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Both men and women with two or more children outperformed their peers who had one child or were childless.

Ever since the arrival of agriculture, and more recently, cubicles, modern society has begun selecting for those who can interest themselves in the repetitive, or least force themselves to tolerate it.

Children from intact families are more likely to be competitive in today’s economy because their parents tend to spend more money on their education.

Theaters, galleries, museums, and symphonies are increasingly hiring in-house writers to produce their own news stories. This cutting out of the middleman helps cultural institutions tell their own stories, though also evokes questions about legitimacy and credibility. 

SAP CEO Bill McDermott recently visited Big Think to discuss his new book Winners Dream and talk about the importance of prioritizing family over business.

The cosmic background radiation of the Universe once fried everything, but is now barely above absolute zero. Where did that energy go? “I think one of the coolest things you […]

A couple that renews their wedding vows is symbolically communicating their marriage’s strength. Yet sometimes, assuming that your bond is impenetrable can lead to a dangerous state of complacency.

Chang’e 5 T1 returned to Earth yesterday after an eight-day unmanned mission. The modules successful re-entry and landing paves the way for an eventual Chinese moon landing.

For every Gravity Falls fan out there, this one’s for you. Images: me (L); Disney Channel / Alex Hirsch et al. (R). “Not man enough? NOT MAN ENOUGH? I have […]

Some weather models forecast a slight chance of snow this weekend in the northeast. But according to members of the National Weather Service, the sheer amount of variables when it comes to forecasting precipitation makes predicting snowfall something of a wash.

Thousands of families across the United States will trick-or-treat tonight in neighborhoods not their own. The cultural debate surrounding “Halloween carpetbaggers” is tied into broader debates about race, class, and wealth.

Cesar Chavez described his life’s work in his “What the Future Holds” speech from 1984: “All my life, I have been driven by one dream, one goal, one vision: to overthrow a farm labor system in this nation that treats farm workers as if they were not important human beings. Farm workers are not agricultural implements; they are not beasts of burden to be used and discarded.”

Photographer Ansel Adams, whose beautiful black and white landscapes full of mountains still grace both museum and office walls, called fellow photographer William Mortensen “the anti-Christ” for what he did […]

The future of Facebook may be as a major content-host. Instead of clicking links to visit outside sites, much of what you read on the web could soon be within Mark Zuckerberg’s domain.

“The environmentally friendly funeral industry is booming,” says The Atlantic, as Americans seek out ways to go green even after they’re dead.

Human irrationality is nothing new. But sometimes we get a fresh reminder that the human capacity for clear thinking is hampered by all kinds of stumbling blocks, and that our […]

The urge to eat when you’re not hungry can be a crutch that prevents you from addressing a mental or emotional affliction. Find out the cause of your real hunger and leave the pumpkin pie in the fridge.

Be afraid. Be VERY afraid! Of Ebola. Of ISIS. Of immigrants threatening to bring both threats across a porous border that can’t be protected by a President who can’t even […]

The San Francisco Giants are World Series champions. To celebrate, hundreds of fans took to the streets to vandalize their city. One expert explains the riots by describing how individuals take advantage of a “cloak of crowd anonymity” to behave badly.

Imagine if a century ago free access to a high school education in the United States had been available only to the wealthiest families. Imagine, further, that anybody else who had chosen […]

We normally think of planets as being synonymous with gas giant or rocky worlds orbiting a parent star. They should all be so lucky. “You cannot be lonely if you […]

A new ebola-awareness song recorded by an array of popular West African musicians hits the airwaves across the continent this week. The lyrics offer information for how to stay safe amidst the outbreak.

One of the trendiest ideas in popular psychology in the last few years has been that of “ego depletion” or willpower as a limited resource. Many different books have been […]

If a freak incident leaves you medically incapacitated, are your loved ones prepared to make medical decisions in line with your wishes? If not, it’s time to take action. It never hurts to be prepared.

Staticity is what keeps you bored. Those afraid to inject a little dynamism in their lives run the risk of being chronically blasé. So if something about your life is boring you, change the specific context in which you act or exist.

While Sam Harris doesn’t necessarily condone their use, his experimentations with psychedelic drugs were indelible in the formation of his worldview and understanding of consciousness. 

We’re facing and failing a global “Marshmallow Test.” Even if not individually, we’ve become systemically less good at making smart now-vs.-later decisions. And economics isn’t helping — it advises “discounting” the future.  

And why do some of them appear to be right here in our own galaxy, which formed much later? Image credit: DSS, of SMSS J031300.36–670839.3, candidate for “oldest star.” “Let […]

STEM careers and technology start-ups are all the rage, but national labor statistics present a different reality: most job growth will occur in fields that require far different skill sets.

With Oscar Taveras on our minds, we remember another ballplayer who was taken much too young young. More than just a Hall of Fame outfielder, Roberto Clemente was a man committed to giving back. He died tragically at the age of 38 when a plane he chartered to deliver aid to earthquake-stricken Nicaragua crashed in the Caribbean Sea. “Any time you have an opportunity to make a difference in this world and you don’t, then you are wasting your time on Earth.”