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.
We compiled a list of seven of the greatest public speakers of all time, people who forever changed the course of history with their words.
Hans Monderman believed that societies could make roads safer by making drivers more uncertain, and therefore alert.
Scientists have developed an algorithm that reliably detects the signs of Alzheimer’s dementia before its onset.
Hitler is commonly thought to have been an atheist, a claim that’s often used in debates about the perils of atheistic belief on a mass scale. But was he?
A new study shows that people who avoid negative emotion tend to be worse off psychologically, while those who accept bad feelings report higher well-being.
New research brings nuance to the concept of being nice by illuminating the personality traits that underlie it, dividing the quality into two related but distinct components.
The Washington Post created a Twitter account that automatically retweets all the tweets from the people whom President Donald Trump follows.
The title sequence to Last Week Tonight with John Oliver is memorable for its minimalistic, sleek design. But what do those graphics actually say?
A recent study examines the ways in which spouses affect an individual’s tendency to pursue challenging and rewarded opportunities.
A recent study shows that children just 3 years of age learn how to deceive others for personal gain when exposed to competitive games.
A new study shows how one dietary change in the U.S. could make a 46%-plus dent in greenhouse gas reductions.
A study surveyed 821 people to find the funniest words in the English language.
A study from Florida State University sheds light on the sudden urge some people feel to jump from a high place.
A new study suggests that buying time-saving services leads to increased happiness.
Can robots tell stories? In a way, yes. We’re far more likely to see robot nursery rhymes than a robot Shakespeare.
A neural network was trained to create its own cookbook recipes, resulting in some strange and unappetizing concoctions.
The arts and crafts retailer Hobby Lobby was recently forced to forfeit thousands of illegally imported artifacts.
Businesses have been adopting more diversity programs since the 1990s, but do they actually work?
Theoretical physicist and cosmologist Lawrence M. Krauss spoke at CSICon 2016 about scientists’ attempt to look back in time to the beginning of our universe.
Illinois passed a bill that could abolish AT&T’s obligation to provide the state’s citizens with landline telephone services.
The stories in Shakespeare’s plays and ‘Game of Thrones’ are often bloody, but which are ultimately more violent?
New research on Uranus’ magnetosphere could help scientists learn about distant systems, and refine the ways they search for alien life.
The popular concept of introversion often differs from how psychologists define the term, but a new model seeks to clarify exactly what being an introvert means.
Neil deGrasse Tyson is working in with video game developers to create a space exploration game called Space Odyssey.
Polymaths are people who have excelled in diverse pursuits, and several of those polymaths left us with some very practical advice on how to succeed.
Instead of viewing racism as a moral failure, Racists Anonymous treats it like a disease from which everyone suffers.
A recent study shows that NBA players performed worse in games where they had spent the previous night staying up late and Tweeting.
In her new book, professor of psychology Lisa Feldman Barrett proposes a radical new theory of emotions.
A new study indicates that the brain can detect and help avoid diseases in others through the senses of sight and smell alone.
Hitler appeared to have been highly sensitive to disgust, and research shows this trait is linked to numerous dimensions of ideology.