Stephen Johnson
Managing Editor, Big Think
Stephen Johnson is the Managing Editor of Big Think. Formerly a long-time contributor to Big Think, he is a St. Louis-based writer and editor whose work has been featured in U.S. News & World Report, PBS Digital Studios, Eleven Magazine, and The Missourian.
A new report from the World Health Organization outlines some sobering statistics on the global toll of alcohol consumption.
Some say the proliferation of sex robots could lead to less demand for prostitution, but not all agree.
Scientists think constructing a miles-long wall along an ice shelf in Antarctica could help protect the world’s largest glacier from melting.
It’s a development that could one day lead to much better treatments for osteoporosis, joint damage, and bone fractures.
A groundbreaking new study shows that octopuses seemed to exhibit uncharacteristically social behavior when given MDMA, the psychedelic drug commonly known as ecstasy.
It turns out the human scalp has an olfactory receptor that seems to play a crucial role in regulating hair follicle growth and death.
Scientists in Japan have genetically modified chickens to lay eggs containing an extremely valuable protein that helps treat cancer, hepatitis and multiple sclerosis in humans. The cost of one of […]
American farmers are expected to traverse a rocky financial road in the coming months.
It’s the first time a female superhero has ever scored her own film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The billionaire is also inviting eight artists along with him. It would be the first time a civilian crew has participated in a mission to the moon.
The surprisingly simple treatment could prove promising for doctors and patients seeking to treat depression without medication.
On Sunday, a woman accused the Supreme Court nominee of sexual assault in an interview with the Washington Post.
New research offers a tip for politicians who don’t want to be seen as corrupt: don’t get a big head.
The Boring Company plans to build a new tunnel system that would connect residential garages to an underground hyperloop via elevator, potentially enabling people to someday enter the futuristic public transit system by simply stepping into their parked cars.
Apple unveiled the new Apple Watch Series 4 and three new iPhones during their keynote event on Wednesday, and they are chock-full of goodies.
A new computer model suggests that the 21st century will have more frequent hurricanes of staggering force.
A mining company in Australia has unearthed what could be some of the largest gold specimens ever discovered.
The researchers in this study found that doctors are prescribing opioids even to patients who don’t have any pain-related symptoms. Why?
Istanbul’s “Smart Mobile Waste Transfer Centers” scan and assign a value to recyclables before crushing, shredding, and sorting the material. Will they help to prevent littering?
The maker of OxyContin, one of the world’s most widely abused opioids, has patented a drug that aims to help addicts wean off opioids.
Jaguar is trying to make pedestrians more comfortable around autonomous cars by giving vehicles cars human-like eyes that follow pedestrians to let them know the car ‘sees’ them.
Elon Musk appeared on the Joe Rogan Experience for a conversation that covered topics ranging from the inner workings of neural link technology to the differences between a joint and a blunt.
The astrophysicist Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell has been awarded a special Breakthrough prize for discovering pulsars in the 1960s.
The New York Times published an opinion column written by an anonymous “senior official in the Trump administration,” a rare move that’s sparked theories as to who the author might be.
Ketosis is known to work wonders in terms of short-term weight loss. But what about the diet’s effects over the long term?
When the zombies come, when the bombs fall, or when biological warfare breaks, where will you go? If you’re a wealthy tech executive in Silicon Valley, odds are it’s New Zealand.
Writer and director Judd Apatow, one of several high-profile artists that threatened to drop out of the festival, said he wouldn’t participate in an event that “normalizes hate.”
A group of 200 artists, actors, musicians and scientists have signed an open letter calling for the world’s politicians to act “firmly and immediately” on climate change in order to avoid a “global cataclysm”.
A new study suggests that switching to a Mediterranean diet in the later years can prolong your lifespan.
Senator John Sidney McCain III, who died Saturday, Aug. 25, 2018 at the age of 81, is lying in state in the Rotunda of the United States Capitol.