Ever since antiquity we have been searching for perfect mathematical equations to explain a perfect Universe. Now a Japanese mathematician may have cracked an unsolved problem “at the center of everything.”
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One paradox of creativity is that it’s restricted by the senses. The eyes and visual cortex perceive a narrow slice of the electromagnet spectrum. Our sense of taste and smell […]
In a move that reflects the increasing popularity of large open online courses, the company is offering free lessons…on how to use Google.
The idea of owning one of Andy Warhol’s landmark Pop Art paintings from the Campbell’s Soup Cans series of the early 1960s seems a dream, unless you have some spare […]
Move over, Siri: Researchers at the University of Rochester have taken advantage of crowdsourcing technology to create a prototype of a personal assistant that’s comprised of quick opinions from actual people.
So, here’s something you should know about me: I really don’t care for racists. A few years ago, a simpering neo-Nazi named Kevin Alfred Strom wrote to me, having somehow […]
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Philip Roth resorts to public channels to get a Wikipedia entry changed…and succeeds.
“The best lack all conviction, while the worst are full of passionate intensity.”
Google’s offer to provide Kansas City neighborhoods with super-fast Internet failed to fully penetrate poorer areas of the city. In response, citizens are getting the word out by foot and even by ice cream truck.
They remember her in colloquia and symposia, they remember her in the journals. They don’t remember her in the streets, her haunts. Reading her great novel Nightwood, Jeannette Winterson has said, “is […]
The London Zoo is believed to be the first zoo to use “silent disco” events to bring in more visitors and revenue. Its success has encouraged other zoos to try it as well.
DARPA’s 100-Year Starship Initiative aims to make human space travel beyond our solar system possible within 100 years.
So BIG THINK’S book of the month—Mortalilty by Christopher Hitchens—is a moving account of a singularly personal effort to die as a free man. Hitchens wanted to see death as it […]
By the time he put the finishing touches on the Rite of Spring in November of 1912 in the Châtelard Hotel in Clarens, Switzerland, Stravinsky had spent three years studying Russian pagan […]
Effectively engaging the American public on climate change—including its causes, impacts, and solutions—remains both a major research question and a communication challenge. Effective public engagement requires understanding the cognitive, affective, […]
As Rushdie humanised Muhammad – as he was always meant to be – Rushdie also humanised the faith.
New artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques are making possible the “regeneration” of politicians such as Ronald Reagan in the form of virtual avatars.
The burger chain will open two all-vegetarian restaurants in India next year in an attempt to appeal to pilgrims who abstain from eating meat.
Just as SEALs dedicate themselves to service, the same is required of all Americans, says Eric Greitens.
Comedian Margaret Cho shares the best advise she was given in school, and why she keeps that simple advice — never stop doing what you’re doing — to this day.
A phase that once consisted of a few awkward years has evolved into a whole new developmental stage of its own: adultolescence.
Modern campaigns have rarely focused on the issues, but in the 2012 election the level of moral outrage and anger is unprecedented. Even before the campaign, America was divided, but […]
The Bibb County school system has instituted a program designed to make Chinese-language instruction mandatory for all its students.
When painter Andrew Wyeth passed away in 2009, the reclusive painter took many of the secrets behind his art to the grave. When I heard that the Brandywine River Museum […]
As a Ph.D. student in Harvard’s Government Department in the early 1960s, Joe Nye asked whether Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda would be able to forge an East African Common Market […]
With their approaches to discipline, sacrifice and technique, Chinese coaches have helped Mexican athletes overcome self-limitations, leading to important wins in various international sports competitions.
A informal network of civilians, some of them former military, are helping to fight terrorism by hacking into extremist Web sites and sending their findings to US intelligence agencies.
While immigration and drug wars dominate US news about Mexico, some experts believe more focus should be placed on the increases in trade flow and business integration between the two countries.
A huge research project about DNA (ENCODE) has provoked more scientific controversy over just what proportion of that huge molecule plays an active role in making us us. When […]
Critics both left and right (such as Timothy Noah) are pretty down on the president’s acceptance speech. The consensus is that Obama’s speech was easily the weakest of the convention’s […]