All Articles

While 21st century etiquette maintains that you should be nice to everyone, there are fuzzy spots that can be difficult to navigate due to past expectations for how men should treat women. The best thing to remember: modern chivalry isn’t much more than common sense plus common courtesy.

Waiting at a traffic light to cross the street is boring and annoying, especially when there are no cars and you’re in a rush. This is why a lot of […]

It’s not for sex; it’s for affirmation, says the marriage expert Schmuley Boteach. Men cheat, by and large, because they feel like failures. They stray because they seek an outside arbiter. They need someone not their wife or partner  to proclaim them worthy.  

It’s hard to imagine empathy being anything but beneficial. It has become one of the most championed mental states in the neuroscience age: the ability to feel what someone else is feeling and, if all goes well, extend a hand altruistically or compassionately.

We know that the penny is more trouble than it’s worth. One professor at MIT believes the biggest thing keeping it alive is a reluctance to acknowledge inflation.

Hiccups occur when your diaphragm contracts suddenly, likely due to a lack of CO2 in your system. Restoring that carbon dioxide is the key to regaining control.

There’s nothing like signing up for a random chat… and winding up with an improv serenade! “I created this project for fun. Initially, I had no business goals with it. […]

Whatever your native language, you’ve probably noticed that city people speak it differently than do country folk. But so what? It’s also true that Chicagoans speak a bit differently than […]

People in lab coats aren’t wizards, so why do we treat them as such? One writer argues that our botched understanding of science, and that we erroneously conflate it with truth, has led to myriad social problems.

Big News! Climate change makes news! There’s sustained, high-profile coverage in the major media this week, prompted by the UN Climate summit in New York. It’s great news that climate change is making news. But it’s also sad, because as soon as the events are over, coverage will fade away, at least until the next meeting, or the next violent weather event, or the next political controversy stirred up by those still trying to promote doubt. 

Have you been watching The Roosevelts on PBS? Big Think Expert Doris Kearns Goodwin discusses Theodore Roosevelt’s “bully pulpit.”

Neuroscientist and author Sam Harris discusses a form of spirituality founded on science and reason.

“The greatness of a man is not in how much wealth he acquires, but in his integrity and his ability to affect those around him positively.”

Is there an ideal atmosphere for creativity and innovation? Research suggests that dim light, a little messiness, and a shot of liquid courage are all boons to the artistic spirit.

Science writer Benedict Carey explains in his new book that the brain is a forager, not a school learner. Carey advocates for teaching students more about how and why they learn.

In “The Numbers Game: Why Everything You Know About Soccer Is Wrong” authors Chris Anderson and David Sally begin their argument with a quote from Bill James: “In sports, what […]

Social media swashbucklers have been hurling loads of “aarghs” and “mateys” today in celebration of the silliest made-up holiday of them all, International Talk Like a Pirate Day. The only problem: that sort of pirate talk is nothing more than the stuff of 20th century pop culture.

Is there a way to see past the barrier the Universe puts up before it became transparent to light? Image credit: Mark Kamionkowski, of gravitational waves. “From earliest times, humans — explorers […]

As the importance of interpersonal interaction grew, so did variations in our ancestors’ facial appearance. This why the face and it features are the most diverse parts of the human body.

“In the information age, you don’t teach philosophy as they did after feudalism. You perform it. If Aristotle were alive today he’d have a talk show.” -Timothy Leary

How the location of the famous Ebbets Field facade appears today in Brooklyn, NY. (h/t @DugoutLegends)

With limited land space and widespread public distrust in nuclear power, the Japanese have taken to the seas to cull energy by installing sprawling solar power plants that float right on the water.

There are some industries in which a company that embraces quirkiness can thrive and succeed on the strength of its authenticity. 

Kant’s proposal may seem implausible, but it’s good advice: give up the search. 

How we discovered what the Universe was made of when it first formed. Image credit: X-ray: NASA/CXC/PSU/K. Getman et al.; IRL NASA/JPL-Caltech/CfA/J. Wang et al. “The nitrogen in our DNA, […]

The above photo, taken by Greg Varinot, is part of a larger album you can peruse here.  For all things ocean-related check out our collection of interviews with renowned oceanographer Sylvia […]

A recent Annenberg survey reveals what we already know: Americans, by and large, are ignorant of their country’s constitutional framework. The predictable calls for tougher high school civics standards ignore the fact that people don’t have much of a reason to care about the government.

Today I want to share the most powerful and useful model of behavior that I’ve ever encountered: The Fogg Behavior Model. There have been few other ideas that have impacted […]

Everyone’s come across a real-life Michael Scott at some point. Bosses who try way too hard to keep their workers happy run a risk of ultimately alienating employees and losing their respect. The important thing to remember is to not smother anyone in your efforts.

One day while walking through Rutgers’ Quad Two on the way to the gym, I noticed my friend Shelton across the lawn. As he bounced along the sidewalk—he was in […]