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My grandfather used to keep all sorts of things in the trunk of his car: Fishing gear, duct tape, aluminum foil, a large chain, a defused WWII hand grenade. When we asked why he squirreled away such a random assortment of items, he would shrug and say, “Just in case.” That, in a nutshell, is why we should never destroy the smallpox virus. Just in case we need it someday.

Most Americans don’t think twice about workplace safety. Perhaps they should. In newly updated numbers for 2012, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that 4,628 Americans met their demise while on the job.

“The interpretation of dreams is the royal road to a knowledge of the unconscious activities of the mind,” wrote Sigmund Freud. Dreams are often most profound, he also said, when […]

Hoping to grab more of a growing market, the company has announced that it will release its first original Spanish-language comedy series next year.

Or, in theory, can they produce an infinite amount of energy? “The atoms become like a moth, seeking out the region of higher laser intensity.” –Steven Chu Each week on our […]

In Jeffrey Katzenberg’s vision of the future, movies will appear exclusively on the big screen for exactly three weekends before they become widely available for all formats, from regular TVs to smartphones.

If politics is mainly “the economy, stupid,” can cherished ideas from the former help the later? Lincoln proclaimed good government is “of the people, by the people, for the people,” […]

One of the reasons I find it so exciting to work in the crowdfunding space is because I get to witness crowdfunding actually shift and shape our economy. I often […]

China’s unhealthy obsession with foreign education and degrees is a turn-off for many foreigners BEIJING – The marketable and exploitable obsession of the Chinese for everything “Western” is legendary and […]

The proposed plan would gradually increase the wage over the next several years. If approved by city lawmakers, it would be one of the highest minimum rates in the world.

The joys of childhood take a backseat to “preparation for college and career.”

“The broken places are my canvases,” Artist Lily Yeh says in the documentary The Barefoot Artist. “People’s stories are my pigments. People’s talents and imaginations are the instruments. I began […]

A Dutch professor has unveiled a prototype of a “smart umbrella” that uses a sensor and Bluetooth to transmit data to a computer. Unlike expensive rain gauges, hundreds of these “mobile weather stations” could provide valuable measurements much more cheaply.

Accelerometers, GPS receivers, gyroscopes, and other sensors found in many smartphones could offer valuable clues to digital forensics investigators looking into the causes of plane crashes and other disasters.

This is not the sky over a Tolkien kingdom. This is an image captured over Brisbane, Australia of the Sun and Moon setting together on April 29th. This was the […]

“Never be bullied into silence. Never allow yourself to be made a victim. Accept no one’s definition of your life; define yourself.” – Robert Frost

Do you remember what it was like to use a rotary phone? Or flipping through less than a dozen available television channels? That AOL CD-ROM? The list of extinct, or […]

As part of this year’s NYCxDESIGN festival, the iconic museum’s store will feature 24 items that were successfully crowdfunded via Kickstarter. Among them will be a pocket-sized Instagram photo slideshow projector and an all-natural wood-based watch.

How afraid of them does the science say you should actually be? “Most estimates of the mortality risk posed by asteroid impacts put it at about the same risk as flying […]

The term ‘anger management’ has long been utilized in corporate and educational environments alike. Workshops on dealing with the seething potentiality of rage often employ that age-old maxim of calm […]

Persuasion research indicates that verbal and rational (as opposed to emotional) human influence appeals focus heavily on appropriateness, consistency and effectiveness of proposed ideas and actions. Appropriateness appeals, based on […]

The Neurogrid can simulate a million neurons and billions of synaptic connections, making it 9,000 times faster than a typical PC. Possible applications include prostheses that work nearly as fast as human thought.

Samantha Klein on the most important piece of hiring advice you’ve never heard before. 

A LOT of people ask me about RUXUE –Confucianism: “Is it an organized religion?” “Does it exist in Europe/the US?” “Are there Western Confucianists?” “How do I become a disciple?” [and […]

Pitching 1,807 innings against the most feared hitters on the planet, including Ken Griffey Jr., Barry Bonds, and Cal Ripken Jr., is no easy feat. It takes as much mental […]

So Cheney Lavonia has a job for me. In Thailand. Could I email her back? The message is spam and the name is fake, but the pseudonym is both mellifluous […]

It all started with a video on YouTube. Sometime in 2011, artist Cory Arcangel watched a video of Andy Warhol painting a digital portrait of singer Debbie Harry in 1985 […]

“Those who dream by day are cognizant of many things which escape those who dream only by night.” – Edgar Allan Poe

Eclipse season came to a close this week for now. As we’ve previously reported here on Big Think, we’re in for 18 months of show-stopper eclipses known as the “blood […]

“Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” – Leo Tolstoy