As we count down to the New Year, Big Think is surveying the ideas that will have the greatest impact in 2012. This idea was suggested by Big Think Delphi Fellow […]
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Peer into any young American boy’s imagination, and you’ll likely find knights, soldiers, and pirates roaming about. That fact is a true today as it was a century ago. One […]
There’s a deep split in the European Union post the euro crisis summit. With Britain sidelined and other member states feeling steamrolled by Germany and France, what lies ahead?
It’s time for a constructive foreign policy debate, so let’s drop the appeasement nonsense and argue instead about democratic realism, which is what Obama is really practising.
Facing the largest antigovernment protests in more than a decade, the Kremlin has, for now, softened its hard line against opponents. But is it simply digging in to wait them out?
The intriguing case of China’s success in obtaining the secret design of the American W-88 nuclear warhead illustrates the expertise of its espionage service—one that rivals the C.I.A..
A few months ago some said the U.S. was on the verge of a recession. Instead, the economy and efforts to renew stimulus are making headway. But for how much longer?
[Note: Please welcome Hemley Gonzalez to Daylight Atheism. Hemley is the founder of Responsible Charity, a secular non-profit organization serving the poor of Calcutta, which was a past beneficiary of […]
While classical music probably won’t help you pass an exam, music stimulates the brain in other ways. From boosting your immune system to making exercise easier, tunes can help.
Researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have developed a new method for creating antibodies that can neutralize the harmful protein particles that lead to Alzheimer’s disease.
Could we one day learn to play the piano, reduce mental stress or hit a curve ball with little or no conscious effort? Japanese and American scientists have begun teaching the brain directly.
I was at the pharmacy the other day when I happened to notice this little accessory, which boasts on the package that it “may help to promote BALANCE, STRENGTH & […]
As shocking as it sounds, eugenics was a practice made popular by an American social engineering movement in the 1920s and 30s. Today, the victims of the program want redress.
Just like laboratory animals that receive positive reinforcement, humans want to repeat successful behavior. But the world is a complex place and causation is not as simple as we would wish.
My post discussing Brian Leiter’s proposal to seize 75% of the 1%’s wealth reminded me of a Michael Kinsley piece I meant to comment on last month, but never got […]
Once again the Literary Review has announced the winner of its annual Bad Sex in Literature Awards, and once again I’m left strangely unsatisfied. What began as a novel exploration […]
By better understanding how social media influence people’s decisions, health researchers are hoping to target ‘top influencers’ who can encourage their friends to live healthier lives.
While MIT researchers were thinking up inexpensive solutions to a flu pandemic, they came upon ideas that apply equally to the seasonal flu. Stop your life from being interrupted this winter.
Though medical evaluations are supposedly based on objective measurements, cultural plays a role in what we consider normal behavior, and thus what become normal medical readings.
The most powerful tools for stopping cancer may be those of the computer scientist rather than the physician. Genome sequencing algorithms may provide for personalized cancer treatment.
Canadian researchers are better understanding how a sedentary lifestyle affects your long term health. Sitting for too long may actually overwhelm the benefits of exercise, they say.
When Bill Gates took on the mission of reducing preventable deaths through vaccine use, he was ready to use the power of his personal fortune, but there was nobody to write a check to.
Do a quick online search for the term “What causes divorce” and you will be greeted with a myriad of sites claiming to have the answer. A popular claim is […]
Several years ago I was chatting on an online dating site with a man who claimed to have a graduate degree. When I asked him what his degree was he […]
In the annals of human hatred, there’s a special place for those who play the same game we do—the ones who are on to our tricks and whose mirror tactics […]
So a professor of philosophy—Gary Gutting—opinionating for the NYT invites us to think about the relationship between politicians and intellectuals. He says that politicians, to be credible, don’t have to […]
–Guest post by Meng Shi, American University graduate student with contributions from Matthew Nisbet. Framing is a frequently used term that derives from several decades of research in the social […]
Thanks to its resilient economy, Germany is now steering the European Union. In Angela Merkel, the continent has a leader that must choose between regrettable options or face peril.
Founder of the software developer 37signals, Jason Fried began to reconsider the value of year-end cash bonuses as the business grew and the reward of paper money became rote.
The economist Tim Harford argues we don’t need to avoid mistakes. Rather, mistakes need to be “revealed, exposed and then corrected as soon as possible.”