The Latest from Big Think

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In most countries, if an elected official told older adults to “hurry up and die” in order to save the state money on their medical care, it would border on […]
Just as some cars' seats vibrate when another car is in the driver's blind spot, the wheel uses GPS and sensors to alert drivers who may be experiencing temporary bright light blindness.
A professor in Japan has designed a "privacy visor" that uses near-infrared light to confuse cameras using facial recognition software.
Despite the fact that an estimated one million patients use marijuana as medicine every year, the U.S. has restricted research on marijuana. In other words, we don't know conclusively what its dangers and benefits are. 
Eben Alexander, author of the bestseller Proof of Heaven: A Neurosurgeon’s Journey into the Afterlife, is only the latest in a long line of historical figures who has argued for […]
A study titled "The Point of No Return" says that oil, gas, and coal projects currently planned in various countries will produce more than 6 gigatons of carbon dioxide emissions by 2020.
In addition, if researchers want to experiment on chimps in the future, they will have much higher hurdles to clear, says a report released Tuesday.
Uncertainty is problematic because it keeps you frozen still in a fast-paced world. Therefore, in an uncertain world, the value of certainty is paramount.   
Getting risk wrong leads to dangers all by itself, and we will remain vulnerable to these mistakes until we let go of our naïve post-Enlightenment faith in reason and accept that risk perception is inescapably an affective system, not just a matter of rationally figuring out the facts. 
When news came out recently that artist Damien Hirst had ended his long and lucrative relationship with dealer Larry Gagosian and his international chain of Gagosian Galleries, there was more […]
Laptops. iPads (or other tablet devices). Chromebooks. Maybe even netbooks or ultrabooks... As more schools and districts move toward 1:1 computing, one of the most common questions is 'What device […]
All sightings by the observatory will go directly into the NASA Exoplanet Archive online, which means that the pros and the amateurs will get the data at the same time.
A new study is the first-ever documented global assessment of the phenomenon, which has intensified over the last four years due to a rise in food prices.
NASA surveys have located 90 percent of near-Earth asteroids and comets larger than 1 kilometer in diameter and projected their orbits at least a century ahead.
A report released this week by the UK government examines the impact of technology on the concept of identity and offers policy recommendations.
The renovation of Delta's two terminals include mounted tablets that allow passengers to order food, check e-mail, and read the news.
Lawrence Krauss argues for differential pay scales for teachers with advanced training in science and math to accommodate the free market.
The gap between invention and implementation is beset by a bias: when in doubt we prefer the status quo, even when solutions to deficiencies are apparent. Is it any wonder […]
A new report by the World Economic Forum says we must spend $700 billion annually to wane ourselves off fossil fuels that have been linked to a rise in extreme weather-related disasters in recent years. 
The Web Payments group is working on an open standard protocol that would enable browsers to build in money exchange functionality.