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Twenty-three centuries after Euclid of Alexandria composed his Elements of Geometry, some of his favorite shapes – including the triangle, square, and circle – were re-released as repositionable wall graphics […]
It’s safe to say that long before our ancient ancestors developed language, our moon has been a source of fascination. Closing out the turbulent 1960s with humankind landing on the […]
Since the 1820s, scientists have observed an increase of suicides in the spring. The trend has been recorded in dozens of countries around the world. The most suicidal month is May, when rates […]
Around 6,400 light-years away, in the constellation of Orion, is this sparkling skyscape captured by the Hubble Space Telescope. On the edge of NGC 2174, this image shows a corner […]
On July 4, 2012 a team of physicists in Switzerland announced one of the biggest discoveries in science: the Higgs boson–the “God particle” that could explain why all matter has […]
Warning: Robots are becoming smarter. They can now teach each other how to play Pac-Man. Researchers in Washington State University’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science have developed a […]
Stargazers have something to look forward to. Over the next few months, a pair of colorful bright objects will be visible close together–Mars and Spica. Next week in particular, Mars […]
“Seeing is not believing,” is how Neil deGrasse Tyson opened last Sunday’s episode of “Cosmos.” If you’ve been following the “creationism” debate, which we’ve covered here on Big Think, then […]
Happy April Fool’s Day! We here at Big Think celebrated by releasing this exclusive footage of Dr. Michio Kaku contemplating the universe. Google, which always seems to enjoy being festive, […]
Stephen’s Quintet is the name of the first identified compact galaxy group. This remarkable image of it was captured with data from the Hubble Legacy Archive and the Subaru Telescope […]
Good news for mice! Bad news for cobras. Researchers have engineered the strongest constructed muscle yet–ten times stronger than all previous attempts, and successfully implanted it into mice. It’s so […]
Working at Big Think, we’re often asked, what’s it like to interview Dr. Michio Kaku? The Big Think expert and author of The Future of the Mind is a rock […]
America has been undergoing a marijuana revolution of sorts. Marijuana is legal for medical use in 20 states and the District of Columbia, and now it’s sold in Colorado and […]
Einstein’s quantum description of light earned him a Nobel prize, but he’s mostly remembered for relativity. At their core, special and general relativity are, in fact, not relative. Explore Einstein’s […]
Around 220 million light years away, the spiral galaxy ESO 137-001 speeds through the galaxy cluster Abell 3627. Hubble captured an image of the distant galaxy. As ESO 137-001 travels, its gas […]
While it’s not a Frankenstein’s monster, it’s still an exciting advancement toward creating life from scratch. The journal Science announced that a team of scientists produced a yeast chromosome. The […]
When it comes to picking a beverage of choice, it should be water, plain and simple. Our bodies are around 60% water. So why shouldn’t we be chugging our eight […]
Anant Agrawal is the president of edX, an online learning platform founded by Harvard and MIT. As Bill Clinton said at the Global Education & Skills Forum, it’s important to […]
Walking around London, it’s easy to imagine what the city looked like in the 1700s. A project by Redditor Shystone made it much easier to go back in time. Old […]
In 2012, Gregory Harpel, an amateur paleontologist digging around a streambed in Monmouth County, N.J., stumbled upon what he first assumed to be a rock. It turned out that it […]
These dazzling cosmic waves of blue with dark crests can be found in the constellation Orion. They are the product of M78 and other bright reflection nebula. NASA explains their […]
In honor of last week’s enormous discovery of the Big Bang’s smoking gun, let’s go back to the search for the “God particle,” which we of course covered here on […]
John Davies is an expert on bringing technology into classrooms. As the general manager of the Intel World Ahead Program, Davies’ mission is to understand how to increase access to […]
Superconducting levitation may be omnipresent one day and revolutionize transportation. This video explains how it works and shows you the possibilities of this amazing technology:
How does NASA control the flow of fluids in Space? NASA invented ferrofluid. It turns out the stuff is multipurpose when you apply rare earth magnets. Check out the ferrofluid […]
There are a lot of ways to entertain oneself on the International Space Station. Playing with a large sphere of water is one of them. Watch what happens when an […]
This classic physics experiment is made thanks to some hot jazz. Literally hot jazz. Flammable gas is pumped through a Reuben’s tube, which is attached to a speaker. Watch what […]
This supersonic jet, the F-14 Tomcat, can create a cloud. Check out this footage of the jet ripping through the sky, leaving a trail of vapor. What you’re witnessing are […]
In the 1930s, scientists were baffled by liquid helium, which, at extremely low temperatures, exhibited strange behaviors. Learn more about this amazing superfluid by watching this short video clip from […]
What happens when you throw a boomerang in zero gravity? Japanese astronaut Takao Doi demonstrates on the International Space Station: Image credit: popofatticus/Flickr