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Sometimes I just don’t get it. Whether it is climate change, evolution, or vaccination, the more literal minded among science bloggers and pundits typically blame science journalists for breakdowns in […]

Over the weekend, Andrew Revkin at the NY Timeswrote a very timely and important peice detailing the growing unease among many scientists and policy experts with the new “normal’ in […]

A process that mimics photosynthesis could create a fuel that provides energy in a convenient form.

BP has been using controlled burns to limit the spread of oil in the Gulf of Mexico. In the process they are burning much of what wildlife remains in the […]

When attempting to communicate effectively with the public about a science-related debate, which is more important, framing the message or conveying science-based facts about the topic?  A forthcoming study (Word) […]

On the road from Korea’s world-class Incheon airport, across the spectacular eight-mile long humpback bridge to the landmark new Songdo International Business District development, we encountered a heavy fog that reminded […]

"Combining as it does great energy expenditure and risk with apparent pointlessness, [play] is a central paradox of evolutionary biology,” writes anthropologist and neuroscientist Melvin Konner.

In the wake of the Aug. 23 court decision that halted Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, Democrats are gearing up to use stem cell research as a wedge […]

Green pre-fab is getting a lot of attention right now in New York City. Hop downtown to the Financial District, and you’ll notice, amidst the suits and skyscrapers, a peculiar […]

n They did a lot of crazy stuff in the Sixties, man. Especially at universities like Berkeley, a hotbed of political radicalism, of experiments with free love and cheap drugs  (or […]

Ernst Weizsäcker, Co-chair of the U.N. International Panel for Sustainable Resource Management, believes that we could be doing five times better than we are when it comes to addressing global […]

Last week I presented at a workshop hosted by AAAS on “Promoting Climate Literacy Through Informal Science.” There were a number of outstanding presentations and themes discussed including a plenary […]

How do you activate an otherwise disinterested Republican base on the issue of global warming? As we argued in our Policy Forum article at Science, two possible frames are to […]

Henry Luce's magazines were shaped by the Time founder's "commitment, energy, moral inquiry, and high purpose; and ... arrogance, impatience, didacticism, and occasional dogmatism."

Sustainability obviously means a lot to the founder of the Copenhagen Climate Council. But Erik Rasmussen, also the CEO of Scandinavian’s leading independent think tank Monday Morning, isn’t sugar coating […]

The idea that our planet’s climate is changing is nothing new, says environmentalist and writer Bill McKibbon—in fact, the first person to theorize that our planet was warming was a […]

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 […]

This could be an ideal time for creatures touched by the Gulf spill to pick up yoga and/or meditation. Here’s why. Consider the iguana. When iguanas get stressed out about […]

Personally, I remember back in the 1970s when string theory fell out of favor. At the time, it was very difficult to get a job and many people dismissed the […]

Yesterday, Congress overwhelmingly—in the Senate, the vote was 99-0—approved new sanctions against Iran intended to punish the country for its pursuit of nuclear weapons in violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation […]

Having now closed out the first six months of the year, it seems like a good time to look back on Big Think’s 10 Most Popular Videos of the First […]

James Hansen, NASA climate scientist, has argued strongly against Cap and Trade legislation, promoted the need for a carbon tax, complained of muzzling by the Bush administration, and has even […]

The commercial future of solar energy may have gotten a big boost. Researchers have solved two major problems that had been hampering the efficiency and affordability of solar cells.

The key to surviving global warming will be to develop an economy that empowers the impoverished to meet global clean-energy demands.

Here are some of the what I consider to be this year’s essential rnreadings on politics. In particular, today I want to look at some of the crucial rnissues that underlie domestic politics in America.

Each of us consumes energy at a rate roughly equivalent to a 100-watt bulb. But, given the amount of energy that goes into maintaining domestic farm animals, and the inanimate […]

The FBI has opened a criminal probe of Massey Energy in connection with the explosion at the Upper Big Branch coal mine that killed 29 miners in West Virginia last […]

We don’t need an energy or resources tax; we need an instrument for letting resource prices rise in parallel with resource productivity.

We could be much more pro-active in lessening our impact on the environment. Energy-efficient cars and “passive houses” can make a real difference.

"Arctic amplification" refers to the fact that the region is warming twice as quickly as the rest of the planet—and as ice warms, exposing more ocean water, the process naturally speeds up.