Latest Articles

Latest Articles

The newest essays, interviews, and features from Big Think.

A major advance in the use of microscopes for scientific investigation allows scientists to watch the brain create memories. 
Alcohol, excitement, stress, prolonged sitting, and fatty foods combine to create an unwholesome atmosphere like no other.
US will have gradually withdrawn from battle for world domination by mid century MUNICH – Helmut Schmidt, 95, Europe’s most eminent living politician and former German chancellor, overshadowed this year’s […]
The world’s first suspended traffic circle… for bicycles! “I would like to propose slow cycling. Commute by bike. At a stroke, you remove the need for and absurd cost of […]
Of all the wooded places I’ve never been, here are the 10 I’d most like to see! “But I’ll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, […]
Rick Smolan: I wonder if 50 years from now we'll look back, maybe Julian will be the hero and J. Edgar Hoover will be the enemy of the state.
Do black holes exist? The world’s most famous scientist vs. the actual science. “My goal is simple. It is a complete understanding of the Universe, why it is as it is […]
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Rick Smolan: I wonder if 50 years from now we'll look back, maybe Julian Assange will be the hero and J. Edgar Hoover will be the enemy of the state.
Once you cross the event horizon, you’ll never go back. “They say ‘A flat ocean is an ocean of trouble. And an ocean of waves… can also be trouble.’ So, it’s […]
Fear of class warfare is making some wealthy people bug out in outlandishly ridiculous ways. 
The annual rite of February’s African-American History Month in America feels more and more like a mixed blessing with each passing year. On one hand, setting aside time to learn […]
Fixing the water mess in India is all about managing demand and not about building new infrastructure at the moment.  
Is running up an inclined treadmill the same, physically, as running up an actual mountain? Here’s what science has to say. “Nothing worth having was ever achieved without effort.” -Teddy Roosevelt […]
Call me a quitter. But I never did finish Moby Dick. Herman Melville's writing is magnetic – in both senses of the word: attractive for its beauty and passion, and […]
In the Chinese Zodiac, the horse symbolized high expectations, performance, and stubbornness. What better occasion than this to talk about the heavy work load that’s awaiting China’s leaders, economists, and […]
We know that the Universe has been around for 13.8 billion years, but we also know we can see for 46 billion light-years. How is this possible? “Nature decrees that […]
The astrobiologist Dr. Rhawn Joseph has filed a lawsuit to compel NASA and its administrator, Charles Bolden, to take a closer look at the rock. 
The math and logic of teams sometimes (perhaps often) opposes maximizing self-benefit.
When all the galaxies, stars, gas, dust, dark matter and all the other forms of matter and radiation are summed together, its energy still pales in comparison to dark energy. […]
Coursera is a service that allows top universities around the world to share their material online. Without spending a penny I've completed courses on Coursera from universities including Stanford and […]