The Latest from Big Think

Text reading "The Latest" in a large, serif font on a light background.
star vs planet vs brown dwarf
13.8 billion years have passed since the Big Bang, but many stars will survive for longer than that. What's the longest-lived a star can be?
A woman in white approaches a large, winged creature with a human face—an embodiment of ancient archtypes—partially hidden behind a rock in a mountainous landscape.
I'm definitely a Kitsune, but would a Kitsune actually say that?
A craftsman hammers metal on a wooden block; beside him, a cylindrical copper container—showcasing Kaikado mastery—rests against a green background.
What 150-year-old Japanese workshop Kaikado can teach us about finding calm through focus in an age of distraction.
A woman in a light pink dress sits indoors sewing, surrounded by soft furnishings, with a blue-white chalk circle drawn around her upper body.
In this excerpt from How to Live a Meaningful Life, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans discuss how flow transforms ordinary moments into deeply human experiences.
Two bright celestial objects, including the brightest planet, shine in the night sky, partially obscured by clouds and surrounded by smaller, faint stars.
Even at its faintest, Venus always outshines every other star and planet that's visible from Earth, and then some!
A woman with glasses stands in profile against a dark background with illustrated yellow stars scattered beside her.
Kelly Corrigan on why humility fuels curiosity — and how to cultivate these qualities in an age of certainty.
John Templeton Foundation
A dense field of distant galaxies and bright stars against a black background, as captured in a JWST early galaxies deep space telescope image.
Many collaborations have used JWST to take deep-field images: some wider and some deeper than others. Here's how it can surpass them all.
Book cover for "AQ: A New Kind of Intelligence for a World That's Always Changing" by Liz Tran, featuring a beautifully blurred hummingbird.
Liz Tran makes the case for a new kind of intelligence that addresses our ability to handle today’s ever-fluctuating challenges: AQ.
connected entangled pair
A century ago, quantum physics overthrew our view of a deterministic Universe. A profound 21st century theorem closes the door even further.
Illustration of a person wearing Renaissance-era clothing, including a half-brown, half-striped tunic, blue tights, and a green belt, standing with a flourish against a plain background.
In this excerpt from Flourish, Daniel Coyle shares how stillness, presence, and attention help people build meaningful connections.
Silhouette of Reddit's alien mascot overlaid on abstract geometric shapes and patterns in green, blue, and beige tones.
Moltbook is a social media site built for conversation — but not for humans.
Book cover titled "Governing Pandora" by Andrea Bonime-Blanc featuring a colorful, geometric open box on a black background with white text—reflecting themes relevant to the Age of Pandora.
Why we should balance innovation with stewardship — while reframing the “techno-optimists versus doomers” polarization.
Image of a star field with numerous galaxies; several objects are circled in white, and one object is marked with an “X” near the center.
The Universe formed stars, galaxies, and even galaxy clusters extremely early on in our cosmos. This new marvel is one more JWST surprise.
cosmic rays
At the upper limits of what's energetically possible, cosmic rays still persist. What happens if a human gets hit by the most energetic one?
A man with glasses and a beard works on a clay sculpture using a tool, set against a collage of historical art images and decorative patterns inspired by traditional Pasto varnish techniques.
The revival of Pasto Varnish shows how living heritage can survive if knowledge is passed on in time.
An abstract illustration shows overlapping target patterns, tally marks, and a dart hitting the bullseye—capturing a kaizen spirit—with pink gridlines and muted beige, yellow, and red tones.
Kaizen taught me that tiny, consistent changes can be more powerful than dramatic overhauls.
A tortoise wearing a blue "1st Place" ribbon on its shell, posed against a plain light background.
Many top performers start behind — and overtake the early leaders later.
A person stands next to a large book titled "The Knowledge," symbolizing mastery of the city’s map.
One of the toughest vocational exams in the world requires candidates to memorize 25,000 streets in an area five times the size of Manhattan.
A yellow silhouette of a person dives above the snow-covered peak of a mountain against a dark sky.
For elite climbers, divers, and explorers, mastery can fuel an escalation loop in which identity and danger rise together.
A stylized human figure runs in front of a large, abstract eye, with geometric shapes and colorful patterns in the background.
Elite athletes train their “quiet eye.” What happens if the rest of us do the same?