What’s the Big Idea? The Internet has a terrible habit of misquoting Einstein on energy and creativity until he sounds like he’s the author of The Secret, not the theory […]
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Along with Romney’s 13% tax bill and Pussy Riot, the other media sensation of recent weeks has been cheaters. After Jonah Lehrer’s sloppy multitasking and Fareed Zakaria’s “journalistic lapse,” now […]
Last week, Jen McCreight announced that she was fed up with sexism in the atheist movement and called for a new wave of atheist activism, one explicitly concerned with social […]
A redesigned microbial fuel cell converts more electricity from waste products than ever before, and can potentially help create sustainable treatment plants.
The theme of this year’s Nantucket Project is Collective Intelligence, or how we can leverage technology and other advances to aggregate and amplify human intelligence. We plan to utilize the […]
Roger Cohen recently argued that despite “the enduring centrality of American power” and “the nation’s immense capacity for renewal,” “even all the right choices for the United States will not […]
Big Think has reached into our archive and also sourced expert opinions from around the Web to showcase the big ideas from each political party. Call it a virtual convention of ideas.
A Daily Mail article today notes accurately that the 2012 GOP platform on abortion would effectively outlaw many infertility treatments. This is a riddle that’s long intrigued me, and one […]
Charles Darwin’s correspondence reveals how he struggled with the work-life balance and how that influenced his decision on whether or not to get married.
A nanotech “electronic nose” is being tested with small devices to allow detection of airborne toxins before they can harm living beings.
Researchers are using robotics to create machines that will allow babies with motor skill challenges to move themselves. Theoretically, this will help their brain development match that of their typically-developing peers.
But here’s a radical idea: America needs to create an army of hackers to defend cyberspace. And sooner rather than later.
The point of marriage is to grow old with someone and develop a sense of trust. Therefore, Christopher Ryan argues we need to take a “harm reduction approach” over an “absolutist approach.”
What’s the Big Idea? The idea of keeping a private journal is enjoying a renaissance. Earlier this month, a new app called Everyday.me launched with the goal of collecting your […]
A new iPhone app allows Americans a clear window into the operations and rationale behind the Super PACs that are currently blanketing television’s airwaves with campaign ads.
Far from being a science-fiction dream, “future cities” are slowly coming within the grasp of reality. An article reviews a number of different projects from around the world.
Let me see if I can get this all straight. A week and a half ago, presidential candidate Mitt Romney chose Congressman Paul Ryan, famous for coming up with the […]
The United States has already suffered the worst outbreak of West Nile virus ever, with more than 1,100 people ill and 41 dead. And more illness and death are yet […]
For anyone out there who is running a company, considering starting a company, or even just managing your own blog – we have a message for you: you can no […]
There’s been talk in California, Germany, and elsewhere of outlawing circumcision. The only justification, the thinking goes, is religious dogma. And that’s not a good enough reason in a secular […]
Several years ago, a SUNY Albany study linked unprotected sex with elevated mood in college-aged women. The researchers surveyed nearly 300 female students about both their sexual practices and their […]
“[T]he Author of Nature has determin’d us to receive… a Moral Sense, todirect our Actions, and to give us still nobler Pleasures.” That appeal was made in 1725 by Scottish philosopher […]
There’s a lot of uranium in the world’s oceans, and the energy industry is one step closer to getting more of it, courtesy of American laboratories’ redesign of existing Japanese technology.
Twenty years after Hurricane Andrew, the third iteration of the “Wall of Wind” hurricane simulator provides scientists and construction industry experts with new ways to measure and improve on building material integrity.
In California, an almost 100-percent energy-efficient tomato greenhouse is about to go online, thanks to the addition of a plant that provides heat, electricity, and valuable carbon dioxide gas.
Yesterday I wrote about how Todd Akin’s comments on “legitimate rape” were consistent with the social conservative worldview, which wants to roll back the gains and modernizations of the women’s […]
The same issues that experts worry about for our world today — climate change combined with environmental mismanagement — helped end Mayan civilization, according to a recently-released article.
The increase in electric cars may lead to extra demands — and costs — on power grids during the early evening hours. Researchers are looking for ways around this dilemma that won’t hobble sustainability efforts.
Fresh off his potential “Colbert Bump,” conceptual artist Jeff Koons took a potential PR black eye this weekend in a New York Times Magazine piece titled “I Was Jeff Koons’s […]
In a victory for disability advocates, the FCC has ruled that networks and others must provide closed caption data on online video content that was originally produced for television.