By 2012, world markets will be demanding 90 million barrels of oil a day. The world currently produces 88 million. Our dependence on OPEC oil and non-renewable energy sources is an increasingly bad idea.
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The Earth could end up with a permanent junk belt that could make space too dangerous to fly in, a situation a new start-up plans to address with laser technology.
One billion people live beyond the reach of existing ports, roads, bridges and trains. An organization called Matternet is using exponential technology to “replace twentieth century centralized infrastructure” and accelerate economic growth for the ‘rising billion.’
[Note: Please welcome Hemley Gonzalez to Daylight Atheism. Hemley is the founder of Responsible Charity, a secular non-profit organization serving the poor of Calcutta, which was a past beneficiary of […]
A key energy storage technology for the future, called the flywheel, allows for frequency regulation without wasting extra fuel. Its implementation is a big step toward a smart energy grid.
Decision fatigue is the newest discovery involving a phenomenon called ego depletion, a term coined by the social psychologist Roy Baumeister in homage to a Freudian hypothesis.
By changing how light refracts off on object, new cloaking materials can hide tiny microphones placed on a wall—and they will do the job at all visible wavelengths.
While some inventions will remain forever confined to the pages of science fiction novels, much of what we’ve dreamed up in books – warp drive, star gates, portals through space and time – will one day make the leap in to living rooms everywhere.
According to Scott Galloway, the cost of education has increased at twice the rate of inflation, and student loan debt has become “an Albatross” around students necks that is choking innovation.
Even though it’s beneficial for the US to cooperate with the Chinese wherever and whenever possible, we must have the confidence and will to compete with them in markets where we can press our advantage and fortify our own economy.
The USB stick in your hand contains a zip file with your genome on it. You insert the drive into the side of your computer and click the button on the screen that says “Upload.” The machine spits out a prognosis. The secret to your very own personal happiness.
A new microchip made by researchers at I.B.M. is a landmark. Unlike an ordinary chip, it mimics the functioning of a biological brain, which could open new possibilities in computation.
What should scare us the most is the danger that arises when we get risk wrong, when we’re more afraid than the evidence says we need to be, or not as afraid as the evidence says we ought to be.
The idea of collecting solar energy in space and beaming it to Earth has been around for at least 70 years. English researchers now hope that it will become a reality within a few years.
Despite extensive research, biofuels are still not commercially competitive. The breakthroughs needed may be tougher to realize than previously thought.
Lasting change doesn’t come from the top. Systems that no longer work must be rebuilt from the bottom up, says Fred Hassan.
Welcome, all, to the new Daylight Atheism! I’m pleased to be officially joining Big Think as a blogger-in-residence. Whether you’ve just come across this site or are a long-time reader […]
Energy derived from oil reaches, quite literally, every aspect of our lives. From the food we eat, to how we move ourselves around, without oil, our lives would look very differently.
This past spring semester, American University hosted an event featuring Roger Pielke Jr., a Professor of Environmental Studies at the University of Colorado-Boulder and author of The Climate Fix: What […]
According to psychologist Dan Ariely, Google’s policy of giving employees free reign over 20% of their work week – one full day out of five – makes for happier, more passionate workers and a better, more creative company.
Like many others, I was not very enthusiastic about the launch event of the iPhone 4S. The expectations where simply too high, and the whole event seemed to lack the […]
Since, at its heart, Occupy Wall Street is a conversation about values that is leading to direct action — a beta test for a better society — people should not despair that it is a “leaderless movement.”
83 year old T. Boone Pickens’ C.V. reads like that of a small-to-medium-sized nation. How does he remain extraordinarily productive past the age when most people retire?
More women than ever are choosing to pursue a life in science, but high-ranking positions are still held disproportionately by men. What does it take to rise to the top – and why do so few make it?
The genetic mutation that drives evolution is random. But here’s a list of some beneficial mutations that are known to exist in human beings
Despite high hopes for a new physics from the world’s largest particle collider, beyond a handful of unusual events, the latest data from the Large Hadron Collider are frustratingly ordinary.
–Guest post by Patrick Riley, AoE Culture Correspondent If you believe your emotions can affect your health, nutritionist-author Nora Gedgaudas would say that’s only part of the story – because your emotions […]
When friction makes machines less efficient, we grease the gears, but that macro solution doesn’t work with nanotechnology. Researchers are learning to shake nanomachines instead.
The Fukushima nuclear disaster has offered the world a lot of important lessons. We can only hope that one of the most important…a lesson that’s staring us all in the […]
Legendary oilman and billionaire entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens will visit Big Think’s studios next week. Submit your questions for the tycoon in the comment section below. Our editorial team will […]