2+ hour, 30+ min ago  (226+ words) A literature column to feed your curiosity. But what form should a social contract take? On what principles of government could or should a community of people agree? Political philosophers have been wrestling with this question ever since Hobbes: John…...

4+ hour ago  (258+ words) This content is locked. Please login or become a member. In the modern age, we've lost our reverence for the dream state. But more and more evidence is accumulating, which suggests that REM sleep was absolutely critical to the evolution…...

1+ day, 1+ hour ago  (741+ words) Big Think The "rawdogging" trend: A new term for an ancient practice Tik Tok gave an old practice a terrible name. Neuroscience explains why it actually works. - Your brain's default mode network activates during unfocused downtime. It facilitates daydreaming, self-reflection,…...

6+ day, 45+ min ago  (598+ words) An astrophysics column on big questions and our universe. These three effects can lead to redshifts or blueshifts, depending on which direction they occur in, and it was long expected that they'd affect all waves, not just light waves, in…...

1+ day, 11+ hour ago  (828+ words) An astrophysics column on big questions and our universe. Of all the planets, star systems, and galaxies we've ever discovered, the only one that displays any yet-detected signals of life is right here: planet Earth which orbits the Sun right…...

2+ day, 2+ hour ago  (153+ words) A literature column to feed your curiosity. The futility of planning far in advance is nailed in one of my favorite one-liners, from the late comedian Mitch Hedberg:" "Where do you see yourself in five years?" "Celebrating the five-year anniversary…...

2+ day, 11+ hour ago  (797+ words) An astrophysics column on big questions and our universe. It's important to start on solid footing, and that footing involves the stars we know, observe, and measure today: both in our galaxy and in neighboring galaxies, as far away as…...

2+ day, 18+ hour ago  (1194+ words) A geography column on history and society. No, you haven't suddenly gone colorblind. This map is in color. In fact, it is a map of color " specifically, of each U. S. state's favorite house paint color. It's just that those favorites look…...

3+ day, 11+ hour ago  (312+ words) An astrophysics column on big questions and our universe. Until April of 2026, only 24 astronauts had ever left low-Earth orbit. In 1972, humans journeyed to the Moon for the 9th time: aboard Apollo 17. Their "blue marble" image represented humanity's best-ever view of the…...

3+ day, 2+ hour ago  (18+ words) 40 years ago, "Frames of Mind" cracked open the idea of intelligence. It's not done. bigthink. com...