Latest Articles

Latest Articles

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

A man sitting on a bench in front of a startup exit door.
So many of the conditions for a sale or IPO are outside your control — which is why preparation is everything.
The burnout antidote on a yellow background.
6mins
Burnout doesn’t happen because of too much work. Liz Wiseman, an executive advisor, suggests it’s something else entirely.
An old map displaying the Pan American Highway route through the Americas.
The Pan-American Highway began a century ago with a vision of unfettered motor-vehicle access between Alaska and Tierra del Fuego. What happened to the dream?
JuMBOs planet mass orion nebula JWST nircam
In the largest star-forming region close to Earth, JWST found hundreds of planetary-mass objects. How do these free-floating planets form?
Monks in red robes walking in the snow during biostasis.
Inside the “out there” quest for a drug that would help doctors save lives before it’s too late.
A man is having a near-death experience while laying in a hospital bed.
Only about 10% of patients survive cardiac arrest. Of the ones who do, many have amazing stories to tell.
The future book cover with voice tech transformation.
AI-powered voice technology is poised to revolutionize the ways we do business.
A group of men studying Japanese philosophy.
Traditionally, the long history of Japanese thought has not been viewed as “philosophy” — even by Japanese scholars. It’s time for a rethink.
A group of people are holding flags in front of a monument representing democracy.
The Persian Constitutional Revolution made unlikely allies and enemies of missionaries, ayatollahs, the shah, and his Russian ambassadors. Its legacy shaped modern-day Iran.
A group of sheep in a barn with a green arrow in front of them.
4mins
Can AI and animals coexist? Philosopher Peter Singer gives us a nuanced take on the issue.
particle collision
2023's Nobel Prize was awarded for studying physics on tiny, attosecond-level timescales. Too bad that particle physics happens even faster.
If you find yourself on one of these roads, it might be a while before you see another fellow traveler.
A bust of a man from one of the schools of philosophy that died out.
Dive into five philosophical schools that have faded into obscurity but still whisper through the ages.
A woman is break the mold posing next to a styrofoam truck.
How Stacy Madison — founder of Stacy’s Pita Chips and BeBOLD Foods — discovered that reinvention is not a one-off deal but an ongoing process.
A man is taking a bath in a Thermae Romae-style bathtub.
In ancient Rome, collective bathing was the norm. In the West today, it’s the exception — and that’s too bad.
A hand holds and fans out a deck of playing cards with patterned backs against a black background.
6mins
We’re often ashamed to say, “I don’t know” — but this professional poker player thinks it’s one of our greatest strengths.
FIRE simulation JWST starburst star-forming
With so many early galaxies of unexpectedly large brightnesses, JWST surprised us all. Here's how scientists made sense of what we see.
A mummy inside a casket found in Mexico.
Every astrobiologist wants to find an alien. But the public should be skeptical when the "aliens" look like tiny humans.
An image of a man's head with gears representing the fusion of free will and AI.
Artificial general intelligence will not arise in systems that only passively receive data. They need to be able to act back on the world.