The buzz surrounding physicist Stephen Hawking‘s newest experiments with communication technology has been a bit overexuberant, along the lines of “new technology could help Stephen Hawking communicate via brain waves!” […]
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Scientists estimate that your mind wanders about half the time, depending on how much concentration your present task requires. Those with greater memories tend to wander more often.
Surely the greatest scientific discoveries are the product of imaginative energy and curiosity no less intense or pure than that which animates Hamlet or King Lear. Still, the petty squabble between Reason and Imagination that began in the 17th century persists . . .
Rather than being afraid of our new publicness, says Jarvis, we ought to use it to solve some of our most complex problems.
Mysterious dark matter and dark energy may no longer be needed to explain the Universe’s accelerating expansion, which may be caused by tension between matter and antimatter.
What’s the Big Idea? In the 21st century, the intelligence of people will determine the future. Our free society can be the magnet for some of the world’s brightest minds if […]
In a post last May, entitled The First Trillionaires Will Make Their Fortunes in Space, we speculated about how the future explorers of space will be chasing unimaginable riches: As Peter Diamandis […]
What really goes on in a brain-on-porn? A recent study conducted at the University of Groningen Medical Center came to a surprising conclusion.
Scientists have agreed on boosting power levels at the Large Hadron Collider by 14 percent. 2012 should settle once and for all the question of the Higgs boson’s existence.
In the form of a spray can, a small Utah company may have revolutionized how data is transferred over long distances. Forget ugly antennae towers, that tree over there will do.
Pamela Haag: “Whenever I hear a headline like ‘Marriage Ruined by Cheating,’ I’m tempted to point to a divorce somewhere else and declare, ‘Marriage Ruined by Monogamy.’
It’s easy to see why we’re stuck in such a cynical rut these days. However, a new book argues the accelerating rate of technological change will “put an end to what ails us” within 25 years with “noticeable change possible within the next decade.”
A subtle but undeniable shift has been taking place in American corporate management theory. Roughly, the change corresponds to psychology’s shift from punishment & reward focused Skinnerian behavioralism to a focus on human relationships and development.
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?
Big thinker Will Willkinson summarizes and analyzes a summary of a study by Scott Eidelman and others that’s hurt a lot of conservative feelings. The big point seems to be that when […]
Future missions to space should concentrate on eliminating threats to Earth, expanding civilization beyond our planet and harvesting extraterrestrial energy resources.
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 Conversation with William Irwin Thompson by Michael Garfield William Irwin Thompson is a poet, philosopher, cultural historian, former MIT professor, and founder of the Lindisfarne Association – a transdisciplinary think-tank […]
When we think of those opposed to homosexuality – which still sounds weird to me, like opposing left-handed people* – or stem-cell research or euthanasia, we tend conclude they’re justifying […]
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 […]
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 […]
On Tuesday, May 22, I will be delivering a lecture as part of the National Academies’ Sackler Colloquium on the “Science of Science Communication,” reviewing the role of the media […]
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.
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.
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 […]
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’ve reached an important inflection point in the development of the world.
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 […]
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 […]