The Latest from Big Think

Text reading "The Latest" in a large, serif font on a light background.
2mins
As a science educator, Bill Nye the Science Guy has needed artistic conventions to communicate knowledge and information to his audience. That's just one reason why we need art, he says.
By combining Hubble data with other views from great, space-based observatories, we’re shedding new light on the Universe. “The wonder is, not that the field of stars of so vast, […]
Ra Paulette spent 20 years carving caves into soapstone mountains. His passion for the transcendent brings us back to Earth. 
In February of 2016, less than six months after first becoming operational, LIGO (the laser interferometer gravitational wave observatory) announced the first-ever direct detection of gravitational waves. What are they? […]
7mins
"No idea is above scrutiny and no people are beneath dignity," says activist Maajid Nawaz. We should interrogate the intellectual justification of all ideas and preserve the dignity of all people.
3mins
The legendary actor, author, and recording artist describes in touching detail how his relationship with Leonard Nimoy changed his life forever, still affecting Shatner today.
Infectious disease doctors in Brazil — as well as mothers of infants born with microcephaly — are using WhatsApp to diagnose and cope with the Zika-caused illness.
Everything that’s inherently quantum in the Universe is both a wave and a particle. So, are gravitational waves? “You asked me how to get out of the finite dimensions when […]
Nathan Eagle is the CEO of Jana, and its product is the mCent app. It addresses two issues facing emerging markets: giving users the ability to access the internet for free and helping connect major corporations with its next billion potential customers.
New bikes could be on their way to your local bikeshare system. PBSC Urban Solutions, the largest supplier of bicycles and stations in North America, has unleashed a pair of brand-new models designed to give riders a broader choice of how they use the system.
A Spanish collective has transformed an old abandoned church into La Iglesia Skate: a modern skatepark and cultural center, complete with a brand-new paint job by renowned interior artist Okuda San Miguel.
Elizabeth Kenny went against conventional methods for treating polio and believed a patient should have an active role in their recovery.
It’s getting bigger over time, but is there anything it’s displacing, or expanding into? “Mathematicians deal with possible worlds, with an infinite number of logically consistent systems. Observers explore the […]
The stars, gas, nebulae and dust in our galactic plane make it impossible to see through. But there are other forms of light. “Vision is the art of seeing what is […]
4mins
The angriest of comedians shares a joke about the current Oscars dilemma and why he finds discussing it such a frustrating experience.
An estimated 10 percent of the world's population doesn't have access to the Internet. Facebook's Connectivity Lab is trying to find a way to bring isolated communities online, but in order to do so, it needs to know where they live.
Experimentation-out-of-love is often inefficient and hard to measure. It isn’t always “solution-oriented." But it’s as necessary and natural to us as breathing, and all too easily swept under the rug. 
9mins
Novelist and "Life of Pi" author Yann Martel explains how travel confronts you with facts you cannot ignore and suggests that multilingualism makes us richer individuals.
It’s not in any form of light, and yet here we are, “seeing” the Universe all the same. “If the imprint is really due to gravitational waves from the big […]