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Science and Tech
From hunter-gathers to desk jockeys, we work best when short, intense sessions are followed by lighter fare.
It would get rid of our hazardous, radioactive, and pollutive waste for good, but physics tells us it's a losing strategy for elimination.
Almost all of the stars, planets, and interesting physics happens in the inner portions of galaxies. Is that conventional wisdom all wrong?
8mins
Eric Siegel, Co-Founder & CEO, Gooder AI, argues machine learning (ML) projects go astray because their stakeholders focus too often on the technological fireworks — the “rocket science” of predictive models.
These startups, space agencies, and aerospace giants are building humanity's next off-world homes.
The digital world will always entail risks for teens, but that doesn’t mean parents aren’t without recourse.
Within our observable Universe, there's only one Earth and one "you." But in a vast multiverse, so much more becomes possible.
Quantum computing brings significant opportunities — but equally significant cybersecurity risks.
A recent experiment challenges the leading dark matter theory and hints at new directions for uncovering one of the Universe's biggest mysteries.
The laws of physics aren't changing. But the Earth's conditions are different than what they used to be, and so are hurricanes as a result.
Most fundamental constants could be a little larger or smaller, and our Universe would still be similar. But not the mass of the electron.
The existence of another watery world in the outer solar system may offer clues to how such seas form — and hope for another spot to search for life.
How Daniel Kahneman and Amos Tversky cracked open behavioral economics and enlightened all our choices.
In the expanding Universe, different ways of measuring its rate give incompatible answers. Nobel Laureate Adam Riess explains what it means.
Benjamin Oakes — CEO of buzz-worthy biotech company Scribe Therapeutics — joins Big Think for a chat about innovation, human endeavor, and more.
3mins
From nothing to everything: How zero changed our understanding of the universe, forever.
The Lyman-α emission line has never been seen earlier than 550 million years after the Big Bang. So why does JADES-GS-z13-1-LA have one?
When AI eats its own product, it gets sick.
Galactic activity doesn't just arrive when supermassive black holes feast on matter. Before, during, and after all create fascinating signs.
1mins
What would the world be like if we focused on “the inherent beauty of math,” rather than its technical aspects? A statistician reflects:
Although a great many unidentified sights have been seen in the skies, none have conclusively demonstrated the presence of aliens. So far.
Finding life beyond our Solar System requires understanding its host planet.
Taught in every introductory physics class for centuries, the parabola is only an imperfect approximation for the true path of a projectile.
The salinity of the oceans is not just a matter of taste. Saltier water behaves differently, too.
Inflation, dark matter, and string theory are all proposed extensions to the prior consensus picture. But what does the evidence say?
The observation that everything we know is made out of matter and not antimatter is one of nature's greatest puzzles. Will we ever solve it?
"The Big Map of Who Lived When" plots the lifespans of historical figures — from Eminem all the way back to Genghis Khan.
2mins
Statistician Talithia Williams on how math is the clearest path to understanding our existence.
With the right prompts, large language models can produce quality writing — and make us question the limits of human creativity.
Why human attempts to mechanize logic keep breaking down.