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Lasers are vaporizing materials including rocks and steel in order to allow scientists to analyze their chemical composition in transference of such techniques from Mars probes to forensics.

n The proximity to, the ‘otherness’ of and the seemingly eternal conflict with the barbarian tribes across the Rhine stoked Imperial Rome’s interest in all matters German. To get a […]

This semester in the sophomore-level course I teach on “Communication and Society,” we spent several weeks examining the many ways that individuals and groups are using the internet to alter […]

Vanity Fair’sPresidential Profiles, edited by Graydon Carter, is a jewel. Or, a jewel-box: a tiny, elegantly conceived, and ruthlessly crafted jewel-box of a book. It will make you wish you’d […]

In the 1960’s and 70’s, with Americans worried about Communist hordes and Nazism a living memory, many feared that people are just naturally sheep—all too ready to conform, cower and […]

NASA has unveiled a prototype for a new kind of vehicle which could revolutionize the way we travel. The “Puffin” takes off like a helicopter, flies like a plane and sounds like a car.

The rest simply cannot be controlled. Yet apropos of Valentine’s Day, it’s worth considering something The Daily Beast reported recently, a remark made by philanthropist (and Edwards supporter) Bunny Mellon regarding John […]

Deadly scorpion venom is being used to create new eco-friendly pesticides as some types of venom are harmful only to insects and unlikely to harm larger creatures.

I’m standing in the entrance lobby to the European Parliament in Brussels, and suddenly there is a flurry of activity. A group of middle-aged Middle Eastern men, bunched together and […]

For this week’s installment of What Went Wrong? we bring you an interview with the Nobel Prize winning economist, Vernon Smith. Having studied bubbles inside and out, he has said […]

Yesterday I wrote that Sen. Chris Dodd’s (D-CT) retirement may actually improve the Democrats’ chance of retaining his seat in the fall. Indeed, as Greg Sargent reports, an early poll […]

When the women artists of today look back in history for examples to follow, they usually limit themselves to the artists of the twentieth century. Sure, an Artemisia Gentileschi here […]

There has been some pushback about that Nature paper which claimed there’s a power-law “signal” in the seemingly random events of guerrilla wars against standing armies. They really don’t like […]

For millennia, men have assumed a certain dominance, both physically and culturally, over the world around them. Yet, as we enter an age of disruption, wherein the norms of history […]

There is a rough rule of thumb that British political leaders are obliged to contend with, and with mixed feelings. Just as their domestic polls begin to drop, foreigners begin […]

Because government troops in Guinea massacred civilian protesters at about the same time as I started blogging for Big Think, I’ve committed myself to using this space to track events […]

Shortly after President Obama finished his speech outlining his plan to bring the war in Afghanistan to a successful conclusion, bloggers have rushed to remind us that Afghanistan is “the […]

Like any mere bystander, I’m always at risk of getting etherized by the abstractions of war. So there was something compelling and arresting about hearing writer Mark Danner detail the […]

For the first time in over a year, the Dow today is flirting with the 10,000 point mark. Yet, insists Big Think’s recent guest Nomi Prins, unless you’re one of […]

In 2005, The New York Times revealed that under a presidential order signed in 2002, the National Security Agency (NSA) had been monitoring the phone calls, e-mails, and internet traffic […]

Writing about intelligence is like running a ferry service between two different planets. On one, everyone assumes that g, general intelligence, is a real and important trait, in which heredity […]

Great news, fans of continued existence! The world will not end in 2012, despite what you may have heard from a passing lunatic and/or viral marketer for this film. How […]

President Obama is now the just third sitting president to win the Nobel Peace Prize—the first since Woodrow Wilson won in 1919 for his role in setting up the League […]

If you think American insurance companies have a morbid business plan, consider Hollywood estate managers. While legal maneuvering continues over the rights to Michael Jackson’s estate, the King of Pop […]

In a summer marking the 40th anniversary of the single most historic concert ever, Woodstock has been revered, evolving from a muddy live music happening to a lynchpin for social […]

How many laws in Robert Greene’s “48 Laws of Power” does Leslie Gelb, the former senior Pentagon official, follow or flout?

1. Authentic Self is achievable through the psychological examination of subconscious paradigms. 2. Perpetuated societal norms are the cause of subconscious paradigms. 3. Psychological examination of an individual does not adress over all causation. 4. Addressing the overall causation is preferable to treating individual cases.

The business world has been blamed for just about everything from the dissolution of native cultures to the exploitation of natural resources. But Whole Foods CEO John Mackey and academic […]

Recently, David Brooks highlighted research on the characteristics and abilities of CEO’s – noting that psychological insight and a feel for human relationships are the most important talents in a […]

It’s not exactly the U.N. Security Council, but by every measure, it could be more cutthroat. If Hulu can bring together the mouse, the peacock, and Rupert Murdoch, is there […]