The Latest from Big Think

In a move described as an effort to prevent "cultural and linguistic chaos," China's State Administration for Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television has banned puns and other forms of "misleading" wordplay. Critics of this decision say the government is just trying to crack down on jokes about poor leadership.

"Discrimination still exists. Some people feel that their own beliefs are being threatened. Some are unhappy about unfamiliar cultures. They all need to be reassured that there is so much to be gained by reaching out to others; that diversity is indeed a strength and not a threat."

A Canadian team, currently seeking funding on Kickstarter, has developed Tzoa - a wearable tracker equipped with an optical air quality sensor that can detect harmful particles.

The holiday season affords buyers a plethora of channels for acquiring their Christmas tree. Live or cut? Buy from a wholesaler or chop down your own? Deciding early will help you get the best tree for your needs.

Music may help build the great divide among culturally diverse children, according to a recent study. Researchers have brought hope to schools--a published study that shows playing music together may help integrate elementary-age migrant children into mainstream society

Bill Nye the Science Guy addresses the national risks associated with producing a generation fraught with evolution deniers. He also addresses critics who claim evolution doesn't exist and attempts to examine why they can't bring themselves to accept the facts.

For many people, art museums feel like a foreboding foreign nation with a language all its own. Frederick Wiseman’s new documentary, National Gallery, offers an immersion class in how to speak fluent "museum." 

It's harder to trace a smoking gun online than it is in real life. Yet with cyber warfare expected to grow in the coming decades, companies and countries alike are attempting to make sense forward strides in identifying the perpetrators of cyber attacks.

After more than two years, we’ve visited all 110 objects. Have a look back at each one! “If you keep your eyes open enough, oh, the stuff you will learn. […]

Don Draper is the king of cool. After a sales pitch, he seems to have people ready to buy, but that's not how the real world works. It's about knowing your buyer and asking the right questions.

People are going to extremes to take better selfies and they aren't climbing to mountain tops to do it. They're going under the knife and getting plastic surgery.

Getting hired is only the first step. Achieving lasting success in your new position requires a lot of energy and effort in the first few weeks.

Former NBA Commissioner David Stern discusses how diversity forms the foundation of the league's recent growth and success. At one point, Stern was told the NBA was "too black to thrive." Now, it's as popular as ever.

Just because there is more information available doesn't ensure that we make more informed choices. The modern media provide information in ways that play right into the brain's instinct to do as little work as possible, including the work of getting that information, and thinking carefully about it.

Hallucinogenic mushrooms are classified as a Schedule 1 drug in the United States, meaning they are considered to have the highest potential for abuse and lack any medical application.

Robots armed with weapons and programmed to act autonomously are already in the hands of national militaries.

PURPOSE: Set Goals, with John Amaechi In this lesson from Big Think+, NBA basketball player John Amaechi shares with you the plan he created as a child to help him […]

Jon Iwata is the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Communications at IBM. As a member of the communications team for over 25 years, Iwata has taken an active interest in watching the workforce change. Every year he meets with IBM’s summer interns for an informal focus group on the state of emerging talent. In this lesson from Big Think+, Iwata explores key millennial values and what every company can do to embrace them.

Over a 22-year career at Goldman Sachs, Robert S. Kaplan had the opportunity to run various businesses and to work with or coach numerous business leaders. He says that successful leadership is less often about having all the answers—and more often about asking the right questions. In Part 1 of The Leadership Challenge, Kaplan explores three strategic key questions that leaders need to ask themselves.

Business performance is increasingly dependent on a firm’s ability to manage and mitigate risk. In this lesson from Big Think+, former U.S. Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner teaches the fundamentals of risk management, based on lessons learned during the 2008 Financial Crisis. By the end of it, you’ll have a three-part framework for developing your organization’s risk management strategy.