The Latest from Big Think

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For a mere ¥100,000 (about $1,200), expectant couples can get a service that will turn MRI data into an image that can then be printed using a 3D printer.
[Editor's Note: Please welcome guest blogger Andrew Tripp, author of Considered Exclamations and president and co-founder of the DePaul Alliance for Free Thought, a Secular Student Alliance and Center for […]
If phantom islands can be discovered as recently as 2012, maybe there are still more of them out there. 
At 17 billion times the mass of the sun, it could be the biggest of its kind found to date, and its existence may shake up scientists' knowledge of how galaxies are born and evolve.
Editor's Note: Today I'm thrilled to have a guest post by Adam Baron, an excellent journalist, who is working and writing from Yemen.  Today, he wrote a must-read story on […]
The debate over the fiscal cliff has spawned a multitude of suggestions for reforming the tax system, including my own.  One possible reason for the wide range of proposals, even from mainstream economists, is that the recommendations of standard economic theory may be very different from what the American economy actually needs today.  Here are two views of taxation, from the theoretical and realistic standpoints – can you find a happy medium between them?
In 1975, rock legend Lou Reed released an album entitled Metal Machine Music. The album consists of no songs, no lyrics and is entirely devoid of melody and rhythm. Instead, […]
Unique architecture may play a role in Einstein's creativity and ability to solve complex problems in physics. 
A Spanish company has successfully completed a test of a balloon that could take passengers 20 miles above Earth, just a few miles short of Felix Baumgartner's October launch spot.
A new UN report warns that if thawing continues as expected, major ecosystems will be impacted and large amounts of methane and carbon dioxide will be released into the atmosphere.
The rate represents a drop over the past year compared to the previous year, but almost 1800 square miles was still lost, possibly due to rising deforestation in some Brazilian states.
The same machine used to discover the Higgs boson particle may also have produced something that would most likely have last existed around the time of the Big Bang.
Dear Representative Boehner, Earlier this month, after President Obama was re-elected, you assured America in an interview that you are the "most reasonable, responsible person here in Washington.” No one […]
Ireland's Catholic bishops have released an official statement on the death of Savita Halappanavar, to my surprise. It may well be that the outcry was so great, they felt obligated […]
Most short lists of greatest living artists will have names such as David Hockney, Gerhard Richter, (BigThink.com’s own) Ai Weiwei, Cindy Sherman, Damien Hirst, or Jeff Koons. But who would […]
The company announced today that two of its models will include functionality that will let iPhone owners access the personal assistant using a special "Eyes Free" feature.
Security is perhaps the most well-known illusion human beings have contrived. From the cursory seduction of emotional stability to the wrathful manifestation of raging armies, the painful longing for complete […]
Recent break-ins at several Texas hotels have been traced to a digital pickpocketing tool that takes advantage of a security vulnerability in locks found in millions of rooms worldwide.
Our prehistoric ancestors are the ones who did the heavy mental lifting for which we owe our expanded frontal cortexes. So who has the right brain for today?  
British Airways passengers can now be assured of finishing any in-flight movies they watch, thanks to an agreement between the airline and the UK government.