Times dilate and lengths contract near the speed of light. Bizarre and confusing? Sure. But under relativity, it can't be any other way.

“Everyone's image of [Ancient Rome] is based on modern movies. In some ways, I think those were rather impressive, but they got some things terribly wrong.”

The plan — conquer China and push west to attack the Ottomans — was peak imperial hubris, as the Spanish themselves eventually realized.

Reading classic books can teach you as much about the present as the past.

An ode to the data visualization tools that help us see what is too vast, complex, or interconnected for the naked eye — from planetary systems to pandemic trends.

In "We the People," Harvard historian Jill Lepore examines how the U.S. Constitution became unamendable and its implications for the health of the democracy.

If AI is modeled only on human intelligence, will it inherit only human ways of seeing the world?

In this excerpt from "Governing Babel," John Wihbey explores how AI is reshaping online moderation by offering tools that can help human moderators, but also raises the risk of disinformation and digital chaos.

If you think of the Big Bang as an explosion, we can trace it back to a single point-of-origin. But what if it happened everywhere at once?

To engage your audience effectively, psychologist Robert Cialdini suggests using "pre-suasion" to prime them with subtle cues, ensuring they are receptive to your stories and emotional appeals.

Aristotle's notion of man as a political animal highlights that 21st-century career success hinges on effectively navigating complex relationships and the social and political dynamics within organizations, as emphasized by Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill.

Marketing professor Jonah Berger emphasizes that understanding linguistics can enhance our communication skills, enabling us to fit in, persuade, engage, and positively influence others, especially with the aid of advanced language analysis tools and his SPEACC Framework.

This class explores the evolving role of leadership in complex business environments, emphasizing the balance of personal influence, team collaboration, and trust-building, while equipping leaders with tools to foster a high-trust culture that inspires commitment and empowers teams.

This class teaches the vital role of managing professional relationships and networks for career success, emphasizing trust, strategic connections, and effective communication, as highlighted by experts like Linda Hill, Nicholas Christakis, Adam Grant, and General Stanley McChrystal.

This class equips participants with strategies from experts like David Goggins, Amy Cuddy, and Dr. Rudolph Tanzi to enhance mental strength and emotional well-being through mindfulness, body-mind techniques, and compassionate emotional processing, ultimately fostering resilience and personal growth.

Workplace community is too often dismissed as an HR initiative, when in reality it’s the key to driving business results through frontline employee performance.

In this excerpt from "Facing Infinity," Jonas Enander examines how John Michell conceived of "dark stars," or massive bodies with enough gravity to trap light, all the way back in 1783.

JWST isn't the first telescope to peer into this factory of star-birth some 5500 light-years away, but its views are the most educational.

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

A neuroscientist, a psychologist, and a psychotherapist discuss how emotions are stories built from old experiences.

In "That Book Is Dangerous," author Adam Szetela examines the rise of the “Sensitivity Era” in publishing and how outrage campaigns try to control what books authors can write and readers can read.

The predictions of evolutionary theorists and current advances in “multimodal AI” offer strong clues to the future of employment.

With several seemingly incompatible observations, cosmology faces many puzzles. Could early, supermassive stars be the unified solution?

A contemplative approach to leading others can help us accept the tension of not always knowing how things will play out.

Welcome to The Nightcrawler — a weekly newsletter from Eric Markowitz covering tech, innovation, and long-term thinking.

10 years ago, LIGO saw its first gravitational wave. After 218 detections, our view of black holes has changed forever. Can this era endure?

Venture capitalist and Flickr co-founder Caterina Fake talks to Big Think about why AI won’t make the internet better, her influences beyond tech, and more.

“I like to say that physics is hard because physics is easy, by which I mean we actually think about physics as students.”

A universal signature could make surgeries safer — and help reveal what holds consciousness together.

These short books offer insights and meditations on timeless themes, without the time commitment.