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"The passive-building standard is only now getting off the ground in the United States—despite years of data suggesting that America’s drafty building methods are wasteful."
"Tariq Ramadan says [the Ground Zero Islamic Center] should be built elsewhere. He debates Mustafa Bayoumi, an associate professor at Brooklyn College."
"Historians say it is time to radically rewrite America’s slavery story to include its buried history in New England. More than we like to think, the North was built on slavery."
"The philosophy that became known as ‘Tolstoyism’ was essentially a form of Christian anarchism based on the doctrine of non-resistance."
"Now that twentysomethings cling on to adolescence and adults live in perpetual kidulthood, Susie Mesure finds sociologists need a new lexicology for adults."
"The process of death can damage organs, rendering them useless for others. Ethicists now debate whether transplant surgery should begin before the heart stops."
"New energy technologies blossom when oil gets expensive. We can raise the price of fossil fuels again without hurting consumers—if we implement a fee and rebate system."
"In the future, the computational module of a brain coprocessor may be powerful enough to assist in high-level human cognition or complex decision making."
"Stop economic growth in its tracks, start living locally, at a slower pace, and share more—that was the remarkable demand yesterday at the beginning of the Sustainable Planet Forum."
"Women’s relatively rapid rise seems to have become unexpectedly entwined with patriotism—proof of this country’s belief in fairness, equality, upward mobility."
"Congress wants to weaken the buck against China's currency, and a broader devaluation could help the Federal Reserve stave off deflation pressures."
Is human nature selfless? The conclusion of many biologists that life is a series of fierce competitions for resources is put in doubt by the seemingly selfless behavior of many species.
"The case for natural wines has always been philosophic and aesthetic." Slate's Mike Steinberger says the word 'natural' is meaningless in the wine industry.
"Intellectual property law should protect businesses, but too often can be used to stifle the spread of ideas." The Mises Economic blog on copyright sensibility, or lack thereof.
The beat goes on: "Andvinyly, a UK-based outfit, has this offer: after you die, you can have some of your cremated ashes pressed into a vinyl record."
"We think of terraforming as something we’ll do in the future to other planets, but we have thousands of years of experience changing the shape of our own planet in profound ways."
"Efforts to make education more 'relevant' to black people can be both patronising and harmful. The western literary canon should be taught to everyone."
"Various efforts are underway to find a cheap, efficient and scalable way to recycle the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide back into the hydrocarbons that fuel civilization."
When fine fragrance perfumer Christophe Laudamiel, a recent Big Think guest, saw our video interview with filmmaker John Waters—in which Waters divulged his affection for a deadly work of contemporary […]
Big Think interviewed an array of luminaries in a variety of fields this week, including several world leaders and giants in the arts. Bolivian President Evo Morales, in New York […]