Why do people play the lottery? On the one hand, the answer is obvious enough: We’re happy to spend $3 for approximately 15 seconds of irrational hope.
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Burying trash—the usual way of disposing of the stuff—is old-fashioned and polluting. Atomizing trash eliminates the need to dump it, and generates useful power too.
We are all caught up in a crazy arms race to send our kids to prestigious colleges, where the order of the day (to borrow a useful term from the Cold War) is “escalation dominance.”
For a country that created a special holiday just to remember those who have fought for our freedoms in war, we do a lot of forgetting the rest of the […]
Gay Talese, the New Journalism portraitist of such machos as Joe DiMaggio, Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra says respect, not sex, is the key to a happy marriage.
If you’re not a gamer, it’s hard to imagine why 183 million Americans spend over 13 hours a week playing video games. It’s even harder to see why game designer Jane […]
Many of the fastest growing states—like Nevada, whose population grew at a brisk 35.1%—are also states with large Hispanic populations.
Does every type of cancer require its own individualized treatment, or might there be a universal cure? Scientists James Watson and Paul Davies suggest some new and unorthodox approaches to cancer treatment.
Cancer cells are your own body, your own cells, just misbehaving and going a bit wrong. Therefore, we don’t need to cure cancer, just control it.
Perhaps it is the fate of political leaders never to receive praise when praise is due. Certainly not in the West, and most certainly not in Anglo American politics. Essentially […]
Media Matters reveals that Lila Rose’s undercover “sting” videos of Planned Parenthood have been doctored: –Why is Live Action Doctoring Its Planned Parenthood Audio? –Latest Lila Rose Video Ends Her […]
When should competitors work together? Only through greater transparency and sharing can Google and Bing collectively create a better Internet, says Microsoft’s Harry Shum.
Only through greater transparency and sharing can Google and Bing collectively create a better Internet, says Microsoft’s Harry Shum. But how likely is it that arch-rivals Google and Microsoft will […]
CEO Whisperer Stephen Miles stresses the importance for execs to have social media strategies in place—especially during times of crisis. And this has broader implications for leaders at any level, since new forms of communication necessitate a two-way dialogue with the public.
CEO Whisperer Stephen Miles recounts the story of Qantas CEO Alan Joyce who learned just how important social media is during times of crisis.
We haven’t talked too much about volcanic activity in Africa lately, but that doesn’t mean nothing is happening. I had a couple galleries of images come through my inbox in […]
I hesitate to undermine the good will I might have built up with BIG THINK readers by writing about uniter-not-divider topics like movies and happiness. But Reagan’s birthday is this weekend, […]
Now we are hearing about the memoir. Now, just as we stand shocked and awed before another chaotic call for revolutionary change in leadership, a moment some have claimed confirm […]
It has been a bit of a disjointed yet busy week, so I thought I’d end it with a new Mystery Volcano photo. It might be another challenging photo like […]
I spent yesterday speaking to people in rural areas. Almost everyone was pro-Mubarak. You start to see some of the genius of the last two decades of information management.
The very fact that fair trade conforms to market principles is what unnerves some. If an activity makes market sense, they suspect that it can’t be politically genuine.
Google pulled off a huge PR coup. It changed the topic. Media coverage isn’t about spam and how Google profits from this; we are debating how valuable Google’s search results are.
Stone Age people, unlike their Neandertal contemporaries, had heel bones spring-loaded for long runs, a new study suggests.
More than 10 percent of adults worldwide are now obese. Obesity, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are no longer Western problems or problems of wealthy nations.
Harvey Weinstein lost his beloved Miramax studio, millions of dollars, and his passion for filmmaking. How Hollywood’s last true impresario returned in triumph, in time for Oscar season.
Arab cable channels like al Jazeera promotes a pan-Arab identity at the expense of national, or state-centric, political identities. What role has this played in the recent uprisings across the Arab world?
The U.K. government’s child mental health strategy is a waste of money based on dodgy statistics. If there is a problem with childhood behavior, it is a crisis of adult authority.
Millions of people in the Middle East want freedom. Twenty years ago, the West was a role model, but it betrays its own values. It is also strengthening its enemy: militant Islamism.
If anything will prevent the next financial crisis, it will be financial firms recognizing bubbles and popping them early, with regulators ensuring risk-takers eat the losses. Vigilance is the word.
Why are conservatives jumping on the bandwagon and shifting from “tough on crime” to “smart on crime.” Fiscal concerns are a motive, plus the failure of drug and criminal justice policies.