bigthinkeditor

A new analysis of European tree-ring samples suggests that mild summers may have been the key to the rise of the Roman Empire.

To the outrage of breastfeeding campaigners and probably the utter confusion of most women with small babies, scientists today advocate rewriting the rulebook on breastfeeding.

Digital data is easily produced and copied. It doesn’t take up too much drive space, and, once uploaded, it can remain online in perpetuity.

What is really so shocking anyway about a policeman siding with ‘radical’ environmentalists whose views on climate change are sympathised with by many members of the establishment?

This deep divide in American political morality — for that’s what it amounts to — is a relatively recent development: Paul Krugman.

The legendary chess grandmasters, who have spent thousands of hours analyzing each other’s games, describe and critique each others’ playing styles.

The Eiffel Tower was intended to stand for only 20 years past its 1889 debut—experts at the time predicted it would come crashing down before construction was even finished.

If I want to be free to play the violin in a well-performed Beethoven symphony, then I must submit myself to the authority of a conductor to coordinate the musicians’ play.

The attack on gun culture is built on a deep suspicion of the motivations of ordinary citizens expressing political opinions, says American Studies professor Kevin Yuill.

Gabriel Orozco, Mexico’s foremost living artist, has a secret. Though he is celebrated for his “post-studio practice” it turns out he has a space that many artists would call a studio.

Holding a hard or soft ball can influence a person’s perception of how masculine or feminine others are. Our sense of touch is connected to social processing in our brains.

Our natural sunny or negative dispositions might be a more powerful predictor of future happiness than any specific event, suggests a new study of human psychology.

Those at the end of emerging adulthood will better make the family and career decisions they had been putting off, resulting in a future of greater life satisfaction and stability.

The key role of emerging and developing countries—including India, China, and Brazil—in sustaining world economic growth will continue in 2011, says the I.M.F.

In the aftermath of a global recession and extreme political unrest, renowned author and teacher Deepak Chopra, M.D., believes it’s time for a different kind of leadership.

When felony defendants jump bail, bounty hunters spring into action. It’s a uniquely American system, and it works, says George Mason economics professor Alex Tabarrok.

The media has speculated that Arizona gunman Jared Loughner’s heavy use of marijuana could be behind his psychotic behavior. Forensic psychiatrist Michael Stone looks at the science behind this claim.

Taste is both a sense and a preference; a gustatory pleasure and a social inquiry of what’s beautiful, proper, unique and stylish. What is taste on a neurological level and […]

Materials scientists in California, using a innovative new recipe, have made a special metallic glass with a strength and toughness greater than any known material.

After President Kennedy’s public blustering over Russian nuclear missiles in Cuba, it was secret diplomatic communication that prevented war. Is secrecy sometimes necessary?

What happens when the only piece of evidence in support of a radical idea—e.g. that vaccines cause autism—is clearly and definitely refuted? Belief in the evidence is strengthened!

Rather than becoming an ally, India is more likely to become one of the Asian countries that will tend to balance China’s strategic rise, says Harvard professor Joseph Nye.

Food writer Adam Gopnik travels from the White House kitchen to the famed elBulli restaurant in Catalonia, Spain and finds that savory flavors are the new fad in desserts.

British scientist Simon Conway Morris believes there are only two possibilities for alien life; either we’re alone or aliens exist, and they are out to get us.

Often referred to as the hormone of love, oxytocin is coming into sharper focus and its social radius of action turns out to have definite limits.

What happens to the digital legacy of those who have complicated online profiles, passwords, digital assets such as music and who happen to be—dead?

Cattle and other livestock create tons of damaging greenhouse gases. There may be one environmentally friendly solution: eating bugs. But will anyone go for it?

A technology cleanse means you unplug for a short time with longer-term benefits for your relationships. But be warned: As with any other diet, it isn’t easy.

There is a point in every child’s development where he begins to realize that the content of his parents’ minds is different than that in his own, says author Malcolm […]

While it’s established that polygamy can be a source of oppression for women, to over-simplify and construe it as necessarily generating abuse is unproductive.