The renowned physicist and scholar discusses the science of lucid dreaming, from his Big Think interview posted earlier this week. 

Throughout the developing world, “and increasingly in Africa and Asia,” the single largest occupation for women is agriculture. Yet although they perform much of the labor, women and girls (who […]

"The recognition of human wretchedness is difficult for whoever is rich and powerful because he is almost invincibly led to believe that he is something. It is equally difficult for the man in miserable circumstances because he is almost invincibly led to believe that the rich and powerful man is something."

"Star Trek speaks to some basic human needs: that there is a tomorrow — it's not all going to be over with a big flash and a bomb; that the human race is improving; that we have things to be proud of as humans. No, ancient astronauts did not build the pyramids — human beings built them, because they're clever and they work hard. And Star Trek is about those things."

How many times have you heard a colleague preach about the importance of achieving a healthy work-life balance? For a lot of self-helpers, achieving an equilibrium between the personal and […]

"Any man who afflicts the human race with ideas must be prepared to see them misunderstood."

How many times have you heard a politician or school board official vow to improve education by increasing students’ access to technology? Perhaps you’re familiar with the now-dormant plan to […]

Theoretical physicist, best-selling author, and all around cool guy Michio Kaku returns to Big Think to discuss the science of dreaming, as well as everything Freud got right about our subconscious.

"The only thing that's been a worse flop than the organization of nonviolence has been the organization of violence."

"The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."

"Nobody’s going to pay for smart in the future because the smarter the doctor, the smarter the lawyer, the smarter the engineer, the smarter the financier, that’s all going onto software.  So we move up the ladder and we say that what we really value and what will rise to the top is intelligence.  And what is that?  That’s the ability to figure things out that you’ve never learned before." -Futurist Edie Weiner, from her Big Think interview

"There is no part of planet Earth which has so recently arrived on our desk as a challenge and as an opportunity. So therefore, cooperation in the Arctic is one of the most crucial issues of the 21st-century" -Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson, President of Iceland, from his Big Think interview

Despite knuckle-gripping tension and mass nuclear proliferation during the Cold War, not a single detonation has caused mass civilian casualties since 1945. According to investigative journalist Eric Schlosser, such good fortune is nothing more than blind luck.

There are two reasons why President Grímsson considers the Arctic the next major environmental, political, and economic playing field: climate change and the region's untapped natural resources.  

There are countless opportunities in this world for one to give of him- or herself. And doing so, says WuDunn, helps more than just the receiver, even if it's not immediately apparent.

"What is a scientist after all? It is a curious person looking through a keyhole, the keyhole of nature, trying to know what's going on."

Perel, a world-renowned psychologist and relationship expert, defines the division between sexuality and eroticism as similar to the difference between animals and human beings.

"The first step — especially for young people with energy and drive and talent, but not money — the first step to controlling your world is to control your culture. To model and demonstrate the kind of world you demand to live in. To write the books. Make the music. Shoot the films. Paint the art."

"A skateboarder’s way of thought is so different that I feel if somebody had some sort of dilemma in their life you could ask a skateboarder for an outside opinion.You may get something that is absolutely ridiculous or you could get something that’s absolutely brilliant." -From his recent Big Think interview

"I was the conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say — I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger."