Search Results

The jawbone scanned in the study is the oldest hominin fossil ever found.  

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Humanities scholar Stephen Greenblatt on one particular story that just won’t let us go. 

With the new year fast approaching, people often start brainstorming some personal goals to improve themselves and their lives. However, these “New Year’s Resolutions” aren’t exclusive to individuals. Organizations can […]

From gun control to fun control, these were Big Think’s most excellent comments of the week. Be excellent to each other! 

A recent study points to the possibility that just 70,000 years ago, a star passed through our Solar System. How often does this happen, and what are the consequences? We […]

What’s the difference between VR and AR? Find out what they are and what these emerging technologies are being used for around the world.

The event brought scholars and comedians together to take a look at what’s funny and why.   

“We are at least as dream-deprived as we are sleep-deprived.” Dr. Naiman said.

Some people think that poetry is just rhymes. But those people don’t know that poetry helps your brain heal during bad times. (Hey, we tried) 

His guiding spirit Thomas helped the author make better financial decisions and take care of his health.    

It took the Universe 9.2 billion years to create the Earth, and another 4 billion for complex life. Could we have gotten there faster? The story of how the Universe came […]

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Oxford historian Peter Frankopan on two millennia of the flow of germs, ideas, commerce, and more from East to West and vice versa.

In 2016 Americans spent $16.4 billion on cosmetic plastic surgery. What does that say about the health of our psyche? 

There are no punches to pull here. If America believes in science, research, or basic truths about the Universe, we cannot cancel this mission. Last week, the White House released their […]

Before Hawking, black holes were just static points in the background of space. His greatest scientific legacy taught us just how dynamic they are. In 1915, Albert Einstein published his General […]

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Comic Ari Shaffir talks about outrageousness in comedy, bipartisan e-rage on social media, and growing up and growing out of bad habits.

Evolution has trained your mind to create in-groups and out-groups in a flash—but the lines are more flexible than you think.

What’s really involved in snuffing out a country’s nuclear capabilities—and is that the right war to be waging?

We may use superlatives all the time, but that’s no substitute for quantifying just how bad, big, or important something is. This article was written by Kimberly Arcand and Megan […]

And you don’t even need a Delorean at 88 MPH. It’s one of the greatest tropes in movies, literature, and television shows: the idea that we could travel back in time […]

Imagine charging your phone using the power of your heart.   

The study of science, without planned application, can lead to fascinating things in its own right. 

In 1990, the Hubble Space Telescope was launched, leading to a revolution in astronomy. But for many purposes, Earth is still the best place to be. When you think about what’s […]

It would be disappointing and surprising if Earth were the only template for habitability in the Universe. 

Spontaneous talk on surprise topics. Biologist Richard Dawkins on speaking plainly, animal cruelty, Christopher Hitchens and so much more. 

The newest viral video is from… 1947?

What does it really mean when something is “Dickensian”? Or “Kafkaesque”? Sometimes these words are overused to the point where they lose their meaning. Here’s how these and 6 other words got their origin. 

If you don’t learn this one lesson, you’ll not only never be good at science, you’ll never learn anything new. “Right is right even if no one is doing it; wrong […]

If the gravity isn’t where the matter is, things get into trouble very, very quickly. The above image, a composite of optical data, X-ray data, and a reconstructed mass map, is […]

Holes, lines, or even walls in space aren’t just fiction; they could actually exist! “Weakness of character is the only defect which cannot be amended.” –Francois de La Rochefoucauld The biggest lesson […]