Harvard linguistics professor Steven Pinker argues that while Ivy League colleges definitely aren’t meritocracies, they still represent good opportunities for students and their families.
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Blogger and pastor Jeffrey Wright has found a new metaphor which elucidates the blindness that white Americans have about their own privilege.
Sangeeta N. Bhatia, M.D., and Ph.D, runs a bioengineering lab at MIT, has helped to start ten companies, and counts among her close friends some of the nation’s most successful women.
Many take caffeine from tea or mate, an herbal drink popular in South America. But the drug, unlike so many others, didn’t come from a chemistry lab. It came from millions of years of plant evolution.
How Worlds Thought in the 1960s to be Circling Barnard’s Star Turned out to be Illusions. Image via: http://www.wingmakers.co.nz/universe/extrasolar/Barnards.html. In this golden age of exoplanet discovery, it is hard to […]
Big Data is a big deal. Not only is it a major asset in today’s tech-driven economy, it also has the ability to tell stories about who we are as […]
Twitter is currently testing a feature that will allow users to make purchases through its app.
If you’re not particularly connected to international political happenings (i.e. you’re most Americans), it may come as a surprise that Scottish voters will be answering the big million pound/euro question […]
German researchers have found that archerfish, a unique type of fish that shoots jets of water at its above-water prey, possess human-like adaptive capabilities.
At the top of the Teapot, a fantastic cluster dotted with Red Giants awaits. Image credit: © 2005–2009 by Rainer Sparenberg, via http://www.airglow.de/html/starclusters/m28.html. “The most difficult thing is the decision […]
The odds of a large scale terrorist attack were low before that fateful day, and remain low now. But risk perception isn’t just a matter of the probabilities. It’s how the risk feels, and any risk that feels like a risk to you feels scarier than a risk that only endangers somebody else.
If you’re considering becoming a freelancer, you need to take stock of your finances and start marketing yourself before making the switch.
Big Think and the Kellogg School of Management have launched a new executive training program, Ethics in Action. This unique, expert-driven, program is designed to help corporations address the ethical […]
We’re attending the 2014 Learning and Leadership Development Conference this week, and we hope some of you are, too. This annual conference, hosted by the Human Capital Institute, is a […]
Supermoons are both super and common, but they’re only a tiny slice of our nearest neighbor’s magnificent journey. Image credit: ESA / NASA and the International Space Station. “O, swear […]
The Seoul capital area in South Korea is the third largest metropolitan area in the world and the second most dense after Paris. With a population of nearly 26 million […]
Vivek Wadhwa boasts quite the résumé. He is a fellow at the Rock Center for Corporate Governance at Stanford University, director of research at the Center for Entrepreneurship and Research Commercialization […]
Until science develops the perfect app for circumventing procrastination, the secret to nipping your own bad habit is to establish mechanisms to control your deadlines.
While the current push toward STEM is much needed, it’s important that students maintain the chance to expand their curiosity and wonder through the art.
Technological progress has moved without exception in a forward direction, and along with it, our gross domestic product has increased steadily. But are we happier as a result?
How can salmon get upstream when their waters are blocked by dams? You’ve got to see this new innovation! Image credit: William Bain / flickr. “You ain’t supposed to get […]
Most new habits require 66 days to form. More intensive habits, such as establishing an exercise routine, may require up to an average of 84 days.
Thiruvonam, the final day of the Hindu festival Onam, was celebrated today in areas of southwestern India, most notably in the state of Kerala. In commemmoration, revelers throughout the region constructed […]
Every so often, an individual comes forward with a completely original idea that changes how we view the world, starting as if from nowhere, without relying on the gains of the past.
Understanding the importance of praise in our personal and professional lives means overcoming a blind spot in human psychology that is many tens of thousands of years in the making.
The idea that Alzheimer’s is a form of diabetic disease has been gaining currency in medical circles for almost ten years. The accumulated evidence is now so strong that many […]
According to researchers at the intersection of psychology and education, i.e. measuring the way we learn, tests may be most beneficial before students have learned any of the material on them.
Will Rogers (1979-1935) was born in what is now Oklahoma to a prominent Cherokee family. He grew up to be one of the most famous celebrities of his era, apperaring […]
Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) is most famous for her work as a nurse, particularly during the Crimean War, and noted social reformer. She’s less famously known as a prodigious statistician and […]