“Who is it?” is often as big a question for art historians as “Who done it?” The mysterious model of many a famous painting—perhaps none so mysterious as the Girl […]
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I’ll be honest. I’d hoped to hold out a bit longer before falling back on this staple of any Asian culture column, but it was unavoidable in this case. The […]
By improving on machine-learning technology, engineers are working to create man-machine hybrids that can not only recommend great music but usher in a new era of scientific discovery.
Some of the world’s leading engineers and physicists believe we are about to reach the limits of computing power, requiring a fundamental technological shift which we have yet to imagine.
After months of regulatory negotiations with Nevada’s Department of Motor Vehicles, Google has been given an official driver’s license to test its self-driving vehicles.
As part of the American University project documenting the history of investigative reporting, School of Communication professor Charles Lewis asked Bob Woodward to reflect on the Bush administration’s ability to […]
To say that we tend to demonize oil companies is an understatement. And for good reason, given the role in the past of companies like Exxon Mobil in sowing doubt […]
Phoney-baloney outrage. Black-hat, white-hat exaggeration. Every day, I get emails some activist organization or other, suggesting that the nation hangs by a thread, about to drop into a bottomless pit […]
For the past few days I’ve been thinking out loud about the importance of narrative form to the mind—that way we have of being much more impressed by information in […]
As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, it is a very popular idea in psychology, philosophy and various social sciences that people experience their lives as a story or collection of […]
At the heart of Big Think’s mission is a firm belief that the Internet is helping to grant the general population a better education. To better serve that mission we […]
There are approximately 105,000 people currently on the waiting list for solid organ transplant in the United States. 18 of those people die every day. These deaths are due entirely to […]
As we find more planets outside our solar system and more terrestrial life that survives brutal conditions, scientists are wondering what a completely new form of life might be like.
by Clay Shentrup The Problem My fellow voter: have you ever been afraid to vote for your favorite candidate? If so, you’re not alone. It happens to the best of […]
Literary types used to run the world. To understand life and society, people counted on great orators and poets and interpreters of sacred texts. Political, moral and literary power were […]
Medic Mobile integrates technologies to connect and train health systems. The company uses technologies such as FrontlineSMS, OpenMRS, Ushahidi, Google Apps, and HealthMap to allow healthcare workers to communicate with each […]
Common Sense Media is an advocacy group for proper media digestion for kids. The website offers reviews of video games, movies, websites, apps, and much more along with parenting tips and […]
In an interview in Ohio on Monday, Mitt Romney said he would “take a lot of credit” for the fact that the U.S. auto industry has rebounded. That’s a remarkable […]
Cheetah is a four-legged robot that has attained the highest land speeds yet of any robot with legs. The Cheetah, developed by Boston Dynamics, mimics the movements of the real […]
DIY Drones is the largest Unmanned Aerial Vehicle community on the web. The website allows enthusiasts to analyze, compare, and troubleshoot each other’s UAV projects through an open-source atmosphere. The […]
What is the Big Idea? A photo of a little boy on a bicycle approaching a row of riot police in Moscow ricocheted around the Internet on Monday after the photographer posted it […]
Living PlanIT is a company that aims to build the new, sustainable cities of the future. They are teaming up with different partners to help them develop and implement new […]
Rather than being afraid of our new publicness, says Jarvis, we ought to use it to solve some of our most complex problems.
A new kind of satellite measuring just four inches on each side could help NASA find nearby planets similar to ours as well as examine asteroids for deposits of rich mineral resources.
My brother Erik Nisbet, a professor of communication at The Ohio State University, will be giving a free webinar today on climate change communication, sponsored by the Changing Climate project […]
Astronomers are coming to know more about a planet twice the size of Earth which revolves around a star in the constellation Cancer. Just 40 light years away, the planet is a brother of sorts.
The moon is closer, we can get there faster, lunar missions are less risky and equipped with better technology. The company MoonEx has been planning lunar mining with NASA for years.
Space weather experts estimate that in the next decade, there is a 12% chance of a solar storm causing major disruptions to our electricity grids, which remain woefully unprepared.
“Bread. Kasha. Sometimes fish. Water.” Those are the things that Maryna Vroda, winner of the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival last year for the best short film, lists […]
When does an artist become a phenomenon? It’s a rare moment on the scale of seeing a new star emerge in the night sky. Already a rising art world star, […]