The Latest from Big Think

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The human brain is adept at recognizing similar items and placing them into categories. In a new study, M.I.T. neuroscientists have identified the brain activity that seems to control this skill. 
The bitter political divide over the budget deficit is the result of a trust deficit, says Jonah Lehrer. Trust is about trading favors, but faced with large budget cuts, there are none left to trade. 
For the first time, researchers have used brain signals to predict when a driver is about to slam on the brakes. The technology can shorten braking distance by four meters, preventing accidents.
This will be my last post on conservative education at the ISI Honors Program. A couple of people have written me (doubtless Canadians) complaining that I distorted the thought of the […]
45% of employers use social networks to research applicants. Whether you're a god of the Twitterverse or happier with a pen in hand, your career is now linked to the digital landscape. Will reputations be made or broken on the web?
In the global quest for superpower status, who represents you? Delphi Fellow Parag Khanna argues that in the future, we will all be diplomats.
By now, many of you have heard/read about the supposed eruption at Pisgah Crater in California. It was all over Youtube (you know, a great source for reliable scientific information) […]
Bravo to Canadian literary legend Margaret Atwood for waging online warfare against library closings this week. When Toronto councillor Doug Ford floated some made-up statistics about the number of libraries […]
At this year's Lindau meeting of Nobel Prize winners, the virologist Harald zur Hausen said vaccinating only boys against the human papillomavirus would achieve better results.
In a recent essay posted online, NASA scientist James Hansen explains what he calls the "Easter Bunny" fantasy that we can adequately address climate change by providing subsidies for renewable […]
Contrary to common wisdom that superbugs with antibiotic resistance are outcompeted by their non-super neighbors, multidrug-resistant bacteria may be here to stay.
Good news for parents: You can get your children to eat zucchini, broccoli, tomatoes, cauliflower and squash—and like them. Just don't mention that is what they are really eating. 
A Swiss immunologist says that an antibody which recognizes all strains of influenza A could be a universal vaccine blueprint and could overcome the flu's ability to continually mutate. 
The modern social science classic Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus will soon turn twenty. The book reinforces gender stereotypes that hurt society, says Niobe Way. 
All eyes in the soccer world are on the United States this weekend with the Friday announcement that Jurgen Klinsmann will be taking over as head coach of the U.S. […]
I started reading Norwegian mystery writer Jo Nesbo's The Snowman while on vacation over Memorial Day in Maine.  Four of Nesbo's Harry Hole crime novels later, I find myself wondering, […]
Here's a strange story: Erica Herrera plans to marry Curtis Allgier, even though he's an incarcerated alleged murderer with white supremacist tattoos all over his face and she's not white. […]
80 is the new 40: With life expectancy and the retirement age creeping inexorably upward, how are you planning to spend your eighth decade? Starting a new company? Writing your memoirs? Or […]
Former New York Times Ethicist Randy Cohen tackles the ethics of asymmetrical relationships.