Latest Articles

Latest Articles

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

Feedback frights
New research from Big Think+ sheds light on why employees can find the act of providing feedback to be intimidating, and how L&D can ease this fear by elevating feedback beyond pure evaluation.
Close-up image of a baby's ear as the baby rests its head against a striped fabric, capturing the tender moments when they first start to absorb the language around them.
For most of human history, babies probably picked up language by overhearing.
Close-up of a vintage coin-operated binocular viewer with a "Turn to Clear Vision" label, set against a colorful, blurred background.
Google’s first Chief Innovation Evangelist — Frederik Pferdt — lays out a map for navigating unprecedented change and innovation.
Bullet Cluster separation mass gravity x-ray lensing
The Bullet Cluster has, for nearly 20 years, been hailed as an empirical "proof" of dark matter. Can their detractors explain it away?
A person in a black hat and coat raises a black square and a blue square against a clear sky, symbolizing their moral ambition.
In "Moral Ambition," Dutch historian Rutger Bregman argues that all would benefit from a collective redefinition of success.
A small clock displaying 9:10 is surrounded by a tangled yellow measuring tape with black markings against a dark background, symbolizing the precision and commitment of intermittent fasting.
"Fasting...should not be demonized for simply suggesting that we take a break from eating once in a while."
Black and white image of a band performing on stage. One musician is playing a bass guitar while another sings into a microphone. The scene, embodying punk-inspired leaders, has a dark background.
Half a century ago, idealistic punks shook a fist at the status quo — and their legacy is a blueprint for modern leadership.
A solitary figure is suspended in midair above a textured ground, set against a yellow background.
7mins
Finding meaning isn’t just personally fulfilling — it’s critical to our brain’s development, explains USC neuroscientist.
Voyager 1
On a cosmic scale, our existence seems insignificant and inconsequential. But from another perspective, humans are completely remarkable.
A rocket launches from a pad at a coastal space center with ocean in background. The word "TMNTUS" is overlaid in large letters.
Comparing Elon Musk's Mars rocket to NASA's new ride.
A retro scene featuring a beige rotary phone, an early video calling device displaying a woman's photo, and a control panel. The text reads, "Someday you'll be a star!.
Concerns about privacy and pressures regarding the physical appearance of women and their homes contributed to the failure of AT&T’s 1960s Picturephone.
A bright star shining in a dark sky filled with numerous smaller stars. The larger star appears at the center with a noticeable twinkle effect.
The standard picture of our Universe is that it's dominated by dark matter and dark energy. But this alternative is also worth considering.
A drone flying in the sky at sunset with clouds in the background.
The military is courting tech startups to help it win the AI arms race.
A group of people, including children, wade through a shallow river in the forested area of the Darién Gap. One person carries a suitcase and other luggage on their back.
Each year, over half a million migrants cross the deadly jungle separating Colombia from Panama in search of a better life in the United States.
A black and white particle track image on the left and a colorful representation of a neutrino.
The properties of a ghostly particle called a neutrino are coming into focus.
Black and white photo of a person on stage, the spotlight effect illuminating them from behind, casting dramatic shadows. A red border frames the image.
It's good to be a wallflower. But sometimes, you need to show yourself off a bit.
A young woman in a white dress with a black sash sits beside a body of water, gazing down, with a dark forest in the background.
3mins
There’s never been more ways to connect with the people in our lives — so why are we lonelier than ever?
A graphical representation illustrating the concept of the big bang and the subsequent expansion of the universe, depicted by a transition from a singular point of energy to a wide, grid-like spread of galaxies and celestial elements
On the largest of cosmic scales, the Universe is expanding. But it isn't all-or-nothing everywhere, as "collapse" is also part of the story.
Physicists have increasingly begun to view life as information-processing "states of matter" that require special consideration.
fireworks
From the explosions themselves to their unique and vibrant colors, the fireworks displays we adore require quantum physics.