Buyer beware: cigarette companies, no longer allowed to use words like “light” or “mild” to advertise, are turning to the psychology of colors to “reframe” the hazards of smoking.
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Garrison Keillor on the myth of merit: “I was brought up imagining that cream rises to the top, merit wins out, the race is to the swift and riches to men of understanding, but it ain’t necessarily so.”
From solar and hydrogen powered concept planes to better designed, more fuel-efficient standard aircrafts, the airline industry is slowly turning greener, says The Christian Science Monitor.
“Who would have thought that the sound of God would be so whiny?” quips The Independent. Physicists at the LHC say “the God particle” sounds like “a bunch of coins spinning in a wine glass.”
Former Islamabad CIA station chief Rob Grenier calls the row over General McCrystal’s remarks a “foolish spectacle” and sees in it evidence of the impossible situation in Afghanistan.
Robert Pinsky says that only Marcus Aurelius can compete with Abraham Lincoln for the distinction of world class writer and politician. Pinsky looks at Lincoln’s poem, “My Childhood-Home I See Again.”
Neuroscientists believe they have located the part of the brain that allows some blind people to process visual information to sense the presence of objects without seeing them.
A federal judge has dismissed Viacom’s suit against Google’s You Tube for copyright violations. What does the verdict mean for the future of internet file sharing? Wired analyzes the court’s decision.
High school media literacy courses could build on civics lessons to nurture critical thinking and help bridge the digital divide, says The Atlantic; it’s increasingly difficult to separate fact from fiction.
This summer at The Phillips Collection there’s a different kind of colorblindness going on. White is the “new black,” or at least the color telling the most interesting stories in […]
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 […]
“American Psycho” novelist Bret Easton Ellis stopped by the Big Think offices today to chat about his new book, “Imperial Bedrooms,” and the future of fiction writing. Ellis talked about […]
Last month, we looked at a design vision for sight – how designers are revolutionizing low-cost corrective eyewear. This month, a new device out of MIT Media Lab’s Camera Culture […]
The Obama administration has announced plans to bolster security along the U.S. border with Mexico, The New York Times reported today. In a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi […]
When we asked author and Vanity Fair columnist Michael Wolff what’s he thought the future held for Rupert Murdoch, he came right out with it: “The future for Rupert himself […]
I would like to engage the readers of Dr. Kaku’s Universe and hear your thoughts on what you would like to see me write about in upcoming blog posts. There […]
Should the government protect society from the bad effects of violent videogames? Game-makers invoke freedom of speech to stave off such laws—including California’s 2005 attempt to ban violent-game sales to […]
New York University neuroscience professor Joseph LeDoux has a passion for understanding the inner processes of memory. But he’s also really into rock music. And, luckily, he’s found a way […]
Paul Goldberger, the architecture critic for The New Yorker magazine, came by Big Think’s offices yesterday for an interview. He talked at length about the way that the recession has […]
Distraction is a much better tactic for calming children than conventional reassurance, which often heightens fear, researchers have found.
To be alive spiritually is to feel the ultimate anxiety of existence within the trivial anxieties of everyday life, believes Christian Wiman.
Facing economic woes, the Kremlin has decided that Russia needs the equivalent of a Silicon Valley. Leon Aron doubts it can succeed unaccompanied by a spirit of free inquiry.
Profits have plummeted since tools like Napster appeared, and peer-to-peer file sharing has weakened copyright, but has it also benefited all of us, as two academics argue?
Will readers have to flounder in an ocean of slush before the new gatekeepers appear to rescue them? It’s getting harder to be a discerning reader in the digital self-publishing era.
“Why would a top military commander allow a journalist so much unfettered access to his inner circle?” Jeremy W. Peters on why Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal let down his guard.
Why was America so rattled by its disallowed goal in last week’s World Cup match against Slovenia? Andrés T. Tapia blames violation of the American sense of “internal control.”
Media consultant Frédéric Filloux dissects the dire situation of the French press (generalizable to most western media?) and the likely fate of the flagship daily, Le Monde.
A U.K. health watchdog’s call for “life-saving” food labeling and other dietary changes has met with an unenthusiastic government response.
Peering at the future of liberal education, Eric Jansson predicts that close faculty-student and student-student interaction will remain the core no matter the fancy technology.
Having staggered through one recession—and without emerging the other side of it—Britain now seems destined for another. This time it will really hurt. A Martian arriving in London, or rather […]