Search
Technological Progress
Why the road to self-driving vehicles is paved with smarter “dumb” cars.
In a world of rising cynicism, a celebration of our capacity to create, adapt, and thrive.
Evidence shows that “centaurs” — human–AI teaming — produce better performance than either people or software can achieve alone.
These missions will put us one step closer to the ultimate goal: crewed trips to Mars.
Slowing growth and limiting development isn’t living in harmony with nature—it is surrendering in a battle.
Today, the Large Hadron Collider is the most powerful particle physics experiment in history. What would a new, successor collider teach us?
The rise and fall of Josh Harris — the genius who anticipated the digital revolution just a little too soon.
AI researcher and author Ken Stanley wonders how our rear-view perspective on success fits into a serendipitous mode of innovation.
From surviving on wild plants and game to controlling our world with technology, humanity's journey of progress is a story of expanding human agency.
9 minutes of cruel history may cure the anti-progress delusion.
The world needs a moral defense of progress based in humanism and agency.
CERN's Large Hadron Collider is the most powerful particle accelerator ever. To go even further, we'll have to overcome something big.
The burial spot was found in one of the Herculaneum scrolls charred by Mt. Vesuvius.
NASA's minivan-sized drone is scheduled to search for signs of life on Titan in 2034.
If the past is any guide, things are going to take off quickly.
This may be the largest helium reservoir in U.S. history.
"Hardcore History" host Dan Carlin recently spoke with Big Think about the history of humanity's drive to create — and whether or not we can control it.
Although human beings arrived on Earth just ~300,000 years ago, we've transformed the entire planet completely. Here's how we did it.
On the morning of April 20, 1961, all conditions were "go" for an attempt at free flight. A man was on standby with a fire extinguisher. Just in case.
During the industrial era the cost of artificial light fell off a cliff — and the road to illumination was paved with ingenuity and slaughter.
Lasers, mirrors, and computational advances can all work together to push ground-based astronomy past the limits of our atmosphere.
Archaeologists have identified what may be Europe’s oldest human-made megastructure.
AI is both a tool and a catalyst — and the key to successful integration is to rewrite your rule book and tinker.
Do grim sci-fi scenarios crush our hopes for real-world growth? Author Michael Harris looks elsewhere to unblock the road to a better future.
Human civilization has always survived periods of change. Will our rapidly evolving technological era be an exception to the rule?
These theoretical megastructures represent one way an advanced civilization might harvest energy from stars.
Chemists could replace bubbling flasks with tumbling ball mills.
A unique combination of DNA and silica is the strongest known material for its density (but you’ll need a lot of it before you can build a suit from it).
A true scientific view of if, where, and when extraterrestrial life exists is within our grasp thanks to biosignatures and technosignatures.
Only nine weeks later, the Wright Brothers achieved manned flight. The pathologically cynical always will find a reason to complain.