Search
Latest Articles
The newest essays, interviews, and features from Big Think.
In the wake of the Aug. 23 court decision that halted Federal funding for embryonic stem cell research, Democrats are gearing up to use stem cell research as a wedge […]
What is happening to the neurochemistry of an addict's brain that makes that person so unable to do without cocaine, heroin, or methamphetamines?
Who decides what "insane" means? This was the major question of Ken Kesey's countercultural classic "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," which illustrated how mental illness could be deployed by […]
3mins
The neurotransmitter dopamine is crucial for learning adaptive behaviors, but addictive drugs exploit this normal mechanism by flooding the brain with dopamine.
2mins
"Your legs couldn’t tell you Newton’s laws, but they still obey them, and of course your brain might not be able to explain the laws of statistics, but it still […]
7mins
Kepecs uses rats to study the neurology of decision-making because their brains are evolutionarily similar to ours but much simpler. Likewise, if you wanted to learn how cars worked, you […]
For those of you who don’t frequent Craigslist Adult Services section, life was perhaps pretty uneventful last weekend. However, if you live in the US and are a patron of […]
Few people have felt the muzzle of an automatic machine gun in their gut, let alone survived a kidnapping on their birthday. In January 1998, then-federal prosecutor Stanley Alpert was […]
There were two threads of news this morning about potential activity at two fairly active Chilean volcanoes. First, there are reports of explosions (spanish) with ash or merely steam emissions at […]
The unexpected revival of Sinabung in Indonesia is now in its 2nd week and so far, the activity continues to ramp up. Overnight, the volcano experienced some of the largest […]
"With car use increasing all the time, in a few years we could be facing global gridlock. Can the calculations of mathematicians and engineers keep us moving?" The Independent reports.
"A genetically engineered strain of Atlantic salmon that's designed to grow twice as fast as its unaltered cousins may soon be eligible for dinner." The FDA may soon approve the food.
"There are nine states in the union where the government maintains a direct monopoly on the sale of hard liquor." The Economist reports on these 'lonely outposts of American socialism'.
"Is the future of TV in social networking?" A Forbes Magazine blog looks at the future of the television, which is online and allows shared viewing and conversations over Facebook and Twitter.
"How dizzyjam.com, muzu.tv and The Vynyl Factory are staging a musical revolution." The Telegraph reports on three Internet startups that are working to change the music industry.
"Disenchantment is a result of our having over-intellectualized our relations to the world (including nature)." Philosophy professor Akeel Bilgrami advocates a wider view of nature.
Rising jazz pianist Vijay Iyer, whose doctoral thesis was a study of musical cognition and the movement of the body, draws inspiration from past jazz masters as well as the field of physics.
"Happy F*ckin' Labor Day! Before there were unions, there was no middle class." Michael Moore tells White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel he ought to defend the UAW.
Politics and economics used to divide Europe into parts East and West, but now North and South better define the continent's different approaches when it comes to managing money.