Words of Wisdom — January 13, 2014

Jay McInerney on Living

“I like the fact that I’m living in the world rather than in a university.”- Jay McInerney (born on this date in 1956)

bigthinkeditor

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

“I like the fact that I’m living in the world rather than in a university.”
– Jay McInerney (born on this date in 1956)

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Starts With A Bang

How to make peace with the weirdness of quantum mechanics

Our classical intuition is no good in a quantum Universe. To make sense of it, we need to learn, and apply, an entirely novel set of rules.

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: How do scientists color the Universe?

When we see pictures from Hubble or JWST, they show the Universe in a series of brilliant colors. But what do those colors really tell us?

A Rubik's cube with a red X floats in space, next to a planet and moon—each marked with green checkmarks—that boast their perfect round shape.

Starts With A Bang

Is “round” the only allowable shape for planets?

All the stars, stellar corpses, planets, and other large, massive objects take on spherical or spheroidal shapes. Why is that universal?

A white lab mouse sits in a glass petri dish, cradled gently by hands clad in blue gloves. The captivating scene underscores the crucial role of lab mice in scientific research and discovery.

Life

Scientists kill 192 million lab mice each year. Is there a better way?

Can laboratories become more humane, or is it time to end animal research altogether?

In a black and white illustration, four cartoon characters stand among poppies, set against a fantasy world backdrop. Overlaid text delves into the 19th-century currency debate, highlighting the clash between "Silverites" and "Goldbugs," merging historical intrigue with imaginative charm.

High Culture

5 beloved fantasy novels based on real history

Many beloved fantasy adventures take place in worlds that bear a striking resemblance to our own.

Up Next

The Passive War: “The blind warning the blind about a nonexistent danger”

Over the past century a war has been fought in universities around the world which has resulted in countless bottles of red ink spilled over students’ work, in the form […]