MIT scientists have found string theory useful in explaining the behavior of superconductors; applying that theory to other phenomena could move physics in a positive direction.
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David Mamet’s new book ‘Theatre’ confirms the playwright’s exeunt from ‘brain-dead liberalism’, a move to the right which he originally announced in the Village Voice.
“We assume that more rational analysis leads to better choices but, in many instances, that assumption is exactly backwards.” Being too analytic confuses our value judgments, say new research.
“Offering a cash prize to encourage innovation is all the rage. Sometimes it works rather well.” The Economist says patrons are offering big prizes like the Ansari X to motivate inventors.
“A car that runs on methane gas produced by human waste has been launched and its makers claim drivers cannot tell the difference.” The Telegraph reports on an alternative to electric vehicles.
There is much more to the stock-market than meets the eye: highly complex and sometimes secretive trading methods, known as “dark pools”, manipulate the market in power’s favor.
Google’s engineers, who necessarily see individuals as conduits of electronic information, are ill-equipped to design privacy regulations—the company should hire anthropologists.
Covering U.S. highways with solar panels would provide enough electricity to power the entire nation, says an Idaho engineer charged by the government to develop self-sustaining roads.
Harvard Business School alumni have been passing around an article via email. David Brooks referenced it on the Times Op-Ed page. The article was written by Professor Clayton Christensen, one […]
The real target of yesterday’s decision to overturn California’s gay marriage ban was the Supreme Court. Judge Vaughn Walker knew that his ruling would not be the final word. His […]
In a recent interview with Der Spiegel, Random House CEO Markus Dohle explained his company’s outlook on the future, why he’s in no rush to bargain with Apple, and what […]
The United States continues to be a nation of immigrants. An estimated 11 million undocumented people live in the U.S., and thousands more migrate legally: Roughly 140,000 employment-based and 480,000 […]
Harvard University economics professor Jeffrey Miron thinks all drugs—including heroin, cocaine, methamphetamine, and LSD—should be made legal and widely available.
Photographic artist Edward Burtynsky, who is particularly known for his sweeping images of desolate industrial landscapes and their implications for the ruin of the natural world, recognizes that there is […]
In light of yesterday’s decision by the Federal District Court in San Francisco to strike down a ban on same-sex marriage in California, why not ask the question: How does […]
“My violin is one of my voices,” says concert violinist and humanitarian Midori Goto. In her Big Think interview, Midori talks about her very personal connection with her 1734 Guarnerius del […]
At the University of Salford in England, Charlie Mydlarz is working on a sound-map of the entire globe. He is asking people all over the world to contribute 10 to […]
Christopher Hitchens describes his treatment for cancer of the esophagus as travelling to a disorientating new land that is ironically comforting, though he is now bored by his fate.
Researchers at Harvard and MIT are working to create real-life Transformers: robots that can change their shape depending on the electronic commands they receive.
The Senate’s effectiveness is plagued by antiquated rules, fundraising pressures, ideological aides and an omnipresent media. The New Yorker says a once-great body is crumbling.
While defining spirituality is ‘like shoveling fog’, an increasing number of Americans self identify as spiritual but not religious. One political scientist sees it as an outgrowth of the 1960s.
“Is the international scholarly pecking order about to be overturned?” America’s dominance in higher education is being put into question by emerging institutions overseas.
An expert on constitutional law at the University of Berkeley says yesterday’s ruling against California’s same-sex marriage ban could ultimately undermine broader gay rights objectives.
Reality TV concerns its viewers with artificial status, confuses celebrity for infamy, and has a tendency toward violence and moral depravity. Welcome to the circus, says Christine Rosen.
When evidence for a conspiracy theory falls short, an opportune moment to study cognitive dissonance arises as followers easily find ‘proof’ for an alternative explanation.
Scientists have developed a video game that allows players to predict and build protein structures that have stumped computers because of their inadequate spatial reasoning.
As marijuana legalization moves closer to being a legitimate political topic, the issue could divide the Tea Party along its libertarian and social conservative lines, says The Atlantic.
Bzzz. Bzzzzzzzz. Bz. Is that the sound of your caffeine buzz, or is it the hum of the millions of happy native bees you’re helping to house when you choose […]
One of the most overlooked aspects of the life of Frida Kahlo is that the artist who exemplified Mexican national identity had a father born in Germany. Thanks to exhibitions […]
A federal appeals court ruled today that California’s Proposition 8 is unconstitutional. Same-sex marriage is legal again in California—at least for the moment. Proposition 8 had amended the California Constitution […]