What is the Big Idea? The half-lit room smells strongly of hashish. On the screen, a woman wearing too much make up and a clingy, provocative outfit sways her hips […]
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If our digital devices were people, we would probably describe them as high maintenance and wonder quietly to ourselves if it was time to break up with them, says director at Intel Labs Genevieve Bell.
Always mindful of the mind, Jonah Lehrer offers a brief history of creativity. Based on empirical results, brainstorming and teleconferencing are out, accidental interactions and trust are in.
The most powerful tools for stopping cancer may be those of the computer scientist rather than the physician. Genome sequencing algorithms may provide for personalized cancer treatment.
Several years ago, Tom DeMarco and Timothy Lister conducted a study that measured the productivity of computer programmers. Their data set included more than 600 programmers from 92 companies. According […]
by Clay Shentrup The Problem My fellow voter: have you ever been afraid to vote for your favorite candidate? If so, you’re not alone. It happens to the best of […]
Get ready for a brave new world where supercomputing mobile devices are so ubiquitous that they lead to entirely new business models in industries ranging from healthcare to education. Cisco […]
As of March 1, Nevada became the first state in the nation where it is legal for driverless cars to take to the roads, provided they identify themselves with red […]
Wireless electricity transference has been underdevelopment for years and more powerful charging stations are about to hit the market. You’ll never have to plug your phone in again.
A unique history is what distinguishes one family from another, and knowing a family’s distinct set of stories is what binds the group together. While social media connects the larger society, genealogical work is what connects us to our own small group.
Nature always seems to get it right first. New research and computer modelling carried out at MIT suggest spider webs could inspire advances in engineering and online security.
Using lots of brains each doing small tasks to together complete major jobs is not new but is enjoying a renaissance. Examples include Mechanical Turk, CrowdForge, and CastingWords.
Internet searches offer quick answers to easy questions or narrative responses to more complex ones. But Wolfram Alpha is about to emphasize the importance of processed data.
What’s the Big Idea? The idea of “brain training” conjures up visions of children playing educational computer games and senior citizens solving Sudoku puzzles, but a great workout for the […]
Nanotechnology is working to keep your electronic devices from overheating, improving efficiency and extending their life. Machines as large as electrical transformers stand to benefit.
As Yogi Berra said of baseball, it is 90 percent mental, and “the other half is physical.” This ‘Yogi-ism’ is equally applicable to tennis, a sport in which elite players need to be “intuitive physicists” in order to win at the highest level.
Our university system is bloated, inefficient, too expensive, and increasingly out-of-sync with a digital society and global economy. Dr. Lawrence Summers, former Secretary of the Treasury and President of Harvard, is […]
Art news always offers wonderful confluences that stir the imagination. The wonderful news that Paul Cézanne’s The Boy in the Red Waistcoat (detail shown above), which had been stolen by […]
A machine that uses mathematics to compile videoclips, voiceovers and pieces of music has some raving and others crying fowl. But does this random cinema better approximate life?
A new model of how the brain works, using special glia cells to regulate the synapses, sorting information for learning purposes, could give rise to better computer algorithms.
The buzz surrounding physicist Stephen Hawking‘s newest experiments with communication technology has been a bit overexuberant, along the lines of “new technology could help Stephen Hawking communicate via brain waves!” […]
Not only is China the country moving fastest to deploy the new internet protocol, IPv6, it is converting itself into the leader in developing advanced computing centers.
This is a tale of two drones. One is the stuff of crazy science fiction. The other is a reality. Now here’s the twist: individuals are making DIY drones a reality while large government-sponsored researchers are the ones writing the science fiction.
Amidst growing public perception that Facebook is using us to make billions of dollars using data we’re freely posting online, there is another sinking suspicion: Web startups we don’t keep […]
If you’re a parent and you want to introduce your child to art, it’s sometimes hard to find that perfect combination of optimism and imagination in a single artist. Too […]
By Aaron Smith Since the beginning of the digital age, pundits have hailed virtual currencies as the future of our civilization’s money. While it may be difficult to imagine a […]
We’ve enjoyed exponential increases in computing power that have driven down the price of consumer electronics. All that may be about to end unless an alternative to silicon can be found.
Until now, the concept of info-vision–streaming information across a person’s field of view– was science fiction, but scientists have developed a prototype lens promising the real thing.
Ten years after 9/11, the National Security Agency (NSA) is close to putting the finishing touches on what will be the single biggest spy center in the country. According to […]
Working at Big Think was a constant kick in the pants of my imagination. As a writer, I couldn’t have asked for a job that provided more and stranger ideas […]