BIG Exclusives

In 2026, if I am right, the following five trends will heavily influence the direction of the global oil and natural gas industry. Overall, the forecast is for weak prices, and rising production as demand continues to grow amid reduced political risk. 1.    AI data centre construction will accelerate In 2025, tech giants and others announced billions of dollars in artificial intelligence data centre investments to build multiple facilities in the coming years. Here is one...

In the first essay of this series, I discussed medieval vineyards in Yorkshire and cattle grazing in Greenland where permafrost now reigns. In the second essay, I revealed the dilemma of my conversion – the trappings of academic funding combined with narrative containment – you know, Deep Throat follow-the-money kinda stuff. I ended the second essay with a promise: this week I would show you what happened when I began asking, out loud, how...

On this last day of the year, I am pleased to announce the winners of BIG Media's 2025 Awards of Journalistic Excellence. It was an absolute privilege to review the incredible work of these brilliant writers. Special thanks to our readers/subscribers for feedback throughout the year that helped us determine the winners. There are many other deserving candidates, but we limited each category to one winner. Without further ado, our 2025 Awards of Journalistic Excellence (categorically alphabetical): Africa's...

In a remote farm in the Canadian province of British Columbia, a flock of ostriches survived an H5N1 avian influenza outbreak, sparking a year-long battle over science, policy, and survival. An ordeal that featured widespread mistrust of public health authorities, economic trade pressures, and unexpected U.S. interventions, culminated in a controversial cull that divided a nation. Universal Ostrich Farms (UOF), located in Edgewood, B.C., and operated by Karen Espersen and Dave Bilinski since the mid-1990s,...

People these days tell many stories about energy and the 21st century energy transition. Some promote or are at least enthralled by the merits of a particular technology. For example: “Wind, water, and solar can power the world by 2050” “Geothermal technology is improving and can provide 20% of electricity by 2030” “Renewables and battery storage (BESS) can power any grid” “There is enough naturally occurring hydrogen in the ground to power humanity...

Artificial intelligence has matured enough to influence medicine, finance, national security, and the structure of daily life, yet the systems behind these advances remain far less stable than their public reputation suggests. In the last several years, “AI safety” has become a term used by researchers, regulators, and corporate strategists to describe the growing effort to control the risks that accompany these models. But while the concept is now widely invoked, the tools and methods...

I committed my first act of climate dishonesty by omission. I stood at the front of lecture halls and projected the same graph every instructor uses: temperatures essentially flat for a thousand years, then a sharp blade upward beginning around 1900. The hockey stick. Clean. Causal. Irrefutable. I never showed the slides that should have come immediately before it. The one with vineyards flourishing in Yorkshire, England. And the slide with Viking cattle grazing on grasslands that are...

Part 2 of BIG Media’s special report on rare-earth elements Key takeaways Most of the global economic value in rare-earth elements (REEs) is captured in the midstream and downstream segments, where China controls nearly 90% of refining capacity and dominates high-purity oxide production. This remains the biggest bottleneck in global diversification efforts. China’s rare-earth dominance is the result of deliberate strategy – not geology alone. State-backed industrial policy, consolidation, cost advantages, and lower domestic prices...

In the western world, we have been trained to participate in all kinds of health screening because we are told that hidden dangers lurk inside us. North Americans are remarkably enthusiastic about screening. As a result, it is a multi-billion-dollar industry. Conventional wisdom is simple: finding disease early saves lives by catching small problems before they become big ones. But early diagnosis can have both good and bad consequences. While it can help some people...

Artificial intelligence has become the centrepiece of global business narratives, investor decks, and public‑sector strategy documents. Market forecasters predict multi‑trillion‑dollar impacts,venture capital continues to pour billions into AI infrastructure,and major vendors routinely describe breakthroughs that appear to signal dramatic progress. The momentum feels undeniable. Yet when we examine the evidence behind these claims, a different picture emerges. The gap between what AI appears to do and what it can reliably achieve has widened sharply over...