Jere Van Dyk, who was imprisoned by the Taliban for 45 days, offers some cautionary advice to the new commander of the Afghanistan War.

Journalist Jere Van Dyk stopped by the Big Think offices today to recount his gripping tale of survival after being captured and imprisoned by the Taliban in 2008. Van Dyk, […]

Over the past few months, we’ve looked at how designers are addressing the vision-impaired – from low-cost eyeglasses to Braille-inspired obejcts for the blind to an innovative diagnostic test using […]

This then is one of the most memorable photographs of the 1960s, or at least here, a depiction of one of the most eponymous pictures of that decade. The original […]

It seems the nation that prides itself on doing things just a little differently has succumbed to the newspaper industry’s woes just like everyone else. The French paper of record […]

Humans are hard-wired to make bad investment decisions, says Legg Mason Capital Management’s chief investment strategist, Michael Mauboussin. It’s in our nature to follow along with a bearish or bullish […]

Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com, believes the most important aspect of any company is its culture. That’s why he was so disappointed with his first company, LinkExchange—and why he […]

Alan Abramowitz is the Barkley Professor of Political Science at Emory, and a renowned expert on national politics and elections. His expertise includes election forecasting models, party realignment in the […]

"The Supreme Court on Monday loosened the limits on the kinds of inventions that are eligible for patent protection," reports The Washington Post. Intangible goods are increasingly eligible.

Though the Islamic world has "fallen behind" recent scientific times, the oil-rich states of the Middle East are seeking to diversify their economies. The New Scientist says science and technology appear promising.

Some false beliefs, such as paranoia, are ill-suited to evolutionary success, but some, like extreme optimism in the face of insurmountable odds, are a boon, says Scientific American.

Starting today, the non-profit digital library Internet Archive will give the public access to over a million public domain books and thousands of contemporary copyrighted e-books. Copyright questions abound.

NPR recounts how a modest scientific conclusion about classical music's effect on spatial reasoning led to a nation obsessed with making their unborn babies listen to Mozart.

"The main concern is that we can’t really predict how ecosystems and human society will respond to climate change," say scientists who worry carbon levels could overwhelm natural systems by 2200.

Of the 4.7 million Iraqis displaced by the war, 100,000 have been relocated, one-third of those to the U.S. The Guardian echoes calls to expedite refugee processing and to provide counselling services.

"The new national space policy calls on NASA to target missions beyond low-Earth orbit — such as to an asteroid — by 2025, with the eventual goal of sending astronauts to Mars." The CSM reports.

"It's one thing to lose in court. Chicago has to win the daily struggle on its streets." The Chicago Tribune reacts to the Supreme Court's decision against they city's handgun regulation.

"A wandering mind can protect you from immediate perils and keep you on course toward long-term goals," says The New York Times. Researchers find benefits to being a bit airy.

Half a million people die annually in the United States from substance abuse or addiction, which represents 1 in 5 deaths overall. One-half trillion dollars are lost annually in the […]

In Scott Turow’s Times Book Review cover piece on Adam Ross’s novel, Mr. Peanut, he recalls the time a revered Stanford writing professor cautioned students against writing about marriage, “the […]