The Big Think Interview How to live an intellectual life Being an intellectual is not really how it is depicted in popular culture. ▸ 5 min — with Zena Hitz
Hard Science Pharaoh’s groupies: why are we obsessed with ancient Egypt? We should not romanticize ancient Egyptian culture.
The Present When tragedy becomes banal: Why you’re having crisis fatigue Turning away is a natural response.
Neuropsych Mind-reading and neuroplasticity: In conversation with neurologist Alvaro Pascual-Leone “The brain is never the same from one moment to the next throughout life. Never ever.”
Thinking Satanic cults aren’t as bad as they sound Satanic cultists don’t even believe the Devil exists. Satanism is largely a religion focused on secular humanism and hedonism.
The Well Respect alchemy. The crazy, criminal pursuit gave us modern science Alchemy had its golden age in the 17th century, when it counted Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle among its adherents.
Starts With A Bang The big idea that our Universe is a hologram Holograms preserve all of an object’s 3D information, but on a 2D surface. Could the holographic Universe idea lead us to higher dimensions?
Starts With A Bang Why humanity must invest in exploring the Universe There are so many problems, all across planet Earth, that harm and threaten humanity. Why invest in researching the Universe?
High Culture What does hell look like? Dutch painter Hieronymus Bosch shows us Is “The Garden of Earthly Delights” by Hieronymus Bosch a condemnation of sin or a celebration of hedonism? Art historians still aren’t sure.
The Well The hero of the Anthropocene has 8 billion faces — one of them is yours The crisis of the Anthropocene challenges our traditional narratives and myths about humanity’s place in the world. Citizen science can help.
High Culture Lessons from 5 great books that will change your life These five great books should prompt us to work on what needs fixing the most in the world: ourselves.
Thinking Why Aristotle didn’t invent modern science Modern science progresses with an intensity and even irrationality that Aristotle could not fathom.
High Culture How to paint like Rembrandt, according to a professional portrait artist Frank Slater’s book “Practical Portrait Painting” reveals the secrets of masters old and new, from Leonardo da Vinci to Augustus John.
The Learning Curve Hone your problem-solving skills down to a fine art — with fine art By challenging your preconceptions, art offers a framework by which you can solve problems.
The Present Kind by nature: Have faith in humanity Radical thinker Rutger Bregman paints a new, more beautiful portrait of humanity.
The Future Future evolution: from looks to brains and personality, how will humans change in the next 10,000 years? Discussions of human evolution are usually backward looking, as if the greatest triumphs and challenges were in the distant past.
Neuropsych What a sex-crazed beetle can teach us about porn Instead of liberation, the sexual revolution has led some people, particularly men, to be addicted to porn.
Hard Science We may not be alone in the Universe. Should we reach out? A conversation with an advanced alien species is likely to be simple and to take 1,000 years. It might also be dangerous.
The Well I’m “spiritual but not religious.” Here’s what that means for a physicist Spiritual experiences can be explained in terms of a highly evolved brain. But they also can be extremely meaningful.
13.8 Moon Knight: Am I tired of the Marvel Cinematic Universe yet? Time for a status check before watching “Moon Knight.”
High Culture The 5,000-year history of writer’s block “Block. It puts some writers down for months. It puts some writers down for life.”
Life The spider that looks like bird poo – and other tricks animals deploy to survive Disgusting behavior is often crucial to survival.
Health Our brains have different ‘beauty centers’ for art and faces Psychologists discover that the way the brain perceives beauty differs between art or faces.
Starts With A Bang How much energy does the Sun produce? Figuring out the answer involved a prism, a pail of water, and a 50 year effort by the most famous father-son astronomer duo ever.
Strange Maps The Viking woman who sailed to America and walked to Rome The amazing life of “Gudrid the Far-Traveled” was unjustly overshadowed by her in-laws, Erik the Red and Leif Erikson.
Starts With A Bang The top 15 JWST images of 2023 The Universe is an amazing place. Under the incredible, infrared gaze of JWST, it’s coming into focus better than ever before.
Health Why is the placebo effect getting worse, but only in America? The placebo effect is not the “power of positive thinking.” The fact that it is getting stronger is not a good development.
Starts With A Bang The mystery of the Moon’s two faces could soon be solved The near and far sides of the Moon are so different from each other, and no one is sure why. New lunar samples could confirm a wild theory.
Starts With A Bang The one reason that physicists won’t give up on supersymmetry Almost 100 years ago, an asymmetric pathology led Dirac to postulate the positron. A similar pathology could lead us to supersymmetry.
The Past The U.S. national monument that was stolen to death Fossil Cycad National Monument held America’s richest deposit of petrified cycadeoid plants, until it didn’t.