“Shortly before the announcement of National Security Advisor James Jones’ resignation, Spiegel spoke to him about the war on terror and the state of Pakistan.”
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“The welfare state met its end in Britain this week, when British Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne repudiated the concept of the ‘universal benefit.'”
New wireless networks that relay body organ data to mobile devices will allow athletes and at-risk patients to monitor their health more effectively.
“Quantum entanglement—a bizarre instantaneous link between particles—has been proven to occur.” Understanding the phenomenon may result in much faster computers.
“The first economic analysis of growing genetically modified crops on a wide scale has found that the biggest winners were the farmers who decided not to grow them.”
“The Internet has been lauded by Nobel Peace prize-winning Chinese activist Liu Xiaobo as ‘God’s gift to China’.” Xiaobo says activists can use the Internet to their advantage.
“Community is built upon conversations. People like to eat, and they like to talk about it. … The new food movement is still labeled as Do It Yourself, but it’s really Do It Ourselves.”
“The powers that be have yet to agree on how to compare electric cars with conventional ones, making it difficult for consumers to work out how much money, if any, they will save.”
“The impulse to be social is so deep-seated in human consciousness that it’s even evident in the womb, suggests a new study on the interaction of unborn twins.”
“When we talk about the hipster, we’re talking about a cross-subcultural figure who emerges by 1999 and enjoys a narrow but robust phase of existence from 1999 to 2003.”
Today’s New York Times reported on the phenomenon of declining picture book sales—for children. Pictures, apparently, are not advanced enough for our little ones, even when they are still in […]
NASA’s $150-million, Wilkinson Microwave Anisotrophy Probe (WMAP) has been gathering information about the nature of our Universe for nine years and has changed the way we think about it forever. […]
This year Californians will vote on a ballot proposition that would legalize the sale and possession of small amounts of marijuana for personal use. Democrats around the country will be […]
In a front page story at the NY Times today, Bill Vlasic describes efforts by Nissan and the Federal government to cultivate the first generation buyers of the Nissan Leaf, […]
The annual cull of the endangered pilot dolphins just off the coast of the remote Faroe Islands is barbarism.
Many of the guests who we interview at Big Think can be described as “giants” in their fields, but this week we actually hosted our tallest guest ever. John Amaechi, […]
Disability is one of the areas where design can make the most meaningful difference in quality of life. This was certainly true of Amanda Boxtel, who has been confined to […]
This paper in the current issue of the journal Neuron claims to add some MRI findings to the evidence that human empathy and kindness stop at the border between “our […]
Re-election campaigns distract U.S. presidents from their executive duties. Should we eliminate them in favor of longer terms?
According to a new, nationally representative, dataset released this week, black Americans use condoms during vaginal intercourse significantly more than white Americans.
Long week. I gave two exams, so I get to look forward to an exciting weekend of grading. Yup, that is the part of the job that is likely the […]
For those in the DC area, the following Oct. 11 event that I highlighted earlier this week, has been switched to the National Press Club due to demand for tickets. […]
J. M. Coetzee on Philip Roth’s ‘Nemesis’: “A good education, and not just for older persons: how to dig a grave, how to write, how to face death, all in one.”
A young violinist was made suicidal because of a critical byproduct of our time: the small inviolate zone of privacy that we all need has now become virtually impossible to maintain.
“Laptops in college classrooms are no longer just educational tools – they’re distracting our future workers. During class, students tumble down these rabbit holes of diversion.”rn
“Renowned Mexican historian and journalist Enrique Krauze on how Mario Vargas Llosa’s novels revealed Latin America’s soul — and exorcised its demons.”
New research suggests that laughter, in the form of a reflex-like reaction to touch, has been adopted into human social behaviour from animal behaviour.
“‘The Social Network’…does a brilliant job dissecting the sorts of people who become stars in an information economy and a hypercompetitive, purified meritocracy.”
“A taste of the small-government, anti-spending Tea Party would do a world of good to conservatives in Australia and Europe,” opines columnist Janet Albrechtsen.
Greece is broke so Prime Minister George Papandreou has cut spending, raised taxes and is trying to reeducate his people and steer them away from tax evasion and corruption.