Much has been made of the soul-affirming, uniting force of sports. The recent Clint Eastwood film, Invictus, paints that portrait around the 1995 World Cup of Rugby, which was hosted […]
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James Bain was convicted of kidnapping and rape of a 9 year-old boy in a field back in 1973. The DNA testing of crime scene evidence used to free him […]
Well, not exactly. But Jessica Valenti, founder of Feministing.com, spoke with Big Think about how she admires the pop star for her pluck and blunt sexuality. Much of the interview […]
When News Corporation bought The Wall Street Journal in 2007, coverage was expanded to include arts and entertainment and large color photos were placed on its front pages. While a […]
Some time in the early 1960s, the mathematician Benoît Mandelbrot was asked by a university librarian to give his advice about some dusty journals no one consulted—should they be thrown […]
Researchers claim a woman’s attractiveness is not in the eye of the beholder but is instead to do with the “golden ratio” or distance between key facial factors such as nose and mouth.
A fragment of a temple to Isis submerged for centuries but recently hoisted from the Mediterranean sea is believed to date back to the era of Egyptian queen Cleopatra.
Some struggling mortgage-holders are finding themselves having their homes sold from under them without notice by banks, according to McClatchy.
The popular microblogging Web site Twitter was hacked overnight, leaving the millions who use the site tweetless.
Physicists believe they have discovered “a ghostly sea of subatomic particles known as dark matter” at the bottom of an old iron mine in Minnesota.
Scientists have discovered, and caught on film, the deepest undersea erupting volcano at nearly 4,000 feet beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean surrounding Fiji, Tonga and Samoa.
Investigators have concluded that Twitter had no role to play in the drowning of a 2-year-old whose mother’s postings prior to his death have been criticised for having “a contributory effect”.
Beijing is being accused of standing in the way of a climate change treaty and “holding the world to ransom” with its demands despite recent US backing for a $100bn climate fund.
An iron sign bearing a Nazi slogan, “Arbeit Macht Frei”, was stolen early this morning from the main entrance of the Poland-based death camp Auschwitz, according to police.
Rescue workers are searching for survivors after a ship carrying more than 80 people and a cargo of livestock sank during a storm off the north Lebanese coast.
When James Hansen created one of the world’s first climate modelers—then termed “Model Zero”—thirty years ago, he sounded a novel and somewhat abrupt alarm. The world, he predicted, is getting […]
Last week’s New Yorker contained this mind-opening piece by Atul Gawande, who argues that muddling through with small-bore trial projects is not a bad response to the crisis in U.S. […]
A heated discussion has ensued about Big Think’s interview with Peter Thiel on Scott Sumner’s blog, The Money Illusion. Check it out after the jump. STATSGUY: “His message about blaming […]
“Hold tight,” said UNFCCC secretary Yvo de Boer yesterday at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen. “Mind the doors. The cable car is moving again.” De Boer – who has […]
People do many things without knowing why: buy stuff they didn’t think they wanted, vote differently when they’re in one setting than they would in another, order a different lunch […]
The Good Soldiers is nearly unbearable. Relentlessly so. Commendably so. Whether you’re a combat veteran, a soldier’s mom, an Iraqi, the 43rd U.S. president, an ordinary American, or some pundit […]
Iraqi militants have used cheap computer software to intercept live video feeds from US drones in a security breach which could give them enough information to evade air strikes.
Senate member and former vice presidential candidate Joe Lieberman is seen to be “holding Obama to ransom” by using his deciding vote to go against the health care reform bill.
Golfer Tiger Woods may well be spending the Christmas holidays alone after reports that his wife Elin is moving out of his den following revelations that the pro has been cheating.
The Hubble Space Telescope has captured festive-looking images of the cosmos (resembling a starry Christmas wreath) just in time for the holidays.
Scientists have completed research to sequence the genomes of skin and small-cell lung cancers – and it shows that many mutations could be prevented.
Planetary scientist Francis Nimmo says evidence from recent NASA expeditions suggests that conditions necessary for life may exist on the icy satellites of Saturn and Jupiter.
With just two days remaining at the Copenhagen climate summit China signalled last night that it sees “virtually no possibility” of finalising an agreement on Friday.
The British Broadcasting Corporation has sparked outrage for hosting an online debate asking people if homosexuals should face execution – in response to laws being discussed in Uganda.
Surgeons in Brazil are attempting to remove up to 50 sewing needles from a 2-year-old boy who suffered abuse at the hands of his stepfather and two unidentified women.