Philosophy underpins all areas of human thought. But for better or worse, most people are content to ignore the radical fringes of philosophy, or philosophy altogether, and instead embrace more “common sense” understandings of the world.  But sometimes the ideas philosophers introduce are truly shocking and suggest that the Universe we inhabit is nothing like what most of us presume it to be. Here, we look at four understandings of the Universe that are bizarre enough to turn the way you look at the world upside down.  Kant: Space and time might just be in your head Metaphysics — th ..read more

In the ocean, the Pacific cleaner shrimp stands out from the crowd, with vibrantly white coloration on its back and its whisker-like antennae. An international team of scientists recently revealed the intricate biological engineering behind this brilliant white, publishing their findings in the journal Nature Photonics. As its name suggests, the Pacific cleaner shrimp “cleans” fish, eating parasites and dead tissue off their skin. The crustacean‘s intense white coloration serves as an eye-catching advertisement, attracting fish to partake of its mutually-beneficial janitorial services. The vi ..read more

Evie is lonely. Every day, she goes to work where she talks to only a few people — and only with the forced, hollow politeness reserved for “colleagues.” She goes home to eat a microwave meal for one and sits in the corner of a family-sized sofa. She brushes her teeth, staring at her reflection, and then climbs into the same side of the bed as always. The last thing she sees at night is the three-foot space of undisturbed emptiness where no one else will sleep. Then she meets Adam. He is charismatic, intelligent, and kind. The two start dating, and soon things get serious. One day, as Evie li ..read more

Sometimes, it’s really hard to be happy. And there’s a reason for that: The human brain isn’t hard-wired for happiness. Why? Because happiness isn’t essential for survival. To make matters worse, our minds can deceive us when it comes to happiness, leading us to chase things that won’t make us happy in the long run.  To solve for this, Yale psychology professor Laurie Santos recommends a set of practices, dubbed “re-wirements.” These practices include prioritizing social connection, being other-oriented, focusing on gratitude and blessings, and incorporating exercise into our daily routi ..read more

This puzzle Weekly Crossword: Energy sources is featured on Big Think ..read more

All throughout the cosmos, stars and galaxies appear everywhere. The main galaxies of Stephan’s Quintet, as revealed by JWST on July 12, 2022. The galaxy on the left is only about ~15% as distant as the other galaxies, and the background galaxies are many scores of times farther away. And yet, they’re all equally sharp to JWST’s eyes, demonstrating that the Universe is full of stars and galaxies practically everywhere we look. Credit: NASA, ESA, CSA, and STScI In our own backyard, we inhabit the Local Group of galaxies. This three-dimensional view of the Local Group showcases the three la ..read more

In the mid-15th century, Pope Nicholas V was wading through the bowels of the Vatican archives when he stumbled across a dusty manuscript titled De Medicina, or On Medicine. It was written in the 1st century AD by Aulus Cornelius Celsus, the finest physician of the Roman Empire, and it contained chapters on the benefits of exercise and the treatment of pneumonia, among other topics. It was thought to have been lost centuries ago, and would have stayed lost were it not for the curiosity of the pope.   On Medicine is one of several ancient texts whose rediscovery facilitated the Renaissanc ..read more

Tech startup Sanctuary AI has unveiled a general-purpose robot designed to perform many workplace tasks currently handled by people — working with humans or without them. The challenge: Robots have worked alongside people for decades, and traditionally, they’ve been incredibly specialized — a bot on a General Motors’ assembly line, for example, might move pieces of metal from one place to another over and over again. This has meant business owners would need to purchase multiple (usually expensive) robots if they wanted to automate multiple tasks. General-purpose robots — ones that ..read more

An afternoon wind funnels down deserted Old Market Street, past shuttered shops and darkened restaurants. The rowdy Irish student town of Sligo has been frozen. It is two months into a strict nationwide lockdown enforced by the Irish government to combat the novel coronavirus, which has killed more people per capita in Ireland than in the U.S. The last time Sligo was this empty—this lifeless, this restricted—was 188 years ago. Cholera was the culprit. That epidemic spawned not just death, poverty, famine, chaos, and desertion but also a legendary vampire. Yet only in late 2018 did Irish resea ..read more

How does a person live a good, meaningful life? Many schools of philosophy and religion have attempted to answer this important question. The result of their efforts is a long history of diverse beliefs and etiquettes — some of which have aged incredibly well, others of which not so much. Stoicism is one such school of philosophy, and while its heyday appeared to have ended 2,000 years ago, it may in fact just be getting started. Founded by Zeno of Citium in the 3rd century BC, Stoicism unified logic, ethics, and metaphysics into a coherent philosophy of life. The school would evolve througho ..read more