For many Americans a “moment of Zen” is the segment that ends every episode of The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. Those brief glimpses of contemporary life usually reprise an […]
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The announcement this week that two groups of scientists have narrowed the search for the elusive Higgs Boson made headlines around the world. Next year, physicists actually hope to find […]
Peter Gleick, a water and climate analyst at the Pacific Institute and member of the National Academies, has admitted in a blog post at the Huffington Post to having obtained […]
A new study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology finds that in comparison to young Baby Boomers and Gen Xers, today’s high school seniors and college freshmen are […]
The International Energy Agency, known for its typically conservative estimates when it comes to climate change, has produced a disturbingly gloomy report on the future of the planet.
In the kitchen of the future, there will be no such thing as waste. A cyclical ecosystem will use the methane power of leftovers to provide energy to lights and appliances.
Until the good bishops of the Catholic church can figure out how to keep their priests from molesting young boys, I have no use for their histrionics over the Obama […]
We survey the groundbreaking ideas of 2011 from experts such as Daniel Kahneman, Ray Kurzweil, Peter Diamandis, Sal Khan, Daniel Burrus, Michio Kaku, Steven Pinker and many others.
Contrary to popular belief, China’s dominance in the solar panel industry does not rely on its cheap labor source. Instead, it has been better at scaling production. But is that enough?
The abundance of oil in the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, might fill state and private coffers but will the profit come at the expense of sustainable environmental policies?
The first QD televisions–like current flat-screen TVs, but with better color and ultra-thin displays–will be available in shops by the end of next year. And later, the roll-up version.
The intriguing case of China’s success in obtaining the secret design of the American W-88 nuclear warhead illustrates the expertise of its espionage service—one that rivals the C.I.A..
I wanted to highlight this excellent post on JT’s blog about the rewards of activism: Joe was sick in the hospital, and asked a friend of his to go down […]
The Obama administration regards Asia as the defining competition of the next century. But instead of looking east, the U. S. really needs to look south–it needs Latin America.
No, not outer space. The very space in which everything exists is still poorly understood by physicists. Since Einstein, we have known space has a structure but not how it functions.
Global emissions of the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide shot up in 2010. The U.S. Department of Energy estimates that carbon dioxide emissions grew globally by 564 million tons, which is […]
Iran–with apparent help from Soviet, Pakistani and North Korean experts–is near to nuclear capability, according to a bombshell report by the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, characterized “cyber” as an “existential threat to the United States of America” in a recent issue of Fortune […]
Ultimately, space could collapse back in on itself, destroying all stars and galaxies in existence, or it could expand into essentially an endless void.
A new theory suggests that the accelerating expansion of the universe is merely an illusion. The false impression results from the way our particular region of the cosmos is drifting in space.
“What’s a ‘natural flavor’?” my 10-year-old asks me from the back seat of our car. He’s munching on a rare treat—a snack that lists about 500 unpronounceable ingredients and boasts […]
From all of us here at Big Think, Happy 70th birthday, Stephen! If you had only been one of the smartest humans ever, it would have been enough – but you’re something much bigger than that: a model of how to live.
What drives an artist to destroy something they spent their time and energy on to create? Hatred? Self-disgust? Embarassment? Fear of how it might be interpreted or misinterpreted? German artist […]
The dominant idea that the world’s oil supplies are a finite and known quantity is a dangerous lie that creates subsidies to protect consumers while climate change rages on.
We’ve enjoyed exponential increases in computing power that have driven down the price of consumer electronics. All that may be about to end unless an alternative to silicon can be found.
If there was a sanity test for leaders who wanted their own nuclear weapons, would these guys pass?
Under a new energy proposal from the Obama administration, the Atlantic and Pacific coasts would remain off-limits to further oil drilling schemes but the Arctic would be opened up.
“Why do men marry mean girls?” Rebecca asks me. She’s almost in tears, and my heart aches for her. Rebecca’s a beautiful, talented single New Yorker in her mid-30s who, […]
The breadfruit is football-sized prickly fruit full of nutrients and energy. It grows on one of the world’s highest-yielding trees and backers say it could help alleviate world hunger.
This has been a big week for the U.S. domestic airline industry and its embrace of environmentally-friendly biofuels. On Monday, a United Airlines jet completed the first-ever biofuel-powered commercial flight […]