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Laurie Vazquez
Contributing Writer
Laurie writes about science and technology for Popular Science, TIME, and FiatPhysica. Her passion is figuring out how things work and explaining them in plain English. She is always on the hunt to find and share the coolest ideas out there, and is excited to do that for BigThink. When she's not doing that, you’ll probably find her playing video games, her viola, or writing science fiction radio plays for KSVR’s Radio Theater Project. You can also find her on Twitter @mslauriewrites.
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A recent Supreme Court ruling declared that unintentional bias is not only real but harmful. That ruling not only validates the work of cognitive scientists, but paves the way for change.
The Global Challenges Foundation released a Global Catastrophic Risk Report last week. The results aren't pretty. Or surprising.
A recent study out of Australia has crunched data over a 29-year timespan and found no correlation between cellphone usage and brain cancer. Hooray!
The arctic research ship that captured the heart of the internet will NOT be named Boaty McBoatface. And the public is not happy about it.
One psychologist’s quest to figure out one incredibly icky word
When was the last time anyone cared about an Artic research ship? Exactly.
Creepy is a hard thing to pin down. Thankfully, science has just done it. Here are the definitive characteristics of creepiness.
The Lowline is the world’s first underground park. Well, almost: it’s testing the science of growing plants underground on Manhattan’s Lower East Side - and it’s a literal urban jungle.
Penguins in Antarctica are changing their migration patterns. Scientists aren't sure why -- and they need your help to figure it out. And you can do it from the comfort of your home.
Wonder how your brain makes space for new memories? Scientists at Oxford just discovered how.
If you've ever wondered what happens to a tattoo, the answer's more surprising than you think.
Experiment doesn't fund projects: it funds people. And it's helping make scientists out of everyone - especially students.
Just hearing two languages helps babies develop cognitive skills before they even speak. Here's how - and how you can help them develop those skills.
Scientists in Australia have just discovered a link between dark chocolate and mood. And all they had to do was feed people chocolate for a month.
Scientists have just discovered that newts regrow limbs differently as adults than as babies - which could finally pave the way for limb regeneration in humans.
As Twitter celebrates its tenth anniversary, we look back at how it's changed the world for the better. HINT: All of that world-changing goodness comes straight from its users.
Scientists at UC Berkeley could change the focus of the birth control debate, thanks to a discovery about sperm. And now that they know how it kicks into gear, they can make birth control for men.
Scientists at UC Berkeley could change the focus of the birth control debate.
Between Microsoft's racist chatbot to beating the world GO champion, artificial intelligence has better things to do than whatever we're afraid of. Here's a recap of the highlights.
Scientists don't always use normal words when explaining their research to the public. Here's a quick and easy to guide to understanding those words for people who aren't scientists.
The words "nerd" and "geek" are often used interchangeably, as if they mean the same thing. They actually don't.