The Latest from Big Think

Text reading "The Latest" in a large, serif font on a light background.
11mins
Joseph LeDoux talks about his band, the Amygdaloids, whose songs are about the mind and brain.
5mins
When you have a phobia about something you don’t understand, it could be from an experience you’ve had in the past.
10mins
The neuroscientist researches how memories of fearful situations are often altered at the point of retrieval.
31mins
A conversation with the NYU neuroscience professor.
The Middle East isn’t just the geographic center of the planet. With so much activism on different sides regarding the region, particularly with regard to the Arab-Israeli conflict recently stoked […]
Bottled water is one of the environmental movement's biggest scapegoats – and for a reason: Only about 10% of plastic bottles are recycled; the rest end up in landfills, or […]
Singer/songwriter Jonathan Coulton is so famous that you might never have heard of him. That's because he's "internet famous" (i.e. he has a passionate fan base that he's built up […]
USC's vice provost of innovation, Krisztina "Z" Holly, thinks PhD programs need to change. If you think about it, it takes even the most amazing PhD candidates around the world […]
Jeffrey Hollender, co-founder and CEO of Seventh Generation—the eco-friendly manufacturer of cleaning, paper, and personal care products—stopped by the Big Think offices today to talk about about his thoughts on […]
There is a phenomenon going on out here in the blogosphere called "good information dissemination", a trait that often distinguishes us lower paid or usually unpaid bloggers from the members […]
Having your body freeze-dried instead of cremated may reduce carbon and mercury emissions, Helen Knight finds in her look at how to make funerals more eco-friendly.
The potential for psychiatry to pathologize normal human behavior is under the spotlight during the ongoing revision of an official list of mental disorders.
The latest Global Peace Index shows the world has become less peaceful in the last year. Liz Ford asks if the rankings should prompt donor governments to rethink aid strategies.
"It is a sad finale for someone who helped break down barriers for women journalists at the center of American power," so says the L.A. Times of Helen Thomas.
With alleged breaches of the Nuremburg Medical Code in the news, Brian Palmer looks at whether any useful science came out of Nazi experiments on unwilling subjects.
Some see a shallow sitcom or feather-light comedy. Matt Zoller Seitz sees "radical sincerity" in Glee, "one of the most stylistically bold broadcast network shows since Twin Peaks."
Has how we think about lofty things - like the meaning of life - been hijacked by a deep-pocketed foundation that successfully combines elite research and broad dissemination?
Long-time veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas is retiring in the wake of comments she made at a recent celebration of the Jewish Heritage at the White House. When Rabbi […]
There was brief speculation in the media about using nuclear weapons to seal up the raging oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico. I think this is a bad idea, […]
7mins
Sometimes it’s difficult to find enough time to develop all of your skills.