RSS Parrot

Cathedral of bones: Inside the world’s largest, deepest, and oldest whale graveyard

https://bigthink.com/strange-maps/whale-graveyard/

Published: June 12, 2026 14:20

Life on Earth is older, stranger, and more grimly beautiful than we have time to consider most days. So take a moment to marvel over the recently discovered dark wonder that is the world’s oldest, deepest, and largest whale graveyard — a necropolis so vast…

Ask Ethan: How are black holes active if nothing escapes from them?

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/black-holes-active-if-nothing-escapes/

Published: June 12, 2026 06:00

When it comes to the Universe, there’s one class of object that achieves more extreme conditions than any other: black holes. While other objects may be dense — the centers of an iron-rich planet, a white dwarf star, a uranium nucleus, or a neutron star —…

The hidden link: Depression, processed food, and your gut microbiome

https://bigthink.com/series/full-interview/tim-spector-gut-microbiome/

Published: June 12, 2026 04:00

Could depression, dementia, and poor oral health all have one uniting link? The gut microbiome contains 200 more genes than human cells, and research shows its strong impact on mental illness, brain health, and chronic inflammation. Professor of…

A visual history of the universe that fits on your wall

https://bigthink.com/science-tech/a-visual-history-of-the-universe-that-fits-on-your-wall/

Published: June 11, 2026 20:24

Every few months, I round up useless or unused objects in my house, walk to the alley, and plop them into the dumpster without a second thought. I am no collector or hoarder. I only really value a few physical possessions: my three guitars, my books and…

Your brain built a reality bubble. Literature, science, and philosophy can pop it.

https://bigthink.com/perception-box/your-brain-built-a-reality-bubble-heres-how-to-pop-it/

Published: June 11, 2026 13:00

Neuroscientist David Eagleman, PhD and physicist Sean Carroll, PhD challenge two assumptions we’re only beginning to question: that our reality is the reality, and that physics leaves no room for free will. Eagleman explains how genetics, brain wiring, and…

Can 1,000 people have a meaningful conversation? AI may make it possible.

https://bigthink.com/science-tech/collective-superintelligence/

Published: June 11, 2026 13:00

In the modern world, the sheer scale of human organizations has become overwhelming. The average Fortune 1000 company employs more than 30,000 people, with functional teams often numbering in the hundreds. Government and defense organizations are even…

Move over, giant meteor. Here’s what the largest comet would do to Earth

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/largest-comet-earth/

Published: June 11, 2026 06:00

Out there, in the farthest recesses of the Solar System, a great existential threat lies in wait: the Oort cloud. Formed at the same time as the protostar that would become our Sun and the protoplanetary disk that would give rise to the planets, asteroids,…

Could UAPs be aliens? Use this 11-point scale to evaluate the evidence

https://bigthink.com/science-tech/could-uaps-be-aliens-use-this-11-point-scale-to-evaluate-the-evidence/

Published: June 10, 2026 20:53

Unidentified Aerial Phenomena (or UAPs, formerly known as UFOs) are back in the news, with the U.S. Defense Department’s recent publication of (mostly old) case files, and the release of Steven Spielberg’s new film Disclosure Day on June 12. It’s unlikely…

Do parents know best? 3 experiments that tried to replace moms and dads

https://bigthink.com/mini-philosophy/experiments-in-parenting/

Published: June 10, 2026 19:38

On the second day, we were told we could go home. We stuffed our snacks, blankets, wet wipes, and nappies into whatever bags we could, and we shuffled back to the car. There he was — a newborn baby in a Winnie-the-Pooh onesie and a cute cap, strapped into…

The literary invention that places you in the chaos of war

https://bigthink.com/books/angel-down/

Published: June 10, 2026 14:30

For more than a century now, writers have attempted to put into words what it was like to serve in the trenches of the First World War: the chaos, the horror, the futility. Ernest Hemingway famously said that “the only true writing that came through during…

10 big questions about the search for life beyond Earth

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/big-questions-life-beyond-earth/

Published: June 10, 2026 06:00

In our quest to understand what’s out there in the Universe, one cosmic unknown looms larger than all the rest: are there other examples of life, complex life, intelligent life, and technologically advanced life out there beyond planet Earth? And if there…

Before emancipation, a pivotal moment started to dismantle slavery in the U.S.

https://bigthink.com/books/civil-war-slavery/

Published: June 9, 2026 14:30

Every war has its share of turning points, a decisive battle here, a far-reaching order there, a pivotal moment or event that has an outsized influence on the shape of things to come. One such turning point occurred in the early days of the American Civil…

Why life’s biggest choices feel impossible in advance

https://bigthink.com/the-well/why-lifes-biggest-decisions-feel-impossible-in-advance/

Published: June 9, 2026 13:00

Some life choices cannot be understood from the outside. Yale philosopher L.A. Paul argues that transformative experiences — parenthood, divorce, war, and other identity-defining decisions — can change the person who makes them. Data and testimony may show…

The scientific value, and limits, of the Anthropic Principle

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/we-exist/

Published: June 9, 2026 06:00

For thousands of years, humans have pondered the meaning of our existence, or of whether existence has any objective meaning at all. Modern thoughts have ranged from philosophers who debated whether their minds could be trusted to provide accurate…

From the smallest to the biggest objects in space

https://bigthink.com/starts-with-a-bang/smallest-biggest-objects-space/

Published: June 8, 2026 06:00

Fully comprehending our Universe requires imagining extraordinarily different scales. A region of space devoid of matter in our galaxy reveals the Universe beyond, where every point visible here is a distant galaxy. The cluster/void structure can be…