bigthinkeditor

“Nothing in the world can one imagine beforehand, not the least thing, everything is made up of so many unique particulars that cannot be foreseen.” ― Nostradamus (born on this date in 1503, we think)

“Breathe-in experience, breathe-out poetry.”- Muriel Rukeyser (born on this date in 1913)

A huge pool of magma is under the surface, representing an existential threat to America, as well as the rest of the world. One scientist estimates an eruption would be 2,000 times the size of Mount St. Helens. 

The reliable Geminid meteor shower is an annual hit for stargazers, and it should not disappoint this year despite waxing gibbous moonlight during the shower’s peak tonight (December 13/14).

“The one who comes to question himself cares for mankind.” ― Kenneth Patchen (born on this date in 1911)

Your computer will be able to answer your questions before you ask them or even before you realize you have a question.

Scientists have developed a way of trapping single sperm cells inside metal nanotubes. The direction of these ‘spermbots’ can be controlled remotely to deliver drugs or fertilize an egg.

Schekman compares the incentives that journals such as Nature, Cell and Science offer scientists to Wall Street’s bonus culture. 

Thick clouds, rain, a bright Gibbous Moon and chilly temperatures will make for difficult stargazing. Fortunately the Slooh space camera’s broadcast team will be providing all night coverage that includes expert commentary from Bob Berman.  

A human-sounding telemarketer says she is real. Can you tell from this recording?

Here is a glimpse of what our world would look like to a visitor from afar. 

The image above depicts skyscrapers in the Canary Wharf business district of east London poking out as much of the rest of the city is shrouded in fog on December 11, 2013. The photo was taken by the London Metropolitan Police. 

The question remains as to whether the bright spot seen moving away from the sun was simply debris, or whether a small nucleus of the original ball of ice was still there.

“No longer shall I paint interiors with men reading and women knitting. I will paint living people who breathe and feel and suffer and love.”- Edvard Munch (born on this date in 1863)

By hitting snooze you are making the wake-up process more difficult and drawn out. 

Whether we are buying shoes or pursuing a certain career, unconsciously we imagine “if only life could be this way…if only I could be like her, wear those shoes or drive that car.” 

Fixated as we are on reason, humans tend to overlook other types of intelligence that animals possess in abundance.

“You only have power over people as long as you don’t take everything away from them. But when you’ve robbed a man of everything, he’s no longer in your power–he’s free again.” ― Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn (born on this date in 1918)

No one, not Charles Mingus, Art Blakey or Dizzy Gillespie is born a great bandleader. We are not deeply conscious of others. We need to train our minds to be that way.

The idea that Aaron Swartz fought for is that the public should have access to federal court documents as well as access to scholarly research that was being put behind paywalls.

“Power is something of which I am convinced there is no innocence this side of the womb.”- Nadine Gordimer (born on this date in 1923)

“It’s funny. All you have to do is say something nobody understands and they’ll do practically anything you want them to.” ― J.D. Salinger

“I don’t paint things. I only paint the difference between things.”- Henri Matisse (born on this date in 1869)

“A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition.” ― Rudyard Kipling (born on this date in 1865)

“I am not disposed to complain that I have planted and others have gathered the fruits.”- Charles Goodyear (born on this date in 1800)

“Quotations are useful in periods of ignorance or obscurantist beliefs.” ― Guy Debord (born on this date in 1931)

“I demonstrate by means of philosophy that the earth is round, and is inhabited on all sides; that it is insignificantly small, and is borne through the stars.” – Johannes Kepler

“The aim of life is to live, and to live means to be aware, joyously, drunkenly, serenely, divinely aware.” – Henry Miller (born on this date in 1891)

“The freethinking of one age is the common sense of the next.” – Matthew Arnold (born on this date in 1822)

“New capabilities emerge just by virtue of having smart people with access to state-of-the-art technology.” – Internet pioneer Robert Kahn (born on this date in 1938)