Today’s interviews with Congressman Barney Frank and Senator Richard Shelby mark the final installment of What Went Wrong?, Big Think’s series on the financial crisis. Over the past few months, we sat […]
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Should there be a ceiling to the ambitions of Silicon Valley? It seems like a decisive “no,” according to the people who want to build new societies online, atop the ocean, and on Mars.
Break into London Zoo? Illegal, but it would improve the London Circle Walk
Historically, periods of mass flourishing are underpinned by technological revolutions. Currently, we are undergoing a technological revolution unlike anything the world has ever seen.
What do communist dictators Joseph Stalin and Mao Zedong have in common with U.S. Presidents like John F. Kennedy and Ronald Reagan? Hint: It’s the same thing they have in […]
Thou shalt not conclude “aliens” from insufficient data. When it comes to what’s out there in this Universe, perhaps the only thing that’s greater than our cosmic ignorance is the […]
Trump is #45 but Pence is #48 – and other strange consequences of the curious office of vice president.
"Sea of Shadows" is a documentary you can't afford to miss.
FieldTrip is advancing the realm of clinical psychedelic testing.
As the popularity of sparkling waters grows, many wonder if it represents a fresh turning point or a crisp new snake oil.
Learn how to enter into the mindset of a successful inventor.
142 more stores to close, but that might be just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Truth is, dinosaurs aren’t as distinct as you may think, but to find out why, we first have to consider how we got the term “dinosaur.”
The history of April Fools' Day is long and glorious. We've got seven of the best pranks of all time for you here.
Even our scientific heroes can’t be right about everything. Let’s learn the lessons that they never did. In the 1960s, a young theoretical physicist named Stephen Hawking rose to prominence as […]
A US-based company is genetically creating proteins similar to bovine collagen to make leather from living cells without the need of animals.
The origin of life on Earth may have nothing to do with Earth at all. “An extrapolation of the genetic complexity of organisms to earlier times suggests that life began before […]
Rationality isn't the rule, it's rare. That's true of the sort of optimizing rationality that economists presume we all have (even though many economists themselves fall short of that standard).
PTSD develops after a person experiences, or is a witness to, a life-threatening or traumatic event — a natural disaster, for example — or is exposed to combat, or sexual […]
A handful of noble families own large tracts of the British capital - and have done so for centuries
We’ve just had the largest full Moon in 68 years. Here’s what was — and wasn’t — true. “For most people, we often marvel at the beauty of a sunrise or the magnificence of […]
Time travel has titillated scientists and science-fiction fans alike ever since HG Wells first conceived of it in the 19th century. But it plausible? Princeton astrophysicist John Richard Gott III discusses the two ways that it might be.
Understanding how to become more resilient could rely on a simple linguistic shift.
Wanting to believe in the impossible can be far worse than keeping an open mind. “No man is so foolish but he may sometimes give another good counsel, and no man […]
What do “Yesterday,” “Satisfaction,” “My Generation,” “The Sound of Silence,” “California Girls,” and “Like a Rolling Stone” all have in common? They were all hits in 1965, the year author Andrew Grant Jackson calls “the most revolutionary year in music.” In 1965: The Most Revolutionary Year in Music, Jackson weaves a fascinating narrative of how popular music and social change influenced one another to create a year memorable not only for great music, but also for great progress in American culture. In this whirlwind tour of multiple genres of music as well as multiple pressing political issues, Jackson states a compelling case for 1965 as a key turning point in American music and society as well as provides a mirror for how music and society interact today, 50 years later.
In order to nurture effective collaboration, Mayer, like any CEO, needs to manage collaboration, and eliminate distraction. That begins with the wisdom of knowing the difference.
Last summer, a bookstore in northeast London was the beneficiary of Britain's first-ever cash mob. Begun in the US, and patterned after flash mobs, it is a growing movement designed to bring people together to support local businesses.
For the third year running, here’s a very personal, very subjective, “I can’t read everything, so I probably left out something, so mention it in the comments, OK?” list of […]
Big Think would like to congratulate Peter Salovey, who was named the 23rd President of Yale University last week. Since Salovey succeeds Richard C. Levin, whose tenure at Yale lasted […]