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A website that matches animals’ “personalities” with those of humans was just one of the many eye-opening ideas that UT Austin psychologist Sam Gosling shared in his second Big Think […]

The Senate Judiciary Committee has unanimously agreed to reduce the sentencing disparity between crack and cocaine to 18:1, down from 100:1. The vote envisages similar legislation.

Tens of thousands of Thais have gathered in Bangkok calling for new elections and to support former prime minister Thaksin who has lived in exile in Dubai since a coup deposed him in 2006.

One of the major obstacles to passing the health care reform bill has been a group of anti-abortion representatives led by Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI). Stupak’s group say they would […]

But not fast enough. It’s huge news that the latest employment report (pdf) shows that the country has finally started to add jobs. It’s the first substantial increase in the […]

For a long time, it seemed like primitive 3D technology (and the word “technology” was used pretty loosely back then) did very little to enhance the entertainment experience. But with […]

Anoushesh Ansari is the world’s first female private space explorer, as well as the first astronaut of Iranian descent. Today, in a Big Think interview (conducted in partnership with the […]

A press release by BP (British Petroleum) today announced that “the volume of oil and gas being collected by the riser insertion tube tool (RITT) containment system at the end […]

Sue Lowden thinks we should barter with doctors for our medical care. Lowden—currently the leading Republican candidate to challenge the very-much-in-trouble Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) in the fall—says […]

Vanity Fair’sPresidential Profiles, edited by Graydon Carter, is a jewel. Or, a jewel-box: a tiny, elegantly conceived, and ruthlessly crafted jewel-box of a book. It will make you wish you’d […]

Do specially made “extra small” condoms for children sound like a good idea, asks Marlon Abrahams, in response to a new safe sex campaign targeting 12-year-olds in Switzerland?

The Nickel tax on disposable bags in Washington has inspired a trend of re-usable totes with local shoppers assembling a wardrobe of bags which are functional and fashionable.

This week’s installment of “The Future in Motion” features a clip from an interview with Dr. Nate Lewis, a chemistry professor at CalTech. He and his team are busy developing […]

failin.gs is a site where you can “create a profile and invite people to leave anonymous constructive criticism about your character.” I’m curious. Who thinks this is a good idea? And why?

The financial crisis threw a lot of us into a funk: either we lost our jobs or questioned what we were doing with our lives in the first place. Some literally packed their bags and went on 6 month trips around the world. If you can’t do the global adventure trip, but would love to ‘reset’ your thinking and career, start by living the kindergarten life!

Alice Dreger, Ellen K. Feder, and Anne Tamar-Mattis made headlines this week with a post on Bioethics Forum entitled “Preventing Homosexuality (and Uppity Women) in the Womb?” The headline made […]

Not getting enough sleep can cause fat to accumulate around your organs, a condition much more serious than being typically overweight, scientists have found.

The other night I was watching ABC’s remake of “V” and wondering: What if the space-boot was on the other foot? What if we human beings were the “advanced” species, […]

I’m writing a novel, titled Anamorphosis, that revolves around the challenges an African American auteur experiences when he agrees to direct a film because he needs the money. I’ve never […]

“If ants wrote a stage play for human characters, it would look like this,” writes Barbara Kingsolver of E.O. Wilson’s first novel, Anthill. In a powerhouse-eco-figures play, the New York […]

Last night, House Democrats passed comprehensive health care reform legislation. After decades of fruitless struggle, the U.S. is finally poised to extend insurance to 32 million people and curb the […]

The passage of the health care reform bill has understandably gotten most of the attention this week. We’re going to hear a lot more about it through the fall elections. […]

Being underestimated was not a misfortune for Clint Eastwood, who used it to his advantage to forge an astonishing career which is still going, writes the New Yorker.

Armageddon. Impeachment. Fascist. Communist. Muslim. Radical. Baby killer. The language of political discourse in America has been reduced to alarming idioms and dramatic phrases. It is the kind of overheated […]

President Obama announced Wednesday that he will open up huge new coastal areas to offshore drilling. The plan would make new areas off the coasts of Virginia and Alaska and […]

Because law schools are cash cows for universities, shortening the time it takes to get a degree is a subject institutions have always avoided.

Cruising into the second weekend of the oft-intriguing NCAA basketball tournament known as March Madness, it’s been an interesting combination of traditional collegiate powerhouses (Kentucky, Duke) balanced by incredible performances […]

Twenty-six years after the release of Bruce Springsteen’s hit song, “Born in The USA,” conservative talk show host/performance artist Glenn Beck finally got around to listening to the lyrics. Beck […]

Hello, Big Think. Welcome to Focal Point, a blog about politics, ideas, photography, media, feminism, and more. I’m a freelance journalist in Brooklyn, New York. I do both print and […]

Concerns about GlaxoSmithKline PLC’s diabetes drug’s links to heart attacks have been reignited after a Senate report urged the Food and Drug Administration to make changes.