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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
NASA’s new planet-hunting telescope has found two mystery objects that are “too hot to be plants and too small to be stars” – neither of which fit any definition of known astrological objects. “The Kepler Telescope, launched in March, discovered the two new heavenly bodies, each circling its own ...
A “cocktail” of different nanometer-sized particles which can be used to target and kill cancerous tumours have been developed by researchers in California and Massachusetts. “’This study represents the first example of the benefits of employing a cooperative nanosystem to fight cancer,’ said ...
Amid fears of further terrorist attacks the Yemeni government has ordered an “unprecedented” number of troops into the region controlled by Al Qaeda. The move comes as both the US and Britain closed their embassies in the capital Sana yesterday after reported threats. “The Obama administration ...
Dubai is set to open the world’s tallest building today, although many of the offices are unfinished, as the emirate tries to re-establish hope amid the financial crisis. “The Burj Dubai, built by about 12,000 labourers and standing at a reported height of 818 metres, will open on Monday amid tight ...
“Malaysians are flocking online to debate a contentious court ruling that allows local Roman Catholics to use the word Allah as a translation for God. The editor of Malaysia's ‘Herald, The Catholic Weekly’, Father Lawrence Andrew, shows a Holy Bible written in Arabic to members of the media as he ...
“The US has lifted a 22-year immigration ban which has stopped anyone with HIV/Aids from entering the country. President Obama said the ban was not compatible with US plans to be a leader in the fight against the disease. The new rules come into force on Monday and the US plans to host a bi-annual ...
Nearly 800 people have set themselves the challenge of self improvement by joining the One Hundred Days to Make Me A Better Person campaign. “It asks followers to carry out one self-edifying act, once a day, for one hundred days. The project began at the beginning of December and is the brainchild ...
Scientists are warning that deadly animal diseases are poised to begin infecting humans as environmental disruption lowers the human-animal species barrier. “At least 45 diseases that have passed from animals to humans have been reported to UN agencies in the last two decades, with the number ...
A brilliantly preserved skeleton of the extinct dodo bird, found in Mauritius in 2007, could provide valuable DNA information which could lead to the genetic resurrection of the species. “The new dodo skeleton is particularly exciting because it was found in a cave, which helped to preserve the ...
“Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, Germany, and Indiana University in Bloomington have now been able to measure for the first time directly the speed with which new mutations occur in plants. Their findings shed new light on a fundamental evolutionary ...
With just over 3,000 left in the world, efforts to save tigers from extinction will be stepped up in 2010 after it topped the World Wide Fund for Nature’s list of most endangered species. “Conservationists say there are just 3,200 tigers left in the world as the future of the species is threatened ...
Treehugger.com asks if climate change-protecting vegetarian humans will one day emit more carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere than cows do. “Imagine a half century has passed. It is the year 2060 and world beef consumption has fallen dramatically: a good outcome for climate-sake ...
“In a move that is both ethically profound and (so far, at least) politically rare, Montana has become the third state to legalize physician-assisted suicide. A divided state supreme court ruled Thursday that neither state law nor public policy prevented doctors from prescribing lethal drugs to ...
“Quietly but noticeably over the past year, Americans have rejiggered their lives to elevate experiences over things. Because of the Great Recession, a recent New York Times/CBS News poll has found, nearly half of Americans said they were spending less time buying nonessentials, and more than half ...
“The worst U.S. employment slump in the post-World War II era may have almost ended in December, signaling the recovery will not be jobless much longer, economists said before reports this week. Payrolls probably fell by 1,000 workers last month, the smallest drop since the recession began two years ...