Topics
Life & Death
Three Steps To Outliving Death Itself
Chief Science Officer, SENS Foundation
Anti-aging expert Aubrey de Grey gives his advice on how to extend your life long enough to be around when scientists find the secret of immortality.
In Health & Medicine, Inspiration & Wisdom, Life & Death, Science & Tech
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Kay Redfield Jamison discusses how she and her late husband found profound delight in his final years as well as the commanding power of the grieving process. Watch
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Gary Laderman Discusses the Need for Religion and Western Society's Obsession With Longevity
Laderman, professor of American Religious History and Cultures at Emory University, looks at the attitudes toward and culture of death in America. He also reveals religion’s influence in several unexpected cultural institutions. Watch
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An Artist Reflects on the Path to a Meaningful Life
The painter reads obituaries to remind him of the purpose of life. Watch
Related Blogs
Mind Matters
November 20, 2009 — 12:42 PM
One More Reason to Skip Dessert
Creepiest incentive ever to exercise: Peruvian cops have arrested a gang that, they say, kills people for their fat. Read more
The Voice of Big Think
November 18, 2009 — 2:56 AM
Finding Peace in the Battle With Grief
For all of us, coping with the death of a loved one is intensely traumatic. For sufferers of "complicated" grief, however, the trauma itself never seems to die; rather than dissipating over time, it becomes a vicious attachment cycle that erodes the brain's ability to function normally. In her interview with Big Think, psychiatrist Dr. Katherine Shear of Columbia University drew on her pioneering research on complicated grief to explain how this devastating cycle works, and how it can be broken. Read more
Latest Ideas
The former child soldier decries the violence that many children still face. Read More
November 19, 2009
Life After War in Sierra Leone
Ishmael Beah shares his own experience of being a child soldier. Read More
November 19, 2009
Bereavement expert Dr. Katherine Shear reveals what happens inside the grieving brain and offers strategies for coping with loss. Read More
November 18, 2009
Finding Peace in the Battle With Grief
For all of us, coping with the death of a loved one is intensely traumatic. For sufferers of "complicated" grief, however, the trauma itself never seems to die; rather than dissipating over time, it becomes a vicious attachment cycle that erodes the brain's ability to function normally. In her interview with Big Think, psychiatrist Dr. Katherine Shear of Columbia University drew on her pioneering research on complicated grief to explain how this devastating cycle works, and how it can be broken. Read More
November 18, 2009
The grieving process, says the Columbia psychiatrist, doesn't happen in defined stages; it's about breaking an “attachment system.” Read More
November 18, 2009
Is grief an illness? When does “normal” grief become clinical? Columbia's Dr. Katherine Shear shares insights from her groundbreaking research. Read More
November 18, 2009
If a tiger ran in the room, says Dr. Katherine Shear, we'd all have one. Fortunately, like the tiger, panic attacks can be tamed. Read More
November 18, 2009
A Grief Expert's Grieving Experience
Columbia bereavement therapist Dr. Katherine Shear discusses her personal encounters with the emotion at the heart of her work. Read More
November 18, 2009
Daily Ideafeed
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Murder
Cosmetic Use -
A gang have been arrested on suspicion of killing people and selling their fat on the black market.
November 20, 2009
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Wife Murder
’Til Death Do Us… -
In South Africa a polygamist businessman has been convicted of the murder of his pregnant wife and the attempted murder of his second wife.
November 19, 2009
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Moniker
What’s In A Name? -
A translation firm is offering prospective parents the chance to check their preferred baby-names don’t mean anything embarrassing in other languages.
November 19, 2009
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Separated
Twin Success -
Conjoined twin girls joined at the head have been successfully separated after 29 hours of surgery.
November 18, 2009
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Myotragus
“Mouse Goat” -
According to a new study, a now-extinct breed of miniature goats had bones that resemble a crocodile’s.
November 18, 2009
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India
Infant Deaths -
The authorities in India’s Andrah Pradesh have launched an investigation after six new-born babies died in a hospital over the weekend.
November 17, 2009
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Puerto Rico
Police Bigotry -
The police reportedly suggested that gay a gay teenager brutally murdered in Puerto Rico deserved what he got due to his “type of lifestyle”.
November 17, 2009
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Unsubstantiated
Fort Hood Gaffe -
The Huffington Post says the media fell hook, line and sinker for the military account of what happened at Fort Hood last week.
November 13, 2009
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Dodgy Cargo
Arming Hezbollah? -
Israel claims it has seized a cargo ship containing evidence that Iran is supplying Lebanese militant group Hezbollah with weapons.
November 12, 2009
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Anti-Toxin
Ricin Antidote -
An anti-toxin that protects people against ricin poisoning is about to go into production for the first time.
November 11, 2009
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Traumatic Birth
Sharky Midwife -
Staff at a New Zealand aquarium were astonished to find baby sharks spilling from a wound in a female school shark’s stomach after she was bitten by another shark.
November 11, 2009
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Oh Deer!
In The Lion’s Den -
A deer was fatally injured after it jumped into the lion’s den at the National Zoo.
November 10, 2009
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Criminal Fraud
Indefensible? -
The US government is suing a defense contractor for allegedly substituting sophisticated warhead ignition devices for unsafe equivalents.
November 10, 2009
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Poisoning
Toxic Tale -
Defense contractor KBR has been accused of exposing 100,000 people, including US troops, to cancerous toxins in Iraq.
November 10, 2009
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El Salvador
Devastating Floods -
Flooding and mudslides in El Salvador have killed 124 people and dozens of others are missing after three days of rain.
November 9, 2009
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Infidel Justice?
Fort Hood Extremist -
The man suspected of killing 13 at America’s Fort Hood military base had told colleagues that infidels “should have their throats cut”.
November 9, 2009
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Jurassic
You’re How old? -
An examination of a Proceratosaurus skull suggests the Tyrannosaurus rex dinosaur is millions of years older than first thought.
November 5, 2009
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False Mourning
‘Til Death… -
A man reportedly killed in a car crash shocked his family and friends by turning up to his own funeral.
November 5, 2009
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Criminal Justice
Rapist Crucifixion -
A court in Saudi has upheld a ruling to behead and crucify a man convicted of raping five children.
November 4, 2009
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Anthropology
Levi Strauss -
French anthropologist Claude Levi Strauss, the founder of structuralist anthropology, has died aged 100.
November 4, 2009
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Inhumane
Dead Meat -
An undercover investigation of a Vermont slaughterhouse has revealed disgusting abuses of animals.
November 4, 2009
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Mujahideen
Bear Faced Terror -
A wild bear mauled to death two militants of the Kashmiri militant group Hizbul Mujahideen in the mountains on Monday.
November 3, 2009
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Sex Education
Little Mother -
An 11-year-old Bulgarian girl gave birth on her wedding day - and her husband now faces prison for having sex with a minor.
November 3, 2009
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911 Notification
Facebook Rescue -
An American girl sparked an international rescue effort after she alerted British authorities about a teenager’s Facebook suicide note.
November 2, 2009
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Angio Magic
Doctor Whoops! -
The coronary angiogram was not discovered through scientific skill but via a medical accident.
October 30, 2009