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What do the sacred scriptures of various religions say about money? How has it evolved as a means of social control since the days of Ancient Mesopotamia? Bestselling author Kabir Sehgal talks big chunks of history and even bigger chunks of change.

The freedom to go from identifying as white to black isn’t afforded to blacks who would want to identify as white.

Throughout the world, higher incomes translate into less religiosity, and vice versa. But that rule does not apply to the Americans, nor to the Chinese.

Last week’s $1.5 billion jackpot was a record that likely will be broken again and again. But when, if ever, should you play? “I’ve done the calculation and your chances of […]

Think not in terms of the bottom line, but the skyline.

The gravitational waves were real. But earlier announcements that X-rays and gamma-rays were detected, too? Not so much. “What’s really exciting is what comes next. I think we’re opening a window […]

Nashville-based Ride for Reading began as an elementary school teacher’s endeavor to put books in the hands of low-income children.

When everything passes away, what will be left? “End? No, the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain-curtain of […]

France has introduced a law banning supermarkets from disposing of quality, unsold food approaching its best-before date. It will help reduce the amount of food waste the country produces while also helping feed the country’s poor.

Technology is changing every aspect of life — including how we find love. A recent study conducted by the Pew Research Center indicates that nearly one-third of couples today found each other online.

We’re halfway through our rollout of The Floating University here at Big Think. It’s some of the most vital, timely, and mind-changing video content anywhere on the Web. Here’s number six of 12 on our list, featuring Yale psychologist Paul Bloom.

“It is said that science fiction and fantasy are two different things. Science fiction is the improbable made possible, and fantasy is the impossible made probable.”

The best way to benefit from meditation is to start small — really small. Dr. Suzuki explains how short bursts of meditation can change the biology of your brain for the better, making you healthier and more purpose driven.

Apparently, there’s a lot more to be worried about than the environment.

In this Big Think+ preview, Dr. Tony Coles introduces the concept of “service leadership” first developed in 1970 by Robert K. Greenleaf.

Stress can be your friend, says psychologist Kelly McGonigal. It’s all a matter of how you respond to it.

The U.K. plans to phase out coal power by 2025, but how will renewable energy factor into the equation?

After 24 hours without sleep, the brain begins to overestimate threat.

No. Not even if you violate the laws of physics in two fundamental ways. John Oliver: So, roughly speaking, what are the chances that the world is going to be […]

Human intelligence is richer than logic: It includes “being funny, being sexy, expressing a loving sentiment — maybe in a poem or in a musical piece.”

Lately, we’ve become so infatuated with creating the next big thing, rushing headlong into crafting new technologies that we’ve neglected to think through the ethics of it. Just because we can doesn’t mean we should.

President Barack Obama, charismatic as he is, has stumbled in the past when taking to new media to engage American citizens. He’s much better at writing letters than answering questions on Reddit.

Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill (1874–1965) was a British politician who was the prime minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955.

Words of wisdom from the American author (and prolific tweeter): “Homo sapiens is the species that invents symbols in which to invest passion and authority, then forgets that symbols are inventions.”

Why Banksy’s dystopian vision of the future might be the kind of shock we need to realize the problems humanity faces.

What if Bill Nye were your warm, rational uncle? What if you could informally ask his opinion on anything from black holes to the zombie apocalypse? Well now you can. 

If you want a vivid barometer for the health status of worldwide marine ecosystems, look no further than the global seabird population. Unfortunately, new research estimates that the global seabird population has dropped 70 percent since the 1950s. That’s not good.

A plant with twice the nutritional value of kale, reported to taste like bacon when cooked, could soon be entering the U.S. health food market, possibly expanding its reach even wider.

As part of Big Think’s partnership with 92Y’s Seven Days of Genius series, New York Times columnist Carl Zimmer asks Heather Berlin about the research that illuminates our understanding of genius.

A live blog event from Nobel Prizewinner Art McDonald. “It’s ironic: in order to observe the Sun, you need to go kilometers underground.” –Art McDonald In the 1960s, a huge […]