Much of life is, and has been, invisible for most of history. We’ve always understood that people know each other, but there has been no universal ledger showing who-knows-who, for […]
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Beida vs Tsinghua – China’s world class universities and global players BEIJING– Beida and Tsinghua are the two most prominent universities in China, a country of 1.35 billion people. (There […]
It was twenty years ago that researchers first proposed the idea of rapidly inducing hypothermia to buy time for surgeons whose patients were bleeding out on the operating table.
Michael Pollan on the Sacred, Ancient Act of the BBQ
The core of the nearest great galaxy cluster holds a glorious sight unlike any other. “Man must rise above the Earth, to the top of the atmosphere and beyond, for only […]
At 3pm local time today, all Americans must observe Memorial Day with a moment of silence, or so says a little observed law passed by the Congress in 2000.
Young trailblazers all over China mix English words and Chinese characters to modernize China’s 3300 years old writing system. Conservatives want to stop this movement. No need, says Dragons and […]
Belgium and its provinces have had roughly the same shape since independence in 1830. It’s taken those 184 years to make a shocking discovery: hidden inside Belgium is another Belgium. […]
Clever strategies for accessing accounts without depending on multiple long-winded passwords.
Wright wanted to give people the option to escape the city at a moment’s notice, but today there is no escape, at least there is no outside to escape to. But what about escaping to the inside?
After an encounter with someone on the periphery of your life, you may be given to imagining how wonderful they are, how their gentle confidence and remarkable jaw line are suddenly very desirable.
Isn’t the Universe wondrous enough without having to cheat? “Some people think that the truth can be hidden with a little cover-up and decoration. But as time goes by, what is […]
PetMatch uses machine vision algorithms to match uploaded photos to those of pets who are available for adoption from shelters and rescue groups.
Recently a good friend told me over a pint in our local pub that he hadn’t been able to sleep a wink for two nights. He’d been left traumatised by […]
Several organizations are hoping to put valuable artifacts — such as a handwritten Jewish scroll — on privately-launched missions to the moon, where they will be preserved in case something bad happens on Earth.
Despite previous research and anecdotes about the germiness of airplane bathrooms, scientists found that some dangerous pathogens lived for days on seat-back pockets and armrests.
In a new paper, two Dutch researchers suggest that locally-sourced meat could come from “village-scale” culturing of livestock stem cells in a biotech reactor.
To all the external things that bring people together, add genetics: A new study discovered that husbands and wives were more genetically similar to each other than they were to other randomly selected individuals.
Major League Baseball defends itself against accusations that its lucrative broadcast policies violate federal antitrust laws.
UPDATE 5/26/14: I wrote this post before Elliot Rodger’s killing spree. The study I describe is, strictly speaking, about rape, but its notion of a connection between male shame and […]
There are many reasons and good approaches, but this advice applies to everyone. “There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.”-Maya Angelou Each one of us […]
LOVERS of the Big Think will rejoice at hearing about the world’s largest migration of brain: BEIJING – Thousands of philosophers are expected to descend upon China’s capital in 2018 in […]
NEW YORK – Last month, a remarkable gathering occurred in Medellín, Colombia. Some 22,000 people came together to attend the World Urban Forum and discuss the future of cities. The […]
NEW HAVEN – Thomas Piketty’s impressive and much-discussed book Capital in the Twenty-First Century has brought considerable attention to the problem of rising economic inequality. But it is not strong […]
A network of doctors in Washington DC have begun officially prescribing their patients an ancient form of preventative medicine: exercise.
“Should economists be advocates or engineers?” asks Noah Smith. Tradeoffs reveal how reliably they perform as either. Smith worries that his trade’s “engineering” aspects are being sacrificed for “political advocacy” […]
U.S. and Mexican scientists are beginning to see the first results of their joint venture to restore the dried up Colorado Delta.
Thought you were doing right by buying organic produce, eating fat-free chocolate, and trying vegan mayonnaise? Think again, capitalist dog!
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank
“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” – Albert Einstein