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How Will the World Really End?
Predictions about the end of the world have been around since...well, the beginning of the world. But setting aside the warnings of apocalyptic prophets, technophobes, and assorted other Chicken Littles, what are the most plausible scenarios for humanity's demise? How will Earth, and the universe, die out? And how soon? In a special series this week, Big Think asks a paleontologist, an astrophysicist, a nuclear terrorism expert, and other distinguished guests what doomsday might actually be like.
Part 1 of 10
Astronomer and Astrophysicist, Villanova University
A nearby star system may “go supernova” in 10 million years—far sooner than scientists once predicted. The resulting explosion would “outshine the galaxy,” not to mention kill life on Earth.
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Getting Behind the Wheel of Change
Implementing a new system of shared urban mobility is going to take serious behavioral modification. Watch
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How the Legal System Perpetuates Injustice
One of the most depressing ironies of America’s legal system is that, in a country that values “freedom” and “”equality,” it clings to a rigid model of human behavior that is blind to the situational forces at play in the choices people make. Watch
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When Bobos Became Downright Oppressive
As the sociologist explains, taste is manufactured socially, through whole groups. And when a certain, latte-loving class of people begins to overtake a community, it stifles neighboring populations both culturally and economically. Watch
Featured Blogs
Politeia
March 12, 2010 — 4:50 PM
Dancing Is for Straight Couples Only
Itawamba Agricultural High School would rather cancel the prom than let a lesbian couple attend. More than a month ago, Constance McMillen, an 18-year-old senior at the Mississippi school, asked school officials if she would be allowed to bring her girlfriend, who is also a student at the school. She was told that they wouldn't be allowed to go the prom together. Even if the two came separately, she was told, they would be thrown out if they danced with each other or made other students "uncomfortable." Read more
Think, See, Feel
March 12, 2010 — 1:26 PM
Ferguson’s piece in the new Foreign Affairs, “Complexity and Collapse: Empires on the Edge of Chaos,” considers the question of how history moves, and whether the conventional assumptions concerning, as it were, the Rhythm of Empires, are dead wrong. His elegant overturning of received wisdom is not exactly Gladwellian in that the end result might be mild terror, rather than revelation. He even quotes Jay-Z. Read more
Focal Point
March 12, 2010 — 12:16 PM
Pelosi Calls Stupak's Bluff on Abortion
Anti-choice zealot Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich) overplayed his hand. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced today that the House Democrats will move forward without a deal on abortion coverage. Read more
The View From Europe
March 12, 2010 — 9:49 AM
Remembering (or Forgetting) Copenhagen
Three months after the Copenhagen Climate Conference’s failure to reach a legally binding global emissions-reduction deal, there hasn’t been much talk of what the next step will be. But the Europeans, for whom Copenhagen was the ultimate disappointment, are now trying to get back on track – with or without the rest of the world. Read more
Mind Matters
March 12, 2010 — 7:53 AM
To Green Your Electrons, Green Your Mind
Solar panels aren't born green. Their manufacture uses power, often generated in plants that burn coal or oil, and releases pollutants (including greenhouse gases) into the environment. The extent of this original sin depends on the kind of solar technology involved, but it's not trivial. According to Peter Owen of Linde Electronics, four years pass before the U.S. industry's typical solar panel has generated enough electricity to make up for the power used to make it. Read more
Daily Ideafeed
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Old News
Tracking Jihad Jane - America was stunned yesterday by the revelations that a suburban Pennsylvania woman, aka "Jihad Jane," was trying to join militant jihadists. But for net "vigilantes" it was old news.
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Male Escort
Call-Boy’s Confession - Rusty McMann is the alias of a real male escort living in Las Vegas who has written his version of “Confessions of a Call Girl” to cast further light on his profession.
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Brain Scandal
Mind Readers - A new kind of brain scan has been developed which can effectively read a person’s mind, according to researchers who have been able to differentiate brain activity liked to memory.
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Dorothy Makeover
Which Wizard? - "The Wizard of Oz," which starred Judy Garland, has a place in cinematic history. But with three rival studios preparing new versions of the classic musical, which Wizard is which?
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Political Scandal
Why The Massa-cre? - As Washington recovers from what has been dubbed the “Massa-cre”, the disgrace of ex-Republican Eric Massa, Fox News asks how the current “parlor game” could ever happen.
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Declassified?
Eichmann Files - 50 years after Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann was arrested, a German journalist is suing a federal court for the release of files containing details about his 15 years as a fugitive.
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Ukulele Peace
Don’t Fight, Play - Talented ukulele player, Jake Shimabukuro, says the traditional Hawaiian instrument, which he learned to play aged just 4, could make the world a less violent place to live in.
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Firenze, Firenze
What Dolce Vita? - The New York Times’ Earl Wilson ponders the disorganisation and chaos of beautiful Italy as he attempts to board an airplane from an airport that looks the same as it did in 1944.
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Lehman Brothers
“Accounting Gimmicks” - Lehman Brothers, the bank which collapsed in September 2008 and sparked global economic meltdown, could face legal action over accounting “gimmicks” revealed in a recent report.
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Germany
Europe’s Engine - As Europe’s biggest economy, Germany needs to learn change if it is to help lead the rest of the Eurozone out of the fiscal mire – but can an old dog learn new tricks?
