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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
Is observation of non-verbal behaviours truly valuable in the detection of people with mal-intent? Sharon Weinberger says researchers are increasingly dubious of the science behind programs such as the Screening Passengers by Observation Technique (SPOT). But the lack of proven results has not ...
What's the difference between an economist and a physicist? It's not a joke but a distinction addressed by Emanuel Derman, who says the difference is that most economists have never really seen a successful model. Not knowing a good from a bad one they end up overly denigrating or deifying models ...
“National debt will double within a decade unless the citizenry gets control of the budget. From my travels among the citizenry, I have come to the conclusion that Americans are ready to do so. This fall they will elect representatives who will cut their entitlements,” forecasts R. Emmett Tyrrell ...
The world is being denied data that could greatly enhance climate change research and tracking of “super” storms, says Daniel N. Baker. Satellite-born sensors watching the world for nuclear explosions also collect invaluable environmental data which is unnecessarily withheld as “classified ...
“All too often, instruction assumes that students build knowledge sequentially, from one prerequisite idea to the next, in a linear, hierarchical manner that mirrors the design of traditional textbooks and lectures. In real life, however, we tend to advance our understanding through a process that ...
It's nuclear-armed and seems increasingly unstable yet neither America, China nor South Korea has a contingency plan to cope should North Korea's current regime suddenly collapse, warns The Economist. "Planning in advance should help to avoid potentially catastrophic misunderstandings. The outside ...
David Jays was surprised that last month no play was shortlisted for a major Australian literary award because the judges couldn't find a worthy nomination. He ponders what should be valued in literature and whether theater's “brazenly collaborative and transient nature” spooks the literary ...
Nobel Laureate Gary Becker and Judge Richard Posner consider whether a central bank like the Federal Reserve should remain independent of the government. "I have little doubt that central banks should have considerable independence. Yet complete central bank independence from politicians does not ...
Do men have the right to choose? After being divorced and sued for child support, one man testifies that he and his ex-wife had agreed to get an abortion if she became pregnant. "Reproductive choice isn't a fundamental right if it's only limited to people who have internal reproductive systems ...
A lifetime ban on donating blood for men who have slept with other men, created to protect recipients from HIV, is being challenged as outdated and unfair by two Canadian physicians. The physicians' arguments are presented in the May 25th edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. "'Today ...
The C.I.A. planned to shoot separate mock, gay sex tapes implicating Saddam Hussein and Osama Bin Laden in an attempt to delegitimize the men's authority, according to The Guardian. Not unlike the agency's infamous plan to assassinate Fidel Castro with an exploding cigar, these new revelations ...
Energy producers who met with skyrocketing food prices and international protests while using food crops to create large quantities of biofuels are now eyeing inedible waste. Given some technological advancement, the outlook is promising: "So the goal now is to efficiently convert so-called 'second ...
A cache of René Magritte's personal letters are set to be auctioned soon at Sotheby's, reports the Economist; the French surrealist was "unremittingly cheery" in his correspondence. "The letters, most of which are undated and not included in the collection that was published in 1994, span more than ...
After three men who each believed he was Jesus Christ were made to live together as a psychological experiment, psychologists better understand the nature and limits of identity. "You oughta worship me, I'll tell you that!" one of the Christs yelled. "Since there is only one Son of God, says the ...
Do the similarities between the Black Panthers of the '60s and today's TEA Party run deeper than guns, anger and demand for limited government? "In January, political philosopher Noam Chomsky said in an interview about the Tea Party, 'These are people with real grievances. For the past 30 years of ...