Latest Articles

Latest Articles

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

An outrageous man kneeling in the water with a beaver.
Meet the masterful con-men who impressed the great and the good despite the astonishing fiction of their very existence.
A yellow brain drawing on a blue background, emphasizing speech.
The structure is fully developed in humans, partially developed in chimps, and completely absent in Old World monkeys.
Earth-like exoplanet
Each of our three nearest stars might have an Earth-like planet in orbit around it. Here's what we'll learn when we finally observe it.
A man displaying signs of hoarding disorder, sitting in a car in a garage.
Now that the DSM lists severe hoarding as a disorder apart from OCD, psychologists are asking what explains its prevalence.
An illustration of a royal holding a red apple.
Almost all royal lines try to legitimize their rule with legendary origin stories. Here are five of the strangest examples.
A fish fossil is on display in a museum.
Metaphors like the Great Chain of Being can lead people to misunderstand evolution and humanity’s place in the web of life.
A man with sunglasses and a hat on against a purple background.
Decades of Alzheimer's research might have missed a cellular culprit hiding in plain sight.
superconductor quantum levitation
Is LK-99 truly a room temperature superconductor? These 4 tests, none of which have yet been passed, will separate fact from fiction.
A bottle of pills illustration on a pink background.
The patron saint of calling BS, Harry Frankfurt, died watching his philosophy become more urgent than ever.
Comparison of pain relievers.
Pain relievers like acetaminophen and ibuprofen are made with chemicals derived from oil. Scientists have shown how to make them from trees.
A vintage photograph capturing a couple by a turntable in black and white.
Your heart rate reveals your brain activity, which in turn can predict hit songs — and maybe stock performance, as well.
An image of a spiritually enlightened man posing with a celestial blue ball in tribute to Carl Sagan.
In polarized times, our shared cellular origin can unite us in solidarity and awe — from the embryonic scale to the grandest cosmic perspective.
fusion device LLNL
The National Ignition Facility just repeated, and improved upon, their earlier demonstration of nuclear fusion. Now, the true race begins.
A poster displaying different skulls of other human species on a purple background.
There were at least eight other human species, some of whom existed for far longer than we have. Who were they?
A collection of written profiles featuring men with beards and moustaches.
Voyage into the lawless world of experimental literature.
Ancient headless stone Buddha statue with one arm missing, seated cross-legged against a solid dark purple background.
9mins
Spirituality declines, depression rises. Is there a link?
el gordo JWST rotated cropped
From when its light was emitted, the El Gordo galaxy cluster might be the most massive object in all of existence. Here's how JWST sees it.