AS the United Nations Security Council meets in New York, Secretary General Ban ki moon is calling for “decisive” action to be taken against the Libyan regime. The UN Secretary […]

Putting on a bright face at work could leave you feeling miserable. Workers who fake a smile to keep their customers and colleagues happy could be making themselves depressed.

Rolling Stone magazine caused turmoil in the U.S. military this week reporting that a commander in Afghanistan ordered a "psychological operations" team to manipulate U.S. senators.

The notion that science and religion are at war is one of the great dogmas of the present age. However, the views of many scientists turn out to be less rigidly doctrinaire than suspected.

A new book looking back on The Feminine Mystique explains why Betty Friedan might have paved the way for equal marriages by blowing the roof off male-dominated couplings.

We all know that women like funny guys but empirical evidence for this phenomenon has been sorely lacking. Fortunately, a recent study tests whether humor helps men pick up women.

Defense Secretary Gates bluntly told an audience of West Point cadets on Friday that it would be unwise for the United States to ever fight another war like Iraq or Afghanistan.

Starting your own business often means going it alone on health insurance—a risky prospect for any individual, let alone a family. Reform will encourage entrepreneurs, says Ezra Klein.

A new study from the University of California has found that younger Internet users become more socially engaged in the real world, not just online, thanks to their use of social media.

Lawrence Principe of Johns Hopkins University wants to rehabilitate alchemy. He believes that most alchemists were respectable knowledge seekers working with well constructed theories.

The security afforded by having a government job is worth approximately a pay increase of 15%, says Art Carden. This should inform the debate over collective bargaining in Madison.

This Big Think special series looks at what taste actually is—from both a scientific and sociological perspective—and why it is that we find some tastes so appealing and others disgusting.

LGBT advocate Tim McCarthy argues the cause of same-sex marriage is not the best issue strategically for the LGBT community.

We've finally made it to the weekend, so I thought I'd leave you with a shiny new image from the NASA Earth Observatory folks. The new ASTER image (below) captured […]

Heavy gun fire has been heard raking the streets of Tripoli, as Libyan dictator Colonel Gadaffi makes a defiant stand. There can be no doubt now that he will stop at absolutely nothing to hang on to power. What, if anything, should the international community be doing to help? 

Are people naturally good or evil? How much of our mental life is unconscious? Are our desires hard-wired by evolution? On the evening of Monday, March 21st, renowned psychologist and […]

Most leaders fail by not knowing what their employees' real raw talents are; they should invest most time to finding out and developing a person's god-given gifts.

Two high-ranking ministers made headlines this week by falling out of line with the governments they represent. They are U.S. Ambassador to China, Jon Huntsman, and Libya's Ambassador to the U.S., Ali Ojli. 

Avenues: The World School, a exclusive school set to open in 2012 in New York City, will be one of the most forward-looking and global schools on the planet. But will this model fix America's educational system or just exacerbate inequalities?