It has been known for some time that religious belief and behavior affect the brain. But can we pinpoint specific chemicals, genes and clusters of neurons that give rise to religiosity, or to atheism?
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I’m still hot about this Joe Miller handcuff incident. Maybe it’s because the hair stands up on the back of my neck whenever I hear about people who decide to […]
Dr. Norman Frost of the University of Wisconsin at Madison tells Big Think “drug-testing policies in professional sports are completely illogical.”
FDR’s words about nothing to fear but fear itself proved anything but prophetic for comic book censors a decade later.
There is a big difference between manners and good taste, says interior designer Thom Filicia, one-fifth of the Fab Five from Bravo’s popular “Queer Eye” series. Knowing what society requires […]
Because of their biochemical makeup, women are better than men are at managing risk. As a result, female equity managers yield higher returns for their clients and are better at navigating downturns.
Former CBS news correspondent Jere Van Dyk talks about the survival skills he used to get through a 45-day kidnapping ordeal in Afghanistan where his life was threatened daily.
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 […]
As women gain more financial clout, their spending patterns direct more money toward education, health and community.
There are few things we take more for granted than the concept of gravity. Through history, physicists like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein have developed theories about the Universe that […]
With brain scans, scientists have learned much about what happens in our heads during sleep, but they still can’t answer the simple question: why do we sleep?
Our memory peaks at the age of 30, and then it declines gradually with time. But if we train our brains to stay more active and focused, they can remain healthier longer.
“For the most part, a lot of those early users were actually Steve and me with aliases. We had silly user names that we just generated in order to make […]
MSNBC has jumped the shark when it comes to coverage of these recent earthquakes, implying that nature is “out of control”.
From restarting the economy to dealing with climate change, society’s biggest questions turn on how they are defined by advocates and the news media and acted upon by the public […]
nn I have been out of town for the past few days, but we do have some big (and unfortunate) news from Colombia. Nevado del Huila in southwestern Colombia erupted […]
Psychiatrist Norman Doidge, author of “The Brain That Changes Itself,” discusses how neuroplasticity can be hijacked by an addition to pornography.
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.
In order to be marketable today and in an increasingly competitive economy, each one of us has to get our creative juices flowing and constantly come up with fresh ideas. […]
“The main way in which honor matters for what I’m calling ‘moral revolution,’ which are big changes in moral life over a relatively short period, is by mobilizing people through […]
If you are planning on holding a large political rally in Washington, and you want to do it right, you really need to buy a TV network first, so you […]
A few bloggers have registered their reaction to last week’s PRI radio segment that questions the wisdom of calling climate change and evolution opponents “deniers.” Most notably Orac, Mike the […]
Photos by Dr. Edward Kohut, all rights reserved, used by permission, 2009 Many times people think that volcanic eruptions affect the economy through the destruction inflicted upon the landscape during […]
Gen. Wesley Clark’s Four-Star Advice on Life, War, Foreign Affairs and America’s Energy Independence
Who better to comment on President Obama’s recent decision to declare an end to the United States’ prolonged conflict in Iraq than General Wesley Clark? In his Big Think interview, […]
I know many of you have been a little frustrated by the transition here and especially your ability to leave comments effectively. I understand and appreciate your frustrations – any […]
Is there a truly “revolutionary” element in the current surge of anger in American politics? What is the place of madness and irrationality in revolution? If we want to speak […]
Welcome to Earth Science Week, everyone! Why not start off with a bang? At the end of last week, there was some buzz in the geoblogosphere and Twitter about a […]
Two insightful articles in the New York Times this past week highlighted the very nascent trend of using technology as a philosophical concept to educate children. Kevin Kelly wrote about […]
Kilauea can explode big time, life and the active volcano, the town of Chaiten one year on and more Indonesian volcanoes!
When Dr. Francis Collins was nominated by President Obama to be director of the National Institutes of Health in the summer of 2009, there was little dissent in Congress. One […]