Science & Tech

Science & Tech

Explore the discoveries that reveal how the world works, alongside the technologies that extend, reshape, and sometimes challenge what’s possible.

A beam of light shines through clouds in a painted sky, with the word "AWE" in large yellow letters centered in the image.
14mins
If you’ve gotten goosebumps when hearing a story about a stranger’s selfless heroism, or you’ve felt your chest swell at a concert, when the audience’s voice and the musician’s instruments align, you have felt awe. And, according to professor Dacher Keltner, who has spent his life studying it, it’s one of humankind’s most unifying traits:
ufo lights liverpool
Physicist Daniel Whiteson challenges the notion that all intelligent species would eventually uncover the same laws of nature. Do you agree?
Split image showing a vintage sailing ship with an American flag on the left and a modern electric boat labeled "Navier" on the right, both on the water with blueprint sketches in the background.
Rivals may try to outnumber us with fleets of cheap vessels. Our path is to out-innovate them.
A middle-aged man with glasses and a beard, resembling Jimmy Wales, poses in front of a light-colored background featuring Wikipedia's globe logo and various language characters.
Wales shares with Big Think his thoughts about the future of media, the promise of AI, and our need to build a culture on trust.
A green book cover with blue text, inspired by Goldie Chan's vibrant style.
Introverts have social batteries that will drain over time, but they can be recharged with good energy hygiene. Here’s how.
DUNE neutrino detectors
Nearly 100 years after being theorized, the strange behavior of the neutrino still mystifies us. They could be even stranger than we know.
An illustration of an eye outline formed by two black arrows, with a blue Earth at the center where the iris would be, on a textured beige and peach background.
An ode to the data visualization tools that help us see what is too vast, complex, or interconnected for the naked eye — from planetary systems to pandemic trends.
An image of El Gordo, a massive galaxy cluster captured by Hubble
The planet, the Solar System, and the galaxy aren't expanding. But the whole Universe is. So where does the dividing line begin?
A stylized orange and white face-like shape composed of wavy lines and interconnected geometric patterns on a grid background.
A look at how criminals are using unrestricted chatbots and how cyber defenders are fighting back.
Out-of-focus trees in the foreground with a clear full moon visible in the dusk sky, evoking a scene worthy of tristan gooley’s natural navigation.
Natural navigator Tristan Gooley joins us to discuss the philosophy of reading nature’s hidden clues — and how relearning this ancient skill can help us see the world, and ourselves, with greater awareness.
A collage featuring server racks, a robotic hand reaching for a human hand, and network diagrams, with the text “The Night Crawler” at the top—an homage to Eliezer Yudkowsky’s explorations of AI and human connection.
Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.
dark matter
Dark matter has never been directly detected, but the astronomical evidence for its existence is overwhelming. Here's what to know.
A woman with long blonde hair, wearing a black top and blazer, stands outdoors in front of modern buildings on a sunny day.
Investment in quantum is growing. Anastasia Marchenkova wants to make sure funders still ask the tough questions.
A close-up of a spotted nudibranch with translucent, pointed cerata on a brown underwater branch against a black background, inviting reflection on the intricate nature of consciousness in marine life.
In this excerpt from "One Hand Clapping," Nikolay Kukushkin makes the case that neurons reveal how memory, meaning, and even consciousness emerge from the same biological roots in humans, sea slugs, and beyond.
star vs planet vs brown dwarf
Red dwarfs are the Universe's most common star type. Their flaring now makes potentially Earth-like worlds uninhabitable, but just you wait.
Illustration of a hand holding a pen, drawing a DNA double helix made of colored dots on a dark background.
It's time to write the human genome, argues microbiologist Andrew Hessel.
A detailed black and white illustration of a toad on a green background, with the word "Car" written below it.
3mins
If the people controlling AI are biased, the output will also be. Free speech scholar Jacob Mchangama makes the case for completely open-source AI.
quasar-galaxy hybrid
Found by Hubble before JWST's launch, GNz7q looked like a mix of a galaxy and a quasar. Was it actually our first known "little red dot"?
24mins
“Deep down the natural endpoint of this whole goal of looking for planets is to answer the question: are we alone?”