bigthinkeditor
What’s the problem with iTunes, iPods, and other convenient listening devices, asks The Los Angeles Times’ Steve Almond? Nothing, except for the devaluation of the music experience.
Why does the Web version of a newspaper look so different from the print version? It may sound like a simple-minded question, but the answer cuts to the heart of […]
A select group of thought leaders from around the world has come together for a live-streamed discussion surrounding “Our Energy Future.” Tune in to watch the exclusive conversation NOW on Bigthink.com!After the […]
A select group of thought leaders from around the world will come together tomorrow, Friday March 26th, for a live-streamed discussion surrounding “Our Energy Future,” at 1:30 PM EST. You can […]
A new study has revealed that humans’ ability to respond appropriately to intended harms – ie moral outrage and anger – is rooted in the brain region used for regulating emotions.
Today is world tuberculosis day, but there is “no better news” writes Global Post as complacency and lack of funding deter research into the disease.
Stupid criminals and Facebook just don’t go together says Chicago Tribune’s John Kass, remarking on the fate of an escaped burglar who set his status as “on da run…”
The Washington Post’s Bonnie S. Benwick explores the art and architecture of matzoh balls and describes the celebrations at a traditional Passover dinner table.
The average American bra size has increased from 36C ten years ago to a whopping 36DD. Is this extraordinary surge one of the “up sides“ of a nation in the grip of an obesity crisis?
“Lone crusader” Yukio Ubukata has taken on the big guns of Japan’s ruling party by speaking on the radio to denounce what he calls the “dangerous concentration of power and money”.
As the rich get richer in New York public services are meanwhile bracing themselves for “draconian” cuts. To save New York, tax Wall Street, writes The Guardian’s Sadhbh Walshe.
Scientists have been stunned by DNA analysis of a bone fragment discovered in a Russian cave which appears to reveal the existence of a hitherto unknown ancestor: Woman X.
The New Republic’s Jonathan Chait observes that one of the most baffling complaints about health care reform is that the financing is phoney because it doesn’t cover wage increases.
Are children in America are being over-diagnosed and over medicated by doctors, parents and schools more concerned to make them better behaved than for their wellbeing?
When Benoit Mandelbrot first began the work that led to the birth of fractal geometry, there was “an explosion of interest” from his colleagues. “Everybody in mathematics had given up […]
Why do we act irrationally? Does free will exist? These are the questions that philosopher Alfred Mele sought to answer when he sat down with Big Think.The Florida State University […]
Satoshi Kanazawa, an evolutionary psychologist at the London School of Economics, came by Big Think today to share his unconventional wisdom about highly intelligent people and their preferences. Liberals, he […]
Should abortion be permitted until the fetus’s birth? Bioethicist Jacob Appel believes so, arguing that any other guideline is too arbitrary to be legally justifiable, or enforceable. Indeed, his actual “philosophical […]
Suspended animation, where an animal’s metabolism is slowed to seeming death, is no longer the stuff of Star Trek, says scientist Mark Roth who is pioneering research into it.
This week around 200 experts will gather in California to work out how research into the possibilities of geoengineering the planet to combat climate change should proceed.
The New Yorker’s David Remnick remarks that Israel seems to view Barack Obama rather suspiciously and says the President’s customary cool has not warmed the countries’ relations.
Australian car manufacturer Holden is hoping to develop a car fuelled by household waste such as food scraps and dirty diapers within the next two years.
A key component in a popular Indian spice could delay liver damage and cirrhosis, according to a new study published in the research journal “Gut.”
While consolidating medical records into electronic databases might cut down on loose paper and red tape, one doctor argues the efficacy will be diminished because of privacy concerns.
Portion sizes in paintings of Jesus’ last supper have grown exponentially in the last 1,000 years in a strange parallel of changing eating habits, showing that art imitates life.
Forget Rahm Emanuel, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has “earned the badge of the toughest nut in F***nutsville” and is one of history’s most skilled vote-getters, writes Richard Adams.
In a break with diplomatic custom, President Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netinyahu held closed-door talks yesterday in an attempt to smooth US-Israeli relations.
Carl Varjabedian, a photographic maverick, captures the surreal beauty of the American West in a manner worthy of tall tales and American dreams, writes NPR.
This week’s installment of “The Future in Motion” features a clip from an interview with Dr. Nate Lewis, a chemistry professor at CalTech. He and his team are busy developing […]
Physics is a process of rigorous, exhausting intellectual inquiry, but it does offer occasional moments that are “kind of fun.” For Harvard’s Lisa Randall, one such moment came when she […]