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It’s a great luxury for a society to take it’s 18 to 21 year olds and to let them develop as thinkers.  

Because it’s not all our fault: Almost a quarter of US methane emissions come from livestock in the form of burps and farts. Now, a study is looking into ways to reduce that output via selective breeding.

This article originally appeared in The Daily Caller. You can read the original here.  I do not come to praise Edward Snowden, but to pardon him — or at least, […]

At Khan Academy, we talk about turning it into a global, one-world classroom. 

Our human existence is wonderfully complicated and our culture is wonderfully complicated by pastimes and ideas and information that are entirely divorced from the evolutionary concerns of getting our genes into the next generation. 

Faced with the prospect of long journeys to the city, which costs transportation fees and commuting time, it is no wonder why many capable workers prefer to remain in their villages with their families.

I would encourage everyone to sit down in the morning before you really do anything and for a few moments write down your core values.

One way or another: This week the agency announced an ambitious plan to locate and monitor any asteroid — even the relatively small ones — that could pose a danger to the planet.

      I just read an alarming piece on what the world will look like, possibly soon, when the efficacy of our current arsenal of antibiotics really starts to fade. There […]

It’s not quite a “Star Trek” holodeck, but two junior doctors based in London have developed a way to display 3D animated graphics of body parts on an auditorium stage.

Technology has a scarcity-liberating capability.  It takes that which is scarce and can make it abundant.

This week marks the launch of @SummerBreak, an eight-week series that can only be “watched” on Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and similar sites. The goal: To reach Millennials on their own turf.

I think we should all take a moment to consider the news that everyone who continues to protest in Istanbul’s Taksim square is to be considered a terrorist. Let’s just […]

New software titled Cara (“Face” in Spanish) can turn any camera into an intelligent eye that analyzes and produces anonymous data on who it sees.

Here is a thought experiment that shows beliefs don’t parcel themselves out the way sentences do. 

A rejoinder to the author of the Neurobonkers blog post criticizing my take on Edward Snowden. 

One software developer is doing just that, via a Kickstarter campaign offering digital footprints of various sizes for as little as US$2.

Just as religion informed the dawn of civilized man, so too do these 21st century stories act as a shield – protecting our sanity from an overwhelming sensation of entropic change. We are trying to find the signal in the noise. But increasingly, the noise is becoming louder and louder. It’s like this treadmill we’re running on has reached a speed we can’t keep up with. Today’s prowess Kairos is being pushed into yesterday’s fleeting Chronos. It’s a collision of dizzying proportions… everything happens now.

How are we supposed to communicate about science in an age when political partisanship and media hype dominate the 24/7 news cycle?

What a surfer’s story can teach us about the promises we make to ourselves about the future.

This is a guest post by Chris Dawson. Chris is a consultant, researcher, and freelance writer specializing in technology platforms that support education and healthcare. A longtime educator and activist, Chris […]

How does modern technology intersect with ancient spirituality? 

Five percent of the world’s CO2 emissions come as a result of holiday travel. Two researchers are looking into ways to encourage vacationers to reduce their carbon footprint by using social media to share rides and information.

The people behind the Lone Signal project are inviting the public to contribute text and photo messages that they plan to beam into outer space as a beacon to aliens.

Now that CNN and BuzzFeed have joined forces to create a new online video destination, the meme-ification of the news is almost complete. The viral celebrities, the LOL cats, and the Listicles have won. The […]

Listening to enjoyable music activates reward centers deep inside the brain, specifically the subcortical nuclei which is known to be important in reward, motivation and emotion. 

Based on recent findings, scientists in the Netherlands believe that diamond crystals may one day form what amounts to an Internet connecting far flung quantum computers. 

In the case of a recent exhibit displaying sculpture of people whose characteristics were determined by analyzing DNA found on cigarette butts and chewing gum, maybe not, according to New York state law.

I was pretty disappointed to read a post from fellow Big Think blogger, Steven Mazie. The backlash has been substantial, he has already had to rehash. His post begins with […]

It’s a hot debate. Should businesses make money off poor people? Paul Polak, the 79-year old entrepreneur, founder of the International Development Enterprises (IDE), and co-author of soon to be released The Business […]