The Latest from Big Think

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Four people work at consoles surrounded by monitors and control panels in a dimly lit NASA mission control room, with large display boards overhead.
What if the first search for life beyond Earth actually succeeded?
Scott Britton, in business attire, sits cross-legged on a desk meditating, while blurred figures move in the background.
Former tech founder Scott Britton wants to shatter the binary myth that separates driving ambition from inner development.
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12mins
The hospital where Rainn Wilson’s wife and son nearly died became his own personal holy site. There, he discovered that the sacred can exist in places we least expect it. During his talk at A Night of Awe and Wonder, he explained how the awe we feel in moments of courage and love is moral beauty — and following it might be the start of our spiritual revolution.
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Planets grow from protostellar material in disks, leading to full-grown planetary systems in time. At last, the final gap has been filled.
A bald man in a blue suit and white shirt stands outdoors in Silicon Oasis, smiling, with autumn leaves and a blurred building in the background.
We chat with Mark Klarzynski, founder of PEAK:AIO, on how his company became an international player in data storage for the age of AI.
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Until the late 20th century, there wasn't a truly universal standard. Under our current definition, everyone agrees on what "one meter" is.
Book cover of "Do Aliens Speak Physics?" by Daniel Whiteson and Andy Warner, featuring a blue background, yellow and white text, and an illustration of a robot and people interacting.
Do aliens speak the same physics that we do, with similar laws, observables, and underlying mathematics. Maybe not, argues Daniel Whiteson.
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1hr 12mins
“Consciousness is fundamental. It's a fundamental property of the world that we inhabit, a fundamental property of the universe.”
gravitational wave effects on spacetime
We've now detected hundreds of gravitational waves with LIGO, Virgo, and KAGRA. What if we tried Weber's original method in the modern day?
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16mins
“The messy reality of it is that all of these very smart people, including Isaac Newton, were talking to other people.”
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The great books aren’t just classics — they’re cultural Schelling points that give our minds a place to meet up in the world of ideas.
A grayscale portrait of a smiling man is overlaid on classical artwork with pink and black graphic elements, evoking a sense of desire. The text at the top reads "THE NIGHT CRAWLER.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
terraforming
The first world beyond Earth for human habitability should be the Moon, not Mars. This is why we should terraform our lunar neighbor first.
Two women at a window; one leans on the sill smiling, perhaps sharing jokes, while the other stands behind, partially concealed, holding a white cloth to her face.
Is your humor affiliative or adversarial?
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Metacognition — the ability to think about your thinking — can help you learn faster and make better decisions.
A black and white soccer ball floats on the surface of the ocean under a partly cloudy sky.
10mins
“When you start to accept that you have profound influence on the world, but very limited control, you start to see the world differently.”
Book cover for "The History of Money: A Story of Humanity" by David McWilliams, featuring stacked coins arranged in a Fibonacci sequence on a black background with white and gold text.
Fibonacci’s "Liber Abaci" not only revolutionized commerce — it also helped nudge the world towards reasoned, quantitative enquiry.
A painting of a man with a beard.
Panpsychist philosopher Philip Goff, PhD on mysticism and the future of faith.
John Templeton Foundation
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2mins
“In most instances, ‘good enough’ is good enough.” A time management expert, a cognitive scientist, and a psychologist share their takes on productivity, perfectionism, and the harm of hustle culture.
Unlikely Collaborators
two particles different wavelength speed of light
Times dilate and lengths contract near the speed of light. Bizarre and confusing? Sure. But under relativity, it can't be any other way.