these rabbit holes of diversion."rn
"Renowned Mexican historian and journalist Enrique Krauze on how Mario Vargas Llosa's novels revealed Latin America's soul — and exorcised its demons."
New research suggests that laughter, in the form of a reflex-like reaction to touch, has been adopted into human social behaviour from animal behaviour.
"'The Social Network'…does a brilliant job dissecting the sorts of people who become stars in an information economy and a hypercompetitive, purified meritocracy."