A team of researchers at Brown University have taught a paralyzed woman to move a robotic arm with her mind, enabling her to take an independent sip of coffee for the first time in 15 years.
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“Facebook is worth $100 billion, but all I got was this lousy status update.” That just about sums up the type of public sentiment that has been inundating the Internet […]
Blunt head trauma and traumatic brain injuries are well-known artifacts of war. The Brain Trauma Foundation reports that between 10-20% of Iraq veterans (approximately 150,000-300,000 individuals) suffer from some level […]
It was as though a spontaneous performance of Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream broke out next to us on the sidewalk. My husband and I were on our way home […]
Strictly speaking, a “psychopundit” is William Saletan’s term for a scholar who uses psychology to explain what’s wrong with people who don’t vote for Democrats or recycle or otherwise agree […]
What’s the big idea?There is no shortage of online tools to help us research restaurants, track up-to-the-minute news and even plan out our zombie escape routes, yet there are very […]
Get this: there is a startup called I Dream of Space that is selling posters for $10 that also come with the chance to win a trip to space. In […]
Big Think hit the streets (the intersection of Wall & Broad, NYC) during the AM rush hour this Friday, May 18th with a guerilla theater piece for Facebook IPO day. […]
There is not much middle ground in the debate over whether life exists beyond planet Earth. Astronomers either believe the odds of life are impossibly rare or mundanely common.
What’s the Big Idea? Up up down down left right left right B A start. Press these buttons in succession while playing any one of the more than 60 video games […]
In 2005, Thomas Friedman elegantly pieced together the global frontier for readers in The World is Flat. A book that will go down in history as one that was right […]
Mining the moon for natural resources is inevitable, says engineering professor Dr. Leonhard Bernold. He has created a system that avoids potentially crippling efficiency problems.
I hope that the US authorities are keeping a close eye on proceedings in little old London town involving Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, and that of one of his former […]
An engineer has released incredibly detailed technical specifications for builing a real Star Ship Entreprise which could take us to Mars in 90 days and to the Moon in just three.
So I’m sorry for yet another relatively pointy-headed post. I’m still thinking about the twin pillars of our modern, scientific self-understanding—Descartes and Darwin. For today, I’m thinking about how the […]
Here are hypotheses 10 through 18 on how social media might change your love life. Click here for Part 1… ASSORTATIVE MATING ON STEROIDS Like marries like today. “Assortative mating” […]
We’re sorry to inform you that the space mining position you were seeking has been filled. That’s the message from Planetary Resources, who was inundated with resumes to mine space rocks.
This weekend, the company SpaceX is set to make a giant leap for the private space industry. It is scheduled to carry supplies–but no people–to the International Space Station.
These are crazy times, so why should the art market be immune? However, there’s madness and then there’s sheer madness. Only half over, the month of May 2012 might go […]
It must be a terribly confusing time to be a member of the Vatican hierarchy. In an effort to stem the accelerating exodus of Catholic laypeople, they’ve been cracking down […]
Just a quick note: In the past few days, I’ve had several complaints about the auto-playing video ads on the right sidebar. Rest assured, I find them just as annoying […]
What is the Big Idea? Flickr, a photo sharing application with a social media component, used to be one of the most popular tools for sharing photos on the Web. Its […]
Ed Conard is Mitt Romney’s former partner at Bain Capital and the author of the provocative new book entitle Unintended Consequences, which argues that economic inequality is a sign that the economy is working. In this far-ranging interview on Big Think, Conard discusses why he chose to speak out at the risk of embarrassing Romney, and how he responds to the attacks that have been leveled against Bain Capital.
“It’s time to say goodbye to Gordon Gekko behavior,” Anthony Scaramucci told Big Think. “It’s not good for society. Money has an intoxicating effect on people.” Scaramucci is the founder and […]
By embracing new Web and mobile technologies, green energy companies are creating a new Cleanweb movement in which formerly expensive alternative energy sources – such as solar power – are […]
How much should Facebook be worth? According to a recent poll, two-thirds of active investors think Facebook will be overvalued when it goes public today, while half of all Americans […]
A new survey of corporate professionals across Europe shows that high-growth companies were the most likely to embrace social media, as were employees who were later promoted.
For most of human history creativity was something that came from the muses; it was about flashes of insight from another world. Today we know that creativity is something that […]
Do you know what is in your digital dossier? Since you began to have a life on the Web, data has been accruing about the habits and interests of your […]