By analyzing the books, films, and organizations you’ve Liked on Facebook, computers can create a more accurate picture of your identity than your friends, family, or even your spouse can.
All Articles
Search engines are reclaiming web content for the people as they tinker with their algorithms. The goal is to promote sites that write engaging content while burying sites that strive only to appeal to search engines.
Competitive marketplaces are the key to lower healthcare costs in the United States, says Ezekiel J. Emanuel, the chair of the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy at the University of Pennsylvania
One of the world’s foremost psychiatrists specializing in PTSD recently visited Big Think to discuss the diagnosis and treatment of traumatic disorders.
Stanley Milgram found in an experiment how easily one’s own ethics could become compromised in the face of authoritarianism. But Matthew Hollander argues that there’s far more nuance to the participants in his study.
What does football really teach us? In “Why Football Matters: My Education in the Game,” author Mark Edmundson recounts his own high school football experience from the perspective of age and asks that very same question in a nuanced, clear-eyed way that might make you think twice about why we love football so much and what that love may be doing to us and our children.
In this digital economy companies want you to own nothing—only own a “license” for a product–which means they could take it back at any time they choose and they have.
Asking thirty-six specific questions plus four minutes of sustained eye contact is a recipe for falling in love, or at least creating intimacy among complete strangers.
A recent study surveying the online photo posting habits of 800 men (ages 18 to 40) found those who posted more images of themselves measured higher for traits relating to narcissism and/or psychopathy.
From our spiral shape to the heavy elements expelled in supernovae, our galaxy’s gravity reveals far more than we see. “I think if I had to choose, I would rather […]
Reverse the Odds, a mobile game developed by Cancer Research UK and Channel 4, invites users to find patterns in real tumor tissue in order to help scientists learn more about cancer.
Just because you intend to disrupt an industry doesn’t mean you have to alienate said industry’s leaders. In fact, making enemies will only hurt your company’s prospects.
Blaming all members of any group for the extreme actions of a few ignores one of the underlying reasons for those actions, which is not the ideology or belifs of the group, but just the sense of empowerment that comes from belonging to something more powerful than those individuals feel.
Our Milky Way is only the second-largest galaxy in our local group. Take an interactive dive into the biggest! “He who would search for pearls must dive below.” –John Dryden […]
Jealousy, we’ve all experienced it at one time or another in our relationships. Whether the threat is real or imagined, jealousy has the power to tear relationships apart. But for men and women, it’s usually over different things.
Our minds have the ability to trigger great strength within us, and a recent study shows evidence that the mind can help slow a limb’s muscle loss even when in a state of immobilization.
Peter Thiel, whose funding helped pioneer Paypal and Facebook, is now investing in the budding marijuana industry with his venture capital firm Founders Fund.
Checking your email too often could be stressing you out, even if you don’t feel like your inbox plays a significant role in your wellbeing.
In case you missed it from earlier this week, Walter Isaacson visited Big Think to discuss the inextricable link between new technologies and creative communities built around them.
In case you missed it from earlier this week, Bill Nye visited Big Think to discuss dog evolution and what it teaches us about race.
After a successful launch of a Dragon spacecraft this morning, SpaceX attempted to land its reusable Falcon 9 rocket on a sea platform but ran out of fuel prior to touchdown.
A nine-ton block of sandstone recovered from a mountain in Utah could hold the secret to the hunting patterns of predatory species Utahraptor.
A team of archaeologists and biologists in Puerto Rico have solved a mystery about the genetic origins of ancient Caribbean civilizations by analyzing fossilized dung.
If everything began with a Big Bang and is expanding, is there a center? “I want to stand as close to the edge as I can without going over. Out […]
The consensus among most academics is that college students are cheating more today than ever before.
Several recent pieces and studies on workplace dynamics have determined that office bullies are not unlike weeds — they’re hardy and dependable but often stifle the growth of other workers.
If you’re self-employed or work in a job with irregular cash flow, it’s vital to dedicate yourself to a money management system that works for you.
In 2012, a “leap second” crashed sites such as Reddit and Yelp. Linux creator Linus Torvalds tells WIRED that we shouldn’t expect that to happen again this June.
“A depressing number of people seem to process everything literally. They are to wit as a blind man is to a forest, able to find every tree, but each one coming as a surprise.”
Racism causes physiological as well as psychological harm, and babies of pregnant mothers experience those harms in utero, according to research recently completed in New Zealand.