The Latest from Big Think

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"Is the new crop of hyperrealistic military video games driving home the reality of the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, or simply exploiting them?"
"The big discovery has been that depressed patients who have proven most resistant to traditional treatments...seem to have particularly high rates of inflammation."
Unable to handle the pressure to pick more and more cotton, in October 2008, Umida Donisheva, a 17-year-old girl, hung herself from a tree on the edge of a cotton field.
"A physicist needs to decide what features of the problem are relevant and which features can be ignored, how to represent the problem in different ways..."
It is not often that a celebrity memoir makes the leap from the front page of the New York Times Arts section to its Op-Ed page, but then what less […]
Have you noticed just how ubiquitous the phrase "mad as hell" has become in news coverage and commentary? The catchphrase has been used to support a narrative that anger is […]
It initially cost $3 billion to fully sequence all of the 25,000 or so genes that describe a human being. The resulting data is essentially an "owner's manual" for our […]
The Democrats are bracing for big losses in next week’s election. While the Democrats may, as Nate Silver argues, still have some modest chance of retaining both houses of Congress, […]
While reusable bottles and tap water filters are by far the best alternative to bottled water, they can be, to use the highly scientific term, a hassle. To address this, […]
From the We Love DC blog: Pre-Pre Show – 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. Video montages and music will play on Jumbotrons to entertain the audience Pre Show – 12 […]
A few weeks ago, rumors started swirling that the United Nations was going to nominate Mazlan Othman, a celebrated Malayasian astrophysicist, to be the UN’s first Space Ambassador.
The news of the aftermath from the Merapi eruption continues to be grim. The pyroclastic flows have killed at least 33 people (including the "Keeper of Merapi", who has caused a stir […]
Last night President Obama appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, receiving mixed reviews from commentators as the President sought to speak directly to an important Democratic base of […]
So, maybe I spoke too soon when I mentioned in passing how quiet the fall has been in the world of volcanic eruptions. In less than a week since I […]
"Pig manure can pave our streets—and a path to cleaner energy." The Atlantic reports on a new machine that converts excrement into bio-oil and liquid fertilizer.
"The time taken to 'fall in love' clocks in at about one-fifth of a second, not the six months of romantic dinners and sharing secrets some might expect."
The prolific and award-winning Canadian writer designs superhero costumes for alter-egos of two of her readers—as well as a chilling enemy 'the Paniac'.
"Leaked photos purporting to show a Sony Ericsson handset combined with a PlayStation Portable games console have appeared online." The Telegraph reports.
"My team at the U.K. Medical Research Council's Cognition and Brain Sciences Unit in Cambridge has come up with the ultimate test of intelligence," says Adrian Owen.
If you are a startup looking for investors, stay as close to home as possible. Forbes' Maureen Farrell says fundraising rounds will be shorter and less frequent if you do.