150, 50, 15, 5. Those are the magic numbers in the sociology of friendship, according to University of Oxford professor Robin Dunbar.
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On a recent flight over the Netherlands, I found the landscape stare back at me
Theoretical physicist, best-selling author, and all around cool guy Michio Kaku returns to Big Think to discuss the science of dreaming, as well as everything Freud got right about our subconscious.
Let me start by saying that I love this month’s Atlantic cover story, “The New Science of Old Age.” I’m not raising it up just to knock it down. The piece, […]
A peek at Manhattan before the skyscrapers (though not before the relentless hustle-bustle).
“The only thing that’s been a worse flop than the organization of nonviolence has been the organization of violence.”
A new piece in Car and Driver details the awful corporate situation that birthed one of recent memory’s most spectacular automobile industry failures.
“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”
Businesses that stand out on Facebook are in a better position to grow and succeed. John Rampton, in a piece over at Forbes, explains how to optimize your business page for Facebook search.
Perhaps the most spectacular example of rebirth in our galaxy, this cavernous nebula is giving rise to the next generation of stars! Image credit: ESO, via http://www.eso.org/public/images/eso0925a/. “For in the […]
Favorite sports teams become outlets for fans’ personal frustration. Sometimes this can be seen as a healthy way to channel dissatisfaction. Too often though, this channeling gets ugly.
Trace a page with your finger and Finger Reader will read it out loud for you. The device, currently in development by the MIT Media Lab, fits on your index finger […]
One way to understand a nudge—a government policy that inclines you to make a particular choice, often without your awareness—is that it makes it easier for you to do what […]
Only 15% of businesses close on the holiday, meaning working parents have to scramble to mind their children during the day.
How one artist is transforming the modern metropolis into Tolkien-style middle Earth masterpieces. Image credit: Stentor Danielson, via his Tumblr blog, Mapsbergh. “Fantasy is silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, […]
In 2008, in exchange for the billions of dollars they needed to stay in business, General Motors and Chrysler agreed to accelerate deployment of more fuel efficient technologies in light […]
Some industry prognosticators question whether legalized weed will compete with alcohol for Americans’ tightening recreation budgets.
Sunrise at Lake Laanemaa, Estonia.
Photo credit: Heino Ruiso / Wikicommons
The findings of a new study reveal that killer whales have the keen ability to learn the vocalizations of other species. Researchers came to this conclusion after observing a group of orcas adopt the songs and sounds of neighboring dolphins.
The importance of breakfast is treated as axiomatic by much of society, but the myth that it’s the most important meal of the day didn’t even exist 100 years ago.
“Nobody’s going to pay for smart in the future because the smarter the doctor, the smarter the lawyer, the smarter the engineer, the smarter the financier, that’s all going onto software. So we move up the ladder and we say that what we really value and what will rise to the top is intelligence. And what is that? That’s the ability to figure things out that you’ve never learned before.”
-Futurist Edie Weiner, from her Big Think interview
“There is no part of planet Earth which has so recently arrived on our desk as a challenge and as an opportunity. So therefore, cooperation in the Arctic is one of the most crucial issues of the 21st-century”
-Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland, from his Big Think interview
The densest, most massive objects in the Universe will live an awfully long time, but not forever. Here’s what happens to them. Image credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA illustration by Lynette Cook. […]
A two-generation Swedish study found that couples who share work, home, and family responsibilities experience benefits both in the household and in the father’s career. Interestingly though, their children by and large have chosen not to do the same.
Photo credit: Tuxyso / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0
Many of us marry people who don’t necessarily share our financial values or tendencies. Communication, above everything else, is key to ensuring a happy and lasting relationship.
Wearable technology is the future, but questions still persist as to where on the body the most popular devices will be worn. According to some prognosticators, temporary tech tattoos will reign supreme.
To what degree are you allowed the privacy to grieve the loss of a family member? Christos Catsouras found out in October 2006. His 18-year-old daughter, Nikki, died after slamming […]
Seventy-two years ago, a pair of real-life Rosies assemble a bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, Calif.
An alarmingly high number of young people in urban areas have been victims of drug assault. Unfortunately, adequate statistics and records of incidents are neither being sought nor kept.