The findings of a new study reveal that killer whales have the keen ability to learn the vocalizations of other species. Researchers came to this conclusion after observing a group of orcas adopt the songs and sounds of neighboring dolphins.
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The importance of breakfast is treated as axiomatic by much of society, but the myth that it’s the most important meal of the day didn’t even exist 100 years ago.
“Nobody’s going to pay for smart in the future because the smarter the doctor, the smarter the lawyer, the smarter the engineer, the smarter the financier, that’s all going onto software. So we move up the ladder and we say that what we really value and what will rise to the top is intelligence. And what is that? That’s the ability to figure things out that you’ve never learned before.”
-Futurist Edie Weiner, from her Big Think interview
“There is no part of planet Earth which has so recently arrived on our desk as a challenge and as an opportunity. So therefore, cooperation in the Arctic is one of the most crucial issues of the 21st-century”
-Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland, from his Big Think interview
The densest, most massive objects in the Universe will live an awfully long time, but not forever. Here’s what happens to them. Image credit: Gemini Observatory/AURA illustration by Lynette Cook. […]
A two-generation Swedish study found that couples who share work, home, and family responsibilities experience benefits both in the household and in the father’s career. Interestingly though, their children by and large have chosen not to do the same.
Photo credit: Tuxyso / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0
Many of us marry people who don’t necessarily share our financial values or tendencies. Communication, above everything else, is key to ensuring a happy and lasting relationship.
Wearable technology is the future, but questions still persist as to where on the body the most popular devices will be worn. According to some prognosticators, temporary tech tattoos will reign supreme.
To what degree are you allowed the privacy to grieve the loss of a family member? Christos Catsouras found out in October 2006. His 18-year-old daughter, Nikki, died after slamming […]
Seventy-two years ago, a pair of real-life Rosies assemble a bomber at the Douglas Aircraft Company in Long Beach, Calif.
An alarmingly high number of young people in urban areas have been victims of drug assault. Unfortunately, adequate statistics and records of incidents are neither being sought nor kept.
And how, in the end, they help us gain the resolution of a space-based telescope without leaving the ground! Image credit: Y. Beletsky/ESO, via http://www.eso.org/public/images/potw1036a/. “But certainly the laser proved […]
Other particles — electrons, neutrinos, photons and more — can exist on their own. But quarks never will. Here’s why. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons user Maschen under C.C.-1.0. “In physics, you don’t have to […]
There’s no way to live in this world and avoid politics. It’s in our homes, schools, workplaces and just about anywhere else we turn. While there’s no shortage of people […]
A recent marriage study out of Emory University revealed some notable facts about wedding spending. For example, women whose engagement rings cost more than $20,000 are 3.5 more likely to get divorced than brides with more modest rocks.
Despite knuckle-gripping tension and mass nuclear proliferation during the Cold War, not a single detonation has caused mass civilian casualties since 1945. According to investigative journalist Eric Schlosser, such good fortune is nothing more than blind luck.
The average Facebook user now has about 338 friends, though the median number is quite a bit lower: 200. This means that while half of all Facebook users have 200 […]
In product design and life, the simplest explanation is usually the correct one. All too often, we contrive complex, Rube Goldberg-like reasons for why things are or are not working. […]
It is in our nature to need stories. We naturally think in story-logic. They’re a kind of people-physics. They’re biologically active, configuring how we feel in ways essential for our survival. […]
Life expectancy has hit a new high in the United States: 76.4 for men, 81.4 for women. But it’s important to remember that certain demographics have widely varying expectancies due to several major variables.
The discovery of the brain’s “GPS,” which netted three scientists the Nobel Prize for Medicine, will allow researchers to study the process by which dementia steals control of the body from the afflicted.
“If you love someone,” pop star Stingsang years ago, “set them free.” Sometimes the first rule of love is forgetting all the rules that constrain the object of one’s affection, […]
It’s been 78 days since my last blog post. It’s shameful to admit, but I wasn’t sure how else to break the silence. Did I get lost on my […]
If you’re hoping to wipe low-income fish from your dating pool, Luxy may be the app for you. Swipe right for a peek into his or her Swiss Bank Account.
There are two reasons why President Grímsson considers the Arctic the next major environmental, political, and economic playing field: climate change and the region’s untapped natural resources.
It might not sound impressive, but the physics behind it — and the power of its applications — are literally world-changing. Image credit: Orphek LEDs, via http://orphek.com/about/aquarium-led-lighting/. “Everyone must leave something behind when he […]
On 18 September, Scotland voted to stay in the UK by 55% to 45%: a wider margin than most expected, but still close enough to warrant the constitutional re-think promised […]
Dollar A Day enables its subscribers to support a different non-profit organization every day — automatically. Subscribers are charged $30 each month (all tax-deductible) and the money is distributed evenly to a portfolio of non-profits registered in the U.S.
The High Fidelity and Fever Pitch author recently told Cheltenham Festival attendees that no one should have to pridefully trudge through highbrow novels or force children to labor through books they find boring. Doing so sets a bad precedent.