The Latest from Big Think

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In a front page story at the NY Times today, Bill Vlasic describes efforts by Nissan and the Federal government to cultivate the first generation buyers of the Nissan Leaf, […]
The annual cull of the endangered pilot dolphins just off the coast of the remote Faroe Islands is barbarism.
Many of the guests who we interview at Big Think can be described as "giants" in their fields, but this week we actually hosted our tallest guest ever.  John Amaechi, […]
Disability is one of the areas where design can make the most meaningful difference in quality of life. This was certainly true of Amanda Boxtel, who has been confined to […]
This paper in the current issue of the journal Neuron claims to add some MRI findings to the evidence that human empathy and kindness stop at the border between "our […]
Re-election campaigns distract U.S. presidents from their executive duties. Should we eliminate them in favor of longer terms?
According to a new, nationally representative, dataset released this week, black Americans use condoms during vaginal intercourse significantly more than white Americans.
Long week. I gave two exams, so I get to look forward to an exciting weekend of grading. Yup, that is the part of the job that is likely the […]
For those in the DC area, the following Oct. 11 event that I highlighted earlier this week, has been switched to the National Press Club due to demand for tickets. […]
J. M. Coetzee on Philip Roth's 'Nemesis': "A good education, and not just for older persons: how to dig a grave, how to write, how to face death, all in one."
A young violinist was made suicidal because of a critical byproduct of our time: the small inviolate zone of privacy that we all need has now become virtually impossible to maintain.
"Laptops in college classrooms are no longer just educational tools – they're distracting our future workers. During class, students tumble down these rabbit holes of diversion."rn
"Renowned Mexican historian and journalist Enrique Krauze on how Mario Vargas Llosa's novels revealed Latin America's soul — and exorcised its demons."
New research suggests that laughter, in the form of a reflex-like reaction to touch, has been adopted into human social behaviour from animal behaviour.
"'The Social Network'...does a brilliant job dissecting the sorts of people who become stars in an information economy and a hypercompetitive, purified meritocracy."
"A taste of the small-government, anti-spending Tea Party would do a world of good to conservatives in Australia and Europe," opines columnist Janet Albrechtsen.
Greece is broke so Prime Minister George Papandreou has cut spending, raised taxes and is trying to reeducate his people and steer them away from tax evasion and corruption.
"Debunking the myth of the lone maverick, health researchers suggest that groups of doctors outperform individuals not only in diagnosing problems but also in treating them."
'Waiting for Superman', David Guggenheim's documentary about the fissures in public education system, made Helena Andrews re-examine her privileged private education.
You may have heard about Dan Savage's video outreach campaign, "It Gets Better." The campaign was inspired by a spate of news stories about gay teens committing suicide in the […]