The software company Luminosity, which makes brain games to improve cognitive function, has measured 169 metro areas across the US to determine which are the smartest.
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A global war on tobacco is waging. The pressure is on countries around the world to place stricter laws on tobacco use. One country even plans on prohibiting smoking by 2040. Some believe harsh laws could make the situation worse.
Human beings have the capacity to stop time. It is, in fact, a commonly used capacity. We use our ability to stop time as a bulwark against the threat of […]
Cambridge University researcher and former derivatives trader John Coates says that big profits boost testosterone levels, making traders more likely to take even bigger financial risks.
The human mind wanders nearly half the time it is awake but that doesn’t make us lazy or unproductive. Unleashing the power of the subconscious is a good way to solve problems.
In the second decade of the 21st century, God is no longer “up there” ready to save us. Until very recently, that creative principle was something that we would ask […]
On September 30, 2011, The New York Times reported that the C.I.A. had killed a fundamentalist iman named Anwar al-Awlaki in a drone strike over Yemen. Heralding the strike, President […]
Mr. President, yesterday I told WEAA radio host Sean Yoes that I would write you an open letter challenging you to cut a re-election promo where you look directly into […]
In a battle to end dengue fever and other tropical diseases, which kill thousands of people and children every year, scientists have biologically altered mosquitoes as a way to ward off the spread of the disease.
According to earlier studies, having dinner together as a family can help families eat healthier, have meaningful conversation and keep teens from obtaining drug and delinquency problems. However, later studies revealed other factors that have more to do with adolescent issues, which the amount of family dinners had no effect on.
A case-control study has revealed the first direct evidence that caffeine/coffee intake is related to a lower risk or delayed onset of Alzheimer’s, especially among the people who already have mild cognitive impairment.
A new test will be able to tell doctors and parents if a fetus contains any unfavorable genetic traits. However, researchers believe the test could lead to terminated pregnancies if parents believed a condition would interfere with a child living a normal life.
Many young adults are not seeking the medical care they need. When they hear the costs involved for a specific treatment, they stop listening and usually forgo the process due to fear of medical debt.
Big Think’s Jason Gots talks with Maddie Grant, co-founder of social media consulting firm Socialfish and co-author of the book Humanize: How People-Centric Organizations Succeed in a Social World, about […]
In this third video from our interview with Slavoj Žižek, the philosopher and author of Big Think’s most recent Book of the Month answers the question, “Which summer film are you anticipating most?” Watch […]
What separates the greatest achievers from the rest of us?
In some ways the United States and France are unusually similar nations—still enchanted with their 18th century revolutions, eager to export their ideals (via pamphlets, speeches, language schools, paratroopers, whatever […]
Without question, it’s the desire to “know” that drives scientific inquiry. But as scientists at the forefront of physics or biology will tell you, the more we learn, the more simplistic earlier frameworks seem and the more complex the puzzles become.
Why do we still watch plays by Euripides, born some 2,500 years ago, or Shakespeare, who is nearly 450 years old? Writer orthodoxy says it’s because the fundamental rules for […]
After enjoying ratings as high as 80 percent in the mid-1990s, the Supreme Court today has the support of only 44 percent of Americans according to a New York Times-CBS News […]
Over the past few years as I’ve thought about al-Qaeda, Yemen and US policy I have returned time and time again to what I have termed “the Ghalib al-Zayadi problem.” […]
“Philosopher” is one of those job descriptions in America that brings inevitable jokes about unemployability. Carlin Romano’s new book, America the Philosophical, aims at transforming the Rodney Dangerfield of academic […]
Younger Americans, raised on YouTube and social media, might have missed the significance of the twentieth anniversary of the verdict stemming from the Rodney King incident. Mr. King was, of […]
— Guest post by Tina Cipara, George Mason University graduate student. “For the first time in history, the people of the world can see each other and want to protect […]
Thankfully, there is a kind of socially-beneficial narcissism. After all, following the rules is a good thing, and you follow the rules better than anyone else, don’t you, you special person!
Small groups of people have better ideas and get more done. Making sure meetings are populated only by people who have something to contribute is essential to good business.
Putting your adult needs first will help preserve your physical and mental longevity for those you care about most. Parents should be more attentive to how they feel and where they feel it.
Companies should go out of their way to hire new mothers because they are organized, they multitask, they have zero time to screw around and improve the culture of a workplace.
Myanmar has been pretty prominent in headlines around the world this past week for two reasons. The first is the recent trip to Thailand made by Nobel Peace Laureate Aung […]
This year’s Pritzker Prize–the Nobel of the architecture world–has gone to a Chinese architect who delights in re-using material from failed government housing projects.