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Big ideas are lenses for envisioning the future. Every article and video on bigthink.com and on our learning platforms is based on an emerging “big idea” that is significant, widely relevant, and actionable. We’re sifting the noise for the questions and insights that have the power to change all of our lives, for decades to come. For example, reverse-engineering is a big idea in that the concept is increasingly useful across multiple disciplines, from education to nanotechnology.
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Big ideas in the news from around the web
What's the Latest Development? The election of moderate Iranian presidential candidate Hassan Rohani represents an opportunity for the West to engage Iran with fresh negotiations over its nuclear energy program, which is feared to shroud more nefarious intentions. "Rohani has called for an end ...
What's the Latest Development? Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who went public with the NSA's clandestine data mining operation, forms part of an increasing crossover between government and private cybersecurity organizations. "As a result of the leaks, politicians are likely to debate the ...
What's the Latest Development? A massive urban development program, in which the Chinese government aims to relocate 250 million peasant farmers to burgeoning urban centers, is set to begin in earnest this fall. "The government, often by fiat, is replacing small rural homes with high-rises ...
What's the Latest Development? The population boom of the modern era--there are about seven billion people today living on the planet, up from two billion in 1920--has resulted in an aging world population. By 2025, the world will have almost 800 million people over the age of 65. About 556 ...
What's the Latest Development? The world faces a difficult task in brining energy to poor and growing populations while mitigating the effects of climate change, which is why creating innovative and renewable energy programs must be a global priority. While market solutions are often thought ...
What's the Latest Development? The prevailing wisdom about toddlers' speech patterns is that it lacks the grammatical architecture used by adults, but new research suggests that children just learning to talk have already begun employing grammatical rules. Scientists at Newcastle University ...
What's the Latest Development? As we move toward a more cashless society, the dangers of credit transactions are becoming more apparent as those vulnerable to abusing credit also increase in number. "In the 1970s, fewer than 20 percent of the adult population owned a credit card. Today, between ...
What's the Latest Development? In scientific literature, fathers tend to get short shrift when it comes to discussing the emotional bonds formed between parents and children. But new research suggests that the father-child bond is remarkably similar to the mother-child bond in terms of the ...
What's the Latest Development? While the world suffers an economic slump, why are luxury items booming? The reason may have more to do with sociology than economics. In the midst of nation-wide employment crises, the ability to demonstrate wealth, via the purchase and display of luxury items ...
What's the Latest Development? When we talk about someone's personality, we tend to speak of unwavering characteristics that are exhibited in all varieties of circumstance. That view of behavior, however, doesn't reflect the fact that our surrounding environment influences our actions to a high ...
What's the Latest Development? Superman's speed, leaping abilities, and strength all boil down to having stronger muscles than is humanly possibly, at least for now... In experiments on non-human primates, biologists are working to switch off the gene that keeps muscle mass between certain ...
What's the Latest Development? By injecting a virus with a normal gene directly into the retina of an eye with a defective gene, researchers have successfully restored some sight to more than a dozen people with a rare inherited eye disease called Leber’s congenital amaurosis, which leads to ...
What's the Latest Development? The Supreme Court has ruled against a Utah-based genetic testing company in a decision which defines the legal limits of ownership over the building blocks of life. The company, Myriad Genetics, has used broad gene patents to operate a monopoly over testing for the ...
What's the Latest Development? Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health have found that when employees are given a day or two of paid recovery time, the influenza virus spreads through the office at a much slower rate. "Giving employees one flu day resulted in ...
What's the Latest Development? In a new and controversial book, journalist Daniel Bergner argues that female sexual desire is just as strong and just as lustful as men's, unsettling conventional wisdom about sexual equality and monogamy. "Women want sex just as much as men do, and this drive is ...