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With so many major races still up in the air, the only thing you can be sure of ahead of tomorrow’s midterm elections is that cable news will find a way to mislead you in its coverage. While election coverage may be good entertainment, it’s worth switching off the tube if you’re looking to avoid sensationalism.

When someone is diagnosed with any life-threatening disease, focus is taken off things they used to enjoy and the illness becomes an all-consuming part of their lives. Practicing mindfulness can help boost patients’ mental health and wellbeing.

Numerous studies have identified a link connecting feelings of gratitude with happiness, good health, and generosity.

With everyone always trying to identify “the next Silicon Valley,” Eric Hippeau explains that New York City needs not try to be the next anything. It’s already a force in and of itself.

Psychologists recognize a thin line between creative genius and destructive psychopathy: general intelligence and so-called diversifying experiences that happen in childhood or young-adulthood.

Through a clever experiment, researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have arrived at a closer understanding of the foundation of the human imagination.

Here’s how to put all of the wonders of the Universe at the tips of your fingers. Literally! “Once I knew only darkness and stillness… my life was without past […]

“When people are less focused on self and the problems of the self, there is a kind of alleviation of stress. There’s nothing like reaching out and contributing to the lives of others to give a person a sense of significance and purpose.” -Professor Stephen Post, from his Big Think interview.

Both men and women with two or more children outperformed their peers who had one child or were childless.

Ever since the arrival of agriculture, and more recently, cubicles, modern society has begun selecting for those who can interest themselves in the repetitive, or least force themselves to tolerate it.

Children from intact families are more likely to be competitive in today’s economy because their parents tend to spend more money on their education.

Theaters, galleries, museums, and symphonies are increasingly hiring in-house writers to produce their own news stories. This cutting out of the middleman helps cultural institutions tell their own stories, though also evokes questions about legitimacy and credibility. 

SAP CEO Bill McDermott recently visited Big Think to discuss his new book Winners Dream and talk about the importance of prioritizing family over business.

The cosmic background radiation of the Universe once fried everything, but is now barely above absolute zero. Where did that energy go? “I think one of the coolest things you […]

A couple that renews their wedding vows is symbolically communicating their marriage’s strength. Yet sometimes, assuming that your bond is impenetrable can lead to a dangerous state of complacency.

Chang’e 5 T1 returned to Earth yesterday after an eight-day unmanned mission. The modules successful re-entry and landing paves the way for an eventual Chinese moon landing.

For every Gravity Falls fan out there, this one’s for you. Images: me (L); Disney Channel / Alex Hirsch et al. (R). “Not man enough? NOT MAN ENOUGH? I have […]

Some weather models forecast a slight chance of snow this weekend in the northeast. But according to members of the National Weather Service, the sheer amount of variables when it comes to forecasting precipitation makes predicting snowfall something of a wash.

Thousands of families across the United States will trick-or-treat tonight in neighborhoods not their own. The cultural debate surrounding “Halloween carpetbaggers” is tied into broader debates about race, class, and wealth.

Cesar Chavez described his life’s work in his “What the Future Holds” speech from 1984: “All my life, I have been driven by one dream, one goal, one vision: to overthrow a farm labor system in this nation that treats farm workers as if they were not important human beings. Farm workers are not agricultural implements; they are not beasts of burden to be used and discarded.”

Photographer Ansel Adams, whose beautiful black and white landscapes full of mountains still grace both museum and office walls, called fellow photographer William Mortensen “the anti-Christ” for what he did […]

The future of Facebook may be as a major content-host. Instead of clicking links to visit outside sites, much of what you read on the web could soon be within Mark Zuckerberg’s domain.

“The environmentally friendly funeral industry is booming,” says The Atlantic, as Americans seek out ways to go green even after they’re dead.

Human irrationality is nothing new. But sometimes we get a fresh reminder that the human capacity for clear thinking is hampered by all kinds of stumbling blocks, and that our […]

The urge to eat when you’re not hungry can be a crutch that prevents you from addressing a mental or emotional affliction. Find out the cause of your real hunger and leave the pumpkin pie in the fridge.

Be afraid. Be VERY afraid! Of Ebola. Of ISIS. Of immigrants threatening to bring both threats across a porous border that can’t be protected by a President who can’t even […]

The San Francisco Giants are World Series champions. To celebrate, hundreds of fans took to the streets to vandalize their city. One expert explains the riots by describing how individuals take advantage of a “cloak of crowd anonymity” to behave badly.

Imagine if a century ago free access to a high school education in the United States had been available only to the wealthiest families. Imagine, further, that anybody else who had chosen […]

We normally think of planets as being synonymous with gas giant or rocky worlds orbiting a parent star. They should all be so lucky. “You cannot be lonely if you […]

A new ebola-awareness song recorded by an array of popular West African musicians hits the airwaves across the continent this week. The lyrics offer information for how to stay safe amidst the outbreak.