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While researching the Botticelli’s Venus and Mars (shown) at the National Gallery, London, David Bellingham, a program director at Sotheby’s Institute of Art, made an interesting discovery. The fruit held […]

This rather sinister image is one of the biggest mysteries in the history of western cartography. Most often referred to simply as the Fool’s Cap Map of the World, it […]

These maps can open the doors to some very dark powers

If you’re talking about small farming for a local community, “land-raised plants are far superior, period.” On a global scale, it’s a trickier call.

Appearing as the cover story for the October issue of The Scientist, I’ve teamed up with my colleague Dietram Scheufele to pen a 4,000 word feature that expands on the […]

Award-winning Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky stopped by Big Think yesterday before taking off this morning for the Gulf Coast, where he will try to wrap his head (and camera lens) […]

Urban farming has been one of the biggest socio-environmental trends of late. But, so far, it’s been a fairly high-commitment, high-maintenance game requiring a demanding amount of time, resources and […]

Eilert Sundt must have had a busy, happy week. As the president of the Norwegian Cartozoological Society, Mr Sundt probably is the world’s most prominent ambassador of the obscure discipline […]

California is currently considering a couple of bills that could effectively legalize marijuana use. One plan would place a heavy excise tax on the drug—which could help plug the state’s […]

 I used to work for a couple of small mortgage lenders a few years ago. We probably closed somewhere between 150 and 200 purchase and refi loans a month at […]

Christopher Hitchens’ column this month in Vanity Fairreflects the best of the writer’s intellect and prose.  Upon learning of his cancer diagnosis, Hitch writes: “My father had died, and very […]

Inception is a film that entertains, but also one that may pride itself on making viewers think. It’s your choice. This art of coupling entertainment with (the possibility of) puzzles, […]

American politicians and lawmakers are deeply conflicted about human enhancement technologies (medical interventions that extend the capabilities of the human body). Stem cell research doesn’t qualify as enhancement; rather it is […]

Ebenezer Howard's utopian plan to blur the line between gardens and cities produced a number of depressing 'new towns'

n There are three Christmas Islands in the world. One is a small community on mainland Nova Scotia (Canada) named after a nearby island, which is presently called Ghost Island […]

Glenn Roberts, the founder of Anson Mills in Columbia, S.C. wants to save Southern food culture, one grain at a time. He thinks the traditional cuisine of the South is […]

Whatever you want to call it, a half-zebra, half-donkey hybrid was born last week in a wildlife preserve in Georgia. The offspring of a zebra father and a donkey mother, […]

On Thursday, the National Academies will be holding the second in a series of roundtable events on climate change education.  Registration is open to the public. In a white paper […]

Labs in England are developing machines that can essentially replicate themselves by building their own spare parts as an insurance against future mishaps, reports the New Scientist.

We are currently in the midst of earth’s “sixth great extinction.” For the past 10,000 years, existing species have been dying out faster than new species have been evolving, say […]

Last week I posted somewhat optimistically about media reports suggesting a rebirth for independent bookstores. In reply, below is a guest contribution from my colleague Paul D’Angelo, a professor of […]

In his State of the Union speech last week, President Obama called for significant government investment in nuclear energy, telling Congress that “to create more of these clean energy jobs, […]

"Biologically, oysters are not in the plant kingdom, but when it comes to ethical eating, they are almost indistinguishable from plants," writes Christopher Cox.

Sprinkled throughout the city - but often poorly indicated - are dozens of Privately Owned Public Open Spaces

In his appearance last week on NPR Science Friday (audio), Columbia University’s Jeffrey Sachs framed the climate challenge not in terms of regulating pollution but rather as an energy and […]

Leonardo da Vinci didn’t invent the sfumato technique, which produced the “smoky” effects of masterpieces such as the Mona Lisa, but he may have perfected it. For centuries, art experts […]

Plant breeders are offering hybrid heirloom tomatoes this year that they claim "have the distinct flavors and funky looks of heirlooms but are more disease-resistant and abundantly productive."

A new U.N. report says that one in three plant and animal species face extinction given the rate of human production and consumption.

A new study suggests that birds, bats, and lizards may play an important part in preserving the Earth's climate by eating insects that forage on plant life.

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.