The New York Times cover story on John Updike’s archives reveals a writer who took care to develop and preserve his literary legacy. While an instinct for careful self-preservation is […]
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Justin Frankel, the software developer behind Winamp and Gnutella, stopped by Big Think today for an interview. In advance of the interview, we solicited questions on Reddit, and one of […]
Nobel-Prize winning physicist William Phillips admits that “laser cooling” is a somewhat confusing concept. How can light energy, generally thought of as a source of heat, be used to cool […]
As quality information becomes more easily accessible to young people, the curious are going to become “hyper-educated” says Jesse Schell, professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center and CEO […]
Everyone loves labels. Italian Renaissance, French Baroque, Classical Greek—such little conveniences help us understand and comprehend the often tangled and messy reality of artists and art movements, which, like any […]
“The filibuster has been perverted to derail proposals that some members simply don’t like. The Senate should ban it,” says the L.A. Times. The legislative tool isn’t what it used to be.
The New Yorker reviews Peter Beinart’s new book on American foreign policy and finds a tale of American leaders coping with the effects of unprecedented mistakes following the rise of the U.S.
“Penny-pinching at a time like this isn’t just cruel; it endangers the nation’s future,” says Paul Krugman, who laments the government’s plans to reign in current spending to pay back the budget deficit.
Two fathers at True/Slant reflect on the sports culture that pushes kids to succeed at sports against better parenting judgement. “Benign neglect” is perhaps a better method, they say.
The question of how single celled organisms evolved into more dynamic multicellular ones is difficult to answer, but scientists in Tennessee believe genetic on/off switches provide a clue.
Due to the country’s one-child policy and a cultural preference for boys, “The Chinese Academy of Social Science estimates that by 2020, 24 million Chinese men will be unable to find a wife.”
“NASA’s Kepler spacecraft has discovered a whopping 706 candidate planets beyond the solar system,” says Science News. The find nearly doubles the amount of known planets outside our solar system.
Should the government continue to give loans to students who attend for-profit colleges given their high dropout and loan default rates? Gary Becker and Richard Posner weigh in on the debate.
“Social science may suggest that kids drain their parents’ happiness, but there’s evidence that good parenting is less work and more fun than people think,” says Bryan Caplan at The Wall Street Journal.
“The question is not, ‘Are video games art?’ The question is, ‘Can artists express themselves through the video-game medium?'” says journalist and gamer Tom Bissell.
CONEY ISLAND, BROOKLYN. See more photos from the 2010 Coney Island Mermaid Parade. The Mermaid Parade marks the beginning of summer in Brooklyn. The most popular theme for costumes and […]
The blithe feathers of our nation’s patrimony are now literally weighed down by oil, but our government and press already exude the sticky toxins of petroleum. In a sense, petroleum […]
Two days ago the streets of the capital of Sri Lanka, Colombo, played host to a thundering parade of military hardware, as the Government of President Mahindra Rajapaksa celebrated the […]
Alan Gilbert, the music director of the New York Philharmonic, stopped by Big Think’s offices Friday afternoon to talk about his work as a conductor, about what he hears when […]
Following the entry of “happiness studies” into psychology through the last two decades, some are now asking if being perpetually elated is truly good for your health.
It seems America cannot escape its racial past: “‘Resegregation is a national trend [that has been building] for over a decade,’ says John C. Brittain, a law professor at the University of the District of Columbia.”
“In spite of all the answers the internet has given us, its full potential to transform our lives remains the great unknown,” says The Guardian. The English daily looks at where the Net is taking us.
Is decriminalizing marijuana while leaving anti-drug laws on the books a bad idea? Does it allow police to selectively enforce law and create contempt among the public? The Economist weighs in.
The Financial Times appeals to an Oxford philosophy professor to find the essence of beauty. Darwin said it was sex. For Estée Lauder, it was glamor. But what does beauty mean today?
“What happens to our civic life when we’re all too scared to participate?” asks Slate. Expert witnesses have recently refused to testify in court, fearing reprisal for divulging their political views.
As summer is upon us, what does psychological research tell us about how we spend our leisure time? The answers could provide for a more enjoyable vacation in the coming months.
“The nature and depth of the financial crisis is forcing us to reconsider some of the basic tenets of financial theory,” says Paul Volcker who maps his ideas for reform in The NY Review of Books.
The New Statesman ruminates on what democracy might look like in an Islamic republic, what Eastern countries are tending that way, and why the West must make tough compromises.
“When something is free, you tend to use more of it. It’s true for buffets and open bars, and it’s the same with carbon,” says The Atlantic while advocating for a carbon tax to slow global warming.
Walking through the Late Renoirexhibition at the Philadelphia Museum of Art recently, I couldn’t help but be struck by the power of Pierre-Auguste Renoir’s paintings of his three sons—Pierre, Jean, […]