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Will the natural gas boom revitalize the U.S. economy and provide us energy for 100 years? 

Smug confidence in human reason, and the belief that once fully educated and informed people will then make the objectively ‘right’ decision about risk, only widens the gap and increases the danger.

The Pope is not just the supremo of the Catholic Church, he is also the head of state of the Vatican

“Millions of words have been written about organizational leadership – especially in an anxious economy.” So writes John Boyle in his introduction to Leadership in Uncertain Times, a series of […]

Lean thinking is not only good for a company’s bottom line. It can also be applied to the challenges of sustainability and conserving natural resources, which also makes good business sense.

There may be evidence of super-advanced civilizations in other galaxies who have learned to control the entire energy output of their parent star. And we could start looking for them. 

Geography was my favourite subject in school; physics the one I disliked the most. If only I’d known about this Map of Physics!   This spatial representation of the subject, dating […]

If Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie reign as the premier power couple of Hollywood, then Seymour Chwast and Paula Scher deserve credit as the “Brangelina” of  the world of graphic […]

Government efforts to circumvent poaching by providing a range of financial incentives to local villagers is enjoying success in Rwanda.

Most short lists of greatest living artists will have names such as David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, (BigThink.com’s own) Ai Weiwei, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, or Jeff Koons. But who would […]

A host of new consumer electronics allows people to monitor fluctuations in their health like never before, but does knowing more about your health help you change your behavior? 

For many Americans, Columbus Day no longer fits the litmus test of credibility and relevance. The true American character is about attaining the impossible through exploration, scientific research, innovation and creativity. Let’s rename the holiday “Exploration Day.” 

“When I was young and bold and strong, O, right was right and wrong was wrong! My plume on high, my flag unfurled, I rode away to right the world. […]

Who will you put your money on — Richard Brandson, Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk?

America’s National Ignition Facility has set a new record for the amount of energy generated by lasers. The experiment will be used to work toward creating laboratory-controlled fusion. 

Although the initial riots and flare-ups of violence over the “Innocence of Muslims” video were over a month ago, the global battle over blasphemy laws is still raging. In London […]

Update 11/4: A few hours after I published this post, Mayor Bloomberg decided to cancel the marathon for the reason I develop below.  See my analysis of Bloomberg’s surprising last-minute […]

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.

With Big Bird’s surreal moment in the national spotlight, last Wednesday evening marked not only the first Presidential Debate of 2012 but also America’s first national political Kidult moment. 

MIT theoretical physicists are working to carry the structure of crystals, such as table salt, into the fourth dimension of time. The result could be a computer than runs infinitely into the future. 

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.

The Higgs boson has helped scientists confirm that there exists a vast, though nearly invisible, field of energy without which all the Universe would be massless whizzing forces. 

While today’s announcement of the Higgs’ discovery is important, we should not elevate it to deity-status, says Dr. Dave Goldberg, professor of physics at Drexel University. It’s just a particle. 

A couple years ago, the government of New York City created a program on resilience to climate change and sea level rise. Many of the steps that program laid out […]

Numbers really are sexy.  They are what will power our world for the foreseeable future.  They are available like never before, and we know now how to use them wisely. 

James Ceaser, perhaps our most distinguished student of American politics on the conservative side, isn’t about predicting the outcome of elections.  That’s actually hard to do. And those political scientists […]

The “Defense of Marriage Act” is going to get a Supreme Court hearing soon, and in Maryland, same-sex marriage is being put to a referendum on November 6. There is […]

What do Sir Richard Branson, Archbishop Desmond Tutu; Paul Mitchell founder John Paul DeJoria; bestselling author/speakers Jack Canfield, Gregg Braden, Barbara Marx Hubbard; three-time Nobel nominated Dr. Scilla Elworthy; philanthropist […]

The new CNN poll  has Obama leading Romney 52-45.  That’s close to the margin separating the two candidates among independents.  It’s also close to the distance between them when it […]

A nonprofit dedicated to researching the science and technology needed to travel vast distances across the cosmos says lasers can be used to harvest antimatter from the vacuum of space.