Future missions to space should concentrate on eliminating threats to Earth, expanding civilization beyond our planet and harvesting extraterrestrial energy resources.
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The cost of crude oil is already 16 percent higher than at the beginning of 2012. How much of a threat do rising oil prices pose to the gradual economic recovery? And what about Iran?
A pair of Nobel laureates have created a multi-layer transistor made of graphene. The new design succeeds where past models failed, begging the question: Will graphene replace silicon chips?
As you may be aware, Leah Libresco at Unequally Yoked had a startling announcement yesterday: she’s converting to Catholicism. I have to admit, though others will no doubt chastise me […]
News of ongoing economic uncertainty surrounds us. In delivering his semiannual monetary policy report to Congress recently in Washington, U.S. Chairman Ben Bernanke urged drastic reduction in the government’s long-term […]
On Tuesday, May 22, I delivered a lecture as part of the National Academies’ Sackler Colloquium on the “Science of Science Communication,” reviewing the role of the media in science […]
New York Times investigative reporter Charles Duhigg has drawn together the most cutting edge research on why habits exist and how they can be changed. How can you apply the science to your own life?
We have devoted a fair amount of attention on Big Think to the ongoing saga of Apple’s relationship with its Taiwanese-owned electronics supplier Foxconn. Why do we care about this story […]
Just as Francis Fukuyama once predicted the End of History, are we now facing a sort of technological end of history? Has truly radical innovation been forever replaced by incremental […]
By 2030, the world’s population will require 50 percent more food, 45 percent more energy and 30 percent more water. We need sustainable development not in spite of the crisis but because of it.
We’ve reached an important inflection point in the development of the world.
The British inventor says that from an engineering point of view, it is much more challenging to sell machines for their smallness than for their largeness, but that is the challenge of his work.
Nanotechnology is working to keep your electronic devices from overheating, improving efficiency and extending their life. Machines as large as electrical transformers stand to benefit.
A year ago a terrible earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power disaster in Japan gripped the world’s attention for weeks. The news is already full of stories about the anniversary […]
Gasoline prices have never been higher this time of the year, reports the Associated Press. At $3.53 a gallon, prices are already up 25 cents since Jan. 1. And experts say […]
Following the demise of cap and trade legislation, green group leaders acknowledged that despite spending several hundred million dollars to pass the bill, they were unable to create public demand […]
What will tomorrow’s cities look like? They will be models of energy efficiency everywhere from the home to the city’s infrastructure. Investment in new technology is set to boom.
When the World Bank presidency becomes vacant in July, the US should break with tradition and help appoint an economist and development expert to the post, says Jeffrey Sachs.
The “great convergence” that began with the emergence of the Asian Tigers, accelerated with explosive growth in China and India, and continues today with numerous other countries spanning the globe—all within the past five decades or so—then it was far from preordained.
A Meditation on the Indefinable Nature of the Divine God is Love. How many times have we heard the word “love” being used to define that which is ultimately indefinable? […]
The same unerring perversities of good old fashioned arithmetic that plagued the 2008 Democratic presidential primary have now afflicted the 2012 Republican presidential primary race. Mitt Romney was actually able […]
Politicians and commentators use the word “green” to discuss just about anything. Renewable energy, on the other hand, is clearly defined and does not exist as such.
In New York City, Susan Miller is an institution, a sage of the media and fashion worlds. As the astrologist for Elle magazine, best-selling author, and founder of AstrologyZone.com (est. […]
Co-directors of Stanford University’s school of design discuss practical changes individuals and business can make to transform their physical space into a creative and collaborative workshop.
In The Power of Habit, Charles Duhigg takes an unflinching look at the science of habit, and offers concrete strategies for transforming harmful habits into beneficial ones.
If you’re an American, you probably know that this week is income-tax time. (If you didn’t already know that, sorry to tell you, but you missed the deadline.) Most people […]
This month’s buzz award was won by Google’s secretive Project Glass, a concept in development by Google X Lab that promises to replace our smartphones with augmented reality glasses. It’s […]
We expect works of art to enlighten us, and we expect science to enlighten us — yet the two fields are frequently regarded as separate, distinct entities which we respond to using different areas of the brain. Are those distinctions are arbitrary?
Scientists at UCLA have found that running a mild electric current through the brain’s hippocampus improves memory function. The finding could contribute to Alzheimer’s research.
As spring arrives and the Occupy Wall Street movement in New York City returns to public visibility many people will be asking the self-proclaimed ‘occupiers’ what their point is. U.S. […]