Despite being free to users, Facebook seems to have a monopoly on our speech, our data, and our lives.
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Torn between absolutism on the left and the right, classical liberalism—with its core values of compassion and incremental progress whereby the once-radical becomes the mainstream—is in need of a good defense. And Adam Gopnik is its lawyer.
Some claim that inflation isn’t science, but it sure has made some incredibly successful scientific predictions. So, you want to know how the Universe began? You’re not alone. Every other […]
Here’s why the Irish president believes students need philosophy.
What does the downward trend mean?
Depending on how you measure it, there are two different answers that could be right. If you want to see what’s out there in the Universe, you first have to be […]
Being bilingual has cultural, social, and cognitive benefits — so why are schools dropping language courses?
Don’t believe a small reduction in immunization matters?
Congratulations to our Audience’s Choice and Judges’ Choice Award Winners!
Yemen leads the list of the most fragile nations, with the U.S. and U.K. among the “most worsened.”
New research based on observational data from the Spitzer telescope provides clues as to how the universe first emerged from its dark age.
With the seemingly endless growth of the Democratic primary field, we may suffer from choice overload. The result? In fear of making the wrong choice, we may fail to make any — i.e., don’t vote.
The “green” proposal would bring a 21st-century update to the 850-year-old cathedral.
A new NASA report shakes up lunar geology.
As Game of Thrones ends, a revealing resolution to its perplexing geography.
Hearing-related problems are on the rise.
Peer pressure is a powerful thing, even for adults. In his Big Think+ video, “Generate Better Conversations,” economist Tim Harford tells the story of an instructive study done in the […]
The world’s greatest observatory can go no further with its current instrument set. The Hubble Space Telescope has provided humanity with our deepest views of the Universe ever. It has […]
Smart people are not afraid to say “I don’t know.”
The city council voted in favor of the ban by a margin of 8 to 1.
If you don’t want to know anything about your death, consider this your spoiler warning.
A recent incident in Rhode Island highlights the ongoing problem of student debt.
When are you most optimistic? A study found how optimism varies throughout life.
Want to eat better but feel like you don’t have the money?
People trust Mother Nature to keep us healthy, forgetting that evolution is brutal and uncaring.
The history of life on Earth took many meandering turns before it gave rise to us. When Earth first formed, all the raw ingredients for life — atoms, molecules, a potentially habitable planet […]
A new genetic analysis reveals big differences between cultivated and wild tomatoes and domesticated, store-bought tomatoes.