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Slowly but surely, outsourced computing power and an abundance of data storage has researchers looking to the cloud for resources to help them tackle tough logistical problems.
Virtual robots have "evolved" to cooperate—but only with close relatives. The finding bolsters a long-standing theory about how cooperation has evolved and may resolve a bitter row among biologists.
What is it about power that changes people – or if not changes, brings out those aspects of them that had heretofore lain dormant? As the old adage goes, power […]
For the first time ever, Intel has fundamentally changed the basic building block of the computer chip: the transistor—increasing speed by 37 percent and cutting half the power consumed.
Some of the founders and leading lights in the fields of artificial intelligence and cognitive science have given a harsh assessment of the lack of progress in A.I. over the last few decades.
Whereas making business green was once a financial burden, companies today have a unique opportunity to design products that tap into the global urge to reduce carbon emissions.
Our government will never pass the burden of proof test concerning the death of Osama bin Laden if there is a general failure to comprehend the nature of evidence.
Have you noticed that something in the digital zeitgeist has changed the way we think about creativity and commerce? Artists are no longer just “artists” - they are now entrepreneurs, […]
The burgeoning field of regenerative medicine, or tissue engineering, seeks to harness the body's own healing powers.
The experts will do the analysis, but the philosophers will parse the emotions. Leon Weiseltier has this piece, on The New Republic’s website, in which he talks about the difference […]
Regenerative medicine captures the body’s ability to heal itself and accelerates that to a clinically relevant time scale.
I am a big fan of Jane McGonigal’s idea to create platforms, such as games, in order to involve everyone into solving global problems. Similarly, but on a much smaller scale, […]
Your girlfriend loves reruns of Sex and the City, high heels and champagne. You, on the other hand, like to pour over the Financial Times, drink espressos and debate the […]
Larry Flynt is a pioneer of pornography, who has seen it all, and he speaks to Big Think (See the exclusive video) about the nature of truth and the burden of proof in our society today.
Does killing Osama bin Laden guarantee President Obama’s reelection? It’s hard to imagine—short of the unemployment rate magically dropping several points—a single better piece of news for Obama. It’s certainly […]
The official account of the killing of Osama bin Laden has changed. U.S. officials initially claimed that bin Laden went down shooting. Now, they're saying he wasn't armed when he […]
No one knows more about life's ethical dilemmas than Randy Cohen. After spending over a decade answering readers' questions for the New York Times Magazine column The Ethicist, Cohen has fielded […]
I thought I'd offer some random observations... First off, I agree with my fellow BIG THINKER Kris that it's most unreasonable to fear terrorist retaliation. That's not only because the odds […]
Professor of physics at Columbia University, Brian Greene explains how the idea of multiple universes, or a singular "multiverse", supports other theories of how our universe came to be.
Scientists who claimed to have found evidence of dark matter deep within a mine in the Gran Sassoa mountain in Italy now claim there are seasonal variations in the mysterious matter's presence.