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We all think we know what it means to be conscious, but it is hard to pin this down in a precise, scientific way—as USC neuroscientist Antonio Damasio explains in our video. Every weekday in September, Big Think will offer a new insight into the human brain in our new “Going Mental” blog.

Last week I called attention to the emerging “science audit” movement, a network of engaged citizens who combine their own professional expertise with online communication strategies to demand a greater […]

How spreading sensitive information over thousands of computers could revolutionize digital security.

Massimo Vignelli divides his profession into two eras, B.C. and A.C.: Before Computer and After Computer.

My book “Beyond Einstein” takes readers on an exciting excursion into discoveries that have led scientists to the brightest new prospect in theoretical physics today–superstring theory. Simply answer the statement below […]

The Yale computer guru decries the dangerous trend of know-it-all scientists (Richard Dawkins?) telling people that “religion is trash.”

“Sometimes the man’s IQ ain’t too high, but his boxing IQ is.” All fighters make mistakes in the ring—the great ones put that information into their mental computer and learn […]

Articles at The Times (of London) now sit behind a paywall: two bucks a day or four bucks a week; The New York Times is building a paywall as you […]

While artificial intelligence has yet to realize its often dramatic promises, the development of brain science has led thinkers to prioritize the mind over the body as the center of the self.

One supercontinent, ringing the equator

Last week I posted somewhat optimistically about media reports suggesting a rebirth for independent bookstores. In reply, below is a guest contribution from my colleague Paul D’Angelo, a professor of […]

In just a few years, basic microchips will be so cheap they could be built into virtually every product that we buy, creating an invisible intelligent network that’s hidden in our walls, our furniture, and even our clothing.

The major question of the 21st century “is whether human beings can summon the integrity … to resist the many ways in which computers will encroach on human dignity.”

Walt Mossberg provides a basic explanation of what cloud computing is, and what it might mean for us in the near future.

Adding nanoparticles to water increase its thermal conductivity, or its ability to take heat away from something, which could save the world a significant amount of electricity.

I will pay $5 for just about anything, mostly because the five dollar bill is bucking mightily these days to replace the one dollar bill as the lowest acceptable form […]

No code is unbreakable. Mathematicians may be able design codes that can’t be cracked by all the computational power available on earth, but that won’t guarantee the security of the […]

How can scientists be religious? How has religion evolved, according to science? In a special series this week, Big Think rounds up a learned cast of thought leaders—from a computer […]

n “Thanks to Unicode and OpenType, modern fonts are overcoming thelimitations of traditional European typography. The size of the countries on this map does not correspond to their geographical area, […]

“Watching television has been a sort of half-time job for every man, woman, and child in the developed world for, you know, for decades now,” says NYU Interactive Telecommunications Professor […]

The argument that “we take the internet for granted” may seem like a tired straw man. But perhaps the ideology of the internet could stand a second look. Maybe we […]

“It’s obvious to anybody that the mind does much more than solve problems,” Yale computer scientist David Gelernter says in his Big Think interview. “But in a more fundamental way, […]

This semester in the sophomore-level course I teach on “Communication and Society,” we spent several weeks examining the many ways that individuals and groups are using the internet to alter […]

Australian vet Gabor Vajta predicts that as has occurred with cattle, artificial human reproduction will become 100 times more efficient than sex.

The distances separating the stars are so vast that it would take a very advanced civilization—perhaps thousands or even millions of years more advanced than ours—to bridge those distances. In […]

Nobel-Prize winning physicist William Phillips admits that “laser cooling” is a somewhat confusing concept. How can light energy, generally thought of as a source of heat, be used to cool […]

The revolution sparked by the Human Genome Project will soon produce more genetic information than our computers can currently handle.

I spend a lot of time on my laptop. Too much time? Don’t know, don’t care. C’est la vie (moderne), etc. But what does irk me is that I’m stuck […]

University authorities—seeing the distraction that the Internet and social media can cause—are trying a varied of methods to get students to turn off their computers in class.

Last week our narcoleptic Lenovo laptop dozed off into permanent slumber. Not terribly saddened at its untimely demise, we nonchalantly recycled it (using Gazelle.com) and bought ourselves a shiny new […]