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Develop leaders in your organization with Big Think+ classes
Custom Content
Create premium thought leadership and storytelling with Big Think Creative
Advertising Campaigns
Reach the smartest audience on the Internet with Big Think editorial integrations
Live Events
Bring your people and ideas to life with Big Think Events
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Science & Tech
Explore the discoveries that reveal how the world works, alongside the technologies that extend, reshape, and sometimes challenge what’s possible.
As with any "big idea" progress means a lot of different things to different people and not everyone comes into the discussion with the same priors. Some experts are primarily focused on material progress while others emphasize the importance of moral progress. So to start the discussion, we asked each expert to define the term as they see it from their specific vantage point.
An interview with filmmaker Jason Sussberg about his new film about Stewart Brand and the importance of culture in achieving progress.
The world isn’t ending! But we are likely at the beginning of a profound transformation.
5mins
An interview with economist Tyler Cowen on why American progress has seemed to stall and how we can get it back on track.
6mins
WIRED founder Kevin Kelly explains why progress often looks like dystopia to the untrained eye.
Recent research suggests that Earth’s magnetic field bounced back just as complex life was starting to emerge on our planet.
The Metaverse could be the most dangerous tool of persuasion humanity has ever created.
Yes, NASA's Perseverance rover found organics on Mars. So did Curiosity. Unfortunately, that doesn't mean anything in the search for life.
Who will lead humanity in the Metaverse? Roblox and Minecraft gamers.
An average undergraduate student in physics is better than the AI.
These dissolvable pills aren’t meant to be swallowed, though.
The separation of conjoined twins is fraught with stomach-churning biomedical and ethical challenges.
Elon Musk suggested remote-controlled, vibrating anal beads. Thankfully, there are more mundane explanations.
These salamanders are helping unlock the mysteries of brain evolution and regeneration.
“The more we understand ourselves and the universe, the more magnificent it is.”
Certain cancers are striking earlier than they used to.
Advances in ancient DNA analysis gave researchers a new way to trace the movements of peoples across Eurasia.
"Our risk-benefit analysis showed that benefits exceeded procedural risks… by up to 200 to 1."
Black holes aren't just the densest masses in the Universe, but they also spin the fastest of all massive objects. Here's why it must be so.