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.
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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 […]
This morning on Morning JoeNiall Ferguson compared General McChrystal to Joseph Conrad’s Kurtz from Heart of Darkness, a character uniquely immortalized by Marlon Brando in Francis Ford Coppola’s film (inspired […]
Any art lover who has been to Paris knows what it’s like to try to see everything in a finite time frame. Cruel choices must be made, masterpieces must be […]
Generals sometimes become presidents. Our nation’s first president became a full general posthumously. Eleven other generals rose to the rank of commander-in-chief. So I don’t have a problem with General […]
Your brain doesn’t work as well as you think it does. At least that’s what psychologist Christopher Chabris argues in his new book “Invisible Gorillas,” which calls into question 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) […]
If your mother is elderly, requires 24-hour attention, and has Alzheimers, would you care for her yourself at home, hire a nurse, or put her in a nursing home? These […]
Internet comment sections are typically seen as a bastion of free speech, but have they outlived their importance? When do abusive and lazy comments override anonymous expression?
Dean Baker proposes ways to pay off the budget deficit that don’t include cutting social security: among them, a financial speculation tax and allowing the sale of generic prescription drugs.
“Ten years ago people talked confidently of stopping Alzheimer’s disease in its tracks. Now, they realise they have no idea how to do that,” says The Economist.
Microsoft’s new Xbox frill, Kinect, uses detailed sensing technology that could enable a host of practical applications from improved home security systems to hands-free medical files.
“The United States is hopelessly dependent on credit. And like stopping other serious addictions, only one solution will work—go cold turkey. We should abolish credit,” says The Atlantic.
That certain dolphin and whale species possess “self-awareness, suffering and a social culture” is a strong moral reason to finally halt the ongoing hunting of large marine life, says Al Jazeera.
“When does a passion for gadgets turn into an addiction with symptoms that include headaches and back pain?” asks the Independent. Scientists now study this very modern affliction.
“By prompting President Obama to suspend deep-water drilling in US offshore waters, the Gulf oil spill is pushing up the date at which the world’s conventional oil production peaks,” says the CSM.
“The Supreme Court’s ruling that advising terrorist groups to pursue their goals peacefully is ‘material support’ of their violent activities is wrongheaded,” says an L.A. Times editorial.
A ten year study of Ugandan chimps has documented violent territory struggles between rival camps, but what impresses researchers is the cooperation needed to carry out the attacks.
The New York Times cover story on John Updike’s archives reveals a writer who took care to develop and preserve his literary legacy. While an instinct for careful self-preservation is […]
Justin Frankel, the software developer behind Winamp and Gnutella, stopped by Big Think today for an interview. In advance of the interview, we solicited questions on Reddit, and one of […]
Nobel-Prize winning physicist William Phillips admits that “laser cooling” is a somewhat confusing concept. How can light energy, generally thought of as a source of heat, be used to cool […]
As quality information becomes more easily accessible to young people, the curious are going to become “hyper-educated” says Jesse Schell, professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center and CEO […]