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“Those who fear the imagination condemn it: something childish, they say, something monsterish, misbegotten. Not all of us dream awake. But those of us who do have no choice.” – Patricia […]
Big Think interviewed producer and film scholar Jonathan Taplin to discuss the current state of Hollywood. As much as we get caught up in the glitz and glamour, it’s easy […]
So Professor Jacob Stoll defends the study of the humanities with the thought that all the great economic thinkers from Aristotle to Locke to Adam Smith to Karl Marx to […]
In the closing days of World War II, America recruited scores of German scientists that became the bulwark of our space effort. These scientists of course had shady pasts and […]
Alan Alda recently challenged scientists to explain this simple question to 11-year-olds in less than 300 words. Could you do it? “You can’t get there by bus, only by hard work […]
Are reason and emotion sworn enemies? Many expert reasoners feel they are. But these supposed opposites overlap, emotions have logic and reason often blunders. Plato’s chariot and the anti-Freud can […]
Your high school teachers had the best intentions, but they likely featured educational illustrations on the walls of their classrooms that weren’t telling you the whole truth.  Our friends at […]
Did you know that your favorite dinosaur in kindergarten, the brontosaurus, never existed? This and 49 other misconceptions about science are pulled out of your head and replaced with facts […]
Which cologne or perfume makes big cats go absolutely wild? Researchers refuse to say, because they don’t want humans testing it out and encroaching on the natural habitat of wild […]
Heroin addiction continues to receive media attention following the death of actor Philip Seymour Hoffman. His tragic overdose introduced America to the fact that heroin addicts do not fit any […]
Witnessing a double-rainbow in nature may seem like a mystical experience, according to the famous video shot in Yosemite where the cameraman yells out in bliss: “What does this mean!”  […]
Over 3,000 different ethnic groups eat 1,400 different species of insects. Not eating insects? Check out what you are missing from this insect buffet filmed by the Smithsonian. The National […]
The tiny pistol shrimp should be a character in the video game Street Fighter. When it goes hunting for prey, it shoots water that’s as hot as the surface of […]
You knew the movie was hilarious, but did you also know that Caddyshack essentially features science in its pivotal plot points? Those explosions meant to rid the course of that […]
Though we are still trapped by the grueling clutches of winter, we can still dream that summer is around the corner. And with the eventual start of a new season […]
Is it a music video or a catchy way to remember the elements? BoingBoing produced this fun animation featuring They Might Be Giants singing (and teaching us) about science. Why […]
The Dalai Lama is a busy man traveling the world meeting with world leaders and members of the Tibetan diaspora. Now you can keep up with his journeys by following […]
More potential evidence that we may not be alone in the universe. Kepler telescope discovered 715 new planets beyond our solar system. So far, NASA has identified four of these […]
When two masters come together like the great filmmaker Errol Morris shooting a documentary about Stephen Hawking, one would expect the film to be on everyone’s list of favorites. But […]
It’s convenient that TV shows are 30 minutes long: you can watch one more before cleaning the kitchen after dinner. Just one more. Soon, it’s late, and you decide to […]
Venus can now be seen in the morning sky on the eastern horizon just before dawn, according to NASA. Her shift as Earth’s morning star is playing amazing “tricks” around […]