The Latest from Big Think

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Kuang discusses the rituals, routines, and words of advice that have helped her write six best-selling novels in one decade.
One side of the Moon always faces us: the near side. The "dark side" of the Moon began as a mere metaphor, but today, science can weigh in.
Book cover of "Crush: Close Encounters with Gravity" by James Riordon, featuring a crushed red soda can with a green leaf.
From white holes to dark stars and multiverses, James Riordon explores the bizarre exhibits of general relativity's "cryptozoo."
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Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
hoag's object
Spirals, ellipticals, and irregulars are all more common than ring galaxies. At last, we know how these ultra-rare objects are made.
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The technology might be much closer than you'd think.
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An introduction to "The Engine of Progress" from Jason Crawford, founder of the Roots of Progress Institute.
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Real progress demands rules built for uncertainty — not for the few innovations dominating today’s tech landscape.
A crowded room with people suffering from illness; some lie in bed, others sit or kneel, while a few interact and offer assistance.
Preindustrial life wasn’t simple or serene — it was filthy, violent, and short. The Industrial Revolution was imperfect, but it was progress.
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Before we can build the future, we have to imagine it.
An illustration of a Roman-style ruin labeled "Common Law" is overlaid with concentric semicircles labeled Industrial Revolution, Machine Learning, Artificial Intelligence, and Generative Models.
Common law has long balanced innovation and accountability. Can it do the same for AI?
Five books are displayed upright in a row: "Gödel, Escher, Bach," "Man’s Search for Meaning," "Red Mars," "The Road to Reality," and "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions.
These expert-recommended books reveal how big ideas can shape — and sometimes redefine — human progress.
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To turn technical breakthroughs into real-world change, AI must overcome the friction of politics, policy, and human institutions.
Two women stand and speak in front of a projector screen displaying a graph titled "YIMBY Action’s Ladder of Engagement" at a presentation or workshop.
To build a better world, we first have to understand how change actually happens.
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From treating specific diseases to targeting aging itself, Progress Conference 2025 explored the many routes to extending life.
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At the foundation of America’s progress movement are immigrants who still believe this country can build.
Two people sit in wicker chairs outdoors, holding microphones and having a conversation about energy abundance. Other people are visible in the blurred background.
Barriers to energy abundance — and how to overcome them — were front and center at Progress Conference 2025.
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With new labs, funding models, and institutions, metascience is reinventing the machinery of discovery.
A collage featuring vintage documents, a grayscale moon map with labeled lunar missions, colored dots, and an old astronomical chart on a black background.
Government-spec’d glory projects produce tech demos. Enduring progress demands a better way forward.