Latest Articles

Latest Articles

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

Impaired judgement aside, I bet a lot of men would like to know exactly how much they have to pay to sufficiently obligate their dates to have sex with them.
UPDATE: Contest Deadline is Friday, March 11th at 8 a.m. EST and the Five Winners will be Announced Next Week - Stay Tuned! Imagine, if you can, the world in the […]
The economist and former World Bank analyst explains how disastrous his former employer's policies have been for the developing world, amounting to "a punch in the face" for the poor.
Seemingly every year there are new reports that something we consume or use on a daily basis is carcinogenic. But what exactly does that mean on a biological level?
 I will talk about the work of each of the speakers below over the next few weeks.  But it should be clear enough that this conference will explore most of […]
The new fissure eruption on Kilauea is going strong - the fissure has been erupting(video) over the last two days, sometimes producing fountains as high as 25 meters, but usually […]
Slovenian philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek argues that what Israel needs is not segregation, but unity and free contact between its peoples.
With governments toppling around the Middle East, what will this moment bring to bear on Iran? Its nuclear program continues while intervention is considered riskier than ever.
A combination of China's centralized political power and its new building projects on a massive scale have given it an advantage in clean energy markets, says Shi Zhengrong.
North Korea is using a German intermediary to approach the United Nations in hopes of selling carbon credits from its hydro-power projects to more wealthy nations for hard currency.
Globalization has been both a force for good and ill in the world, argues Satheesan Kumaaran. Economies in conversion are often unable to exploit the benefits of liberal markets, the author says.
Revolutions' final outcomes are seldom congruent with their prime movers' intentions, says Shlomo Ben Ami. Will the relationship between Egyptian civilians and their military hold?
Desperate to avoid involvement in Libya in the event of prolonged civil unrest, the U.S. have asked Saudi Arabia to supply weapons to the rebels in Benghazi, reports Robert Fisk.
In a series of farewell speeches that recall President Eisenhower's warnings against the military-industrial complex, Defense Secretary Gates says the military needs sizable reform.
After the euphoria of Tunisia and Egypt, Qaddafi’s defiance provides a reminder that revolutions are often bloody and uncertain for their duration, says Wendell Steavenson.
In the quest to being the first or fastest to get out of a free-falling share in the stock market, financial model formulas  are programmed into computers  by investors great […]
Economist and Nobel laureate Gary Becker predicts that the recent uprisings across the Middle East will make its economies more competitive and raise oil prices in the short and long run.
Performance art usually receives condescending smirks in the United States as the last kid picked for the cultural game of kickball. With Charlie Sheen’s big adventure, however, maybe performance art has finally come to the colonies.
I guess Scott Walker isn’t totally heartless. One of the few areas of Wisconsin state government where Governor Walker wants to increase funding are “payments to counties to cover the […]
Normally I don't post over the weekend, but volcanoes are on no man's schedule! After the collapses at Pu`u O`o (see below) and the draining of the lava lake at […]