Guest Thinkers — December 21, 2010

Saudi Shootout

Al-Arabiyya and numerous other outlets are reporting that two al-Qaeda suspects have been killed and other was taken into custody today at a checkpoint in the southern Saudi city of Jazan. MOI spokesman Mansur al-Turki has said that Saudi will be releasing a statement with the nationalities of the suspects soon, but I have yet to see it.

It does appear as though at least two of the men were wearing women’s clothes, including the niqab as a way of avoiding detection, and that there were suicide vests in the car.

I will be in DC for the next few days and so posting will be light, but Waq al-waq will attempt to keep up-dating the news, especially whatever happens around the 14 October anniversary.

a computer generated image of a human brain.

Thinking

The great free will debate featuring Michio Kaku and Steven Pinker

Who — or what — really controls your mind?

Building destroyed by the Halifax Explosion. Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.

The Past

The largest accidental explosion of all time

More than a century ago, Halifax suffered an accidental blast one-fifth the size of the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima.

a collage of photos of a man with a hat and a book.

High Culture

6 great books with wildly unreliable narrators

Dive into the twisted truths and concealed realities told by literature’s most unreliable narrators.

a group of five matches on a pink background.

The Well

Signs you’re burned out — and how to bounce back

If you don’t feel better after the weekend, the “burnout paradox” could explain why.

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7 min

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with

Laurie Santos

Starts With A Bang

The trick to instantly identifying JWST images

If you can identify a foreground star, the spike patterns are a dead giveaway as to whether it’s a JWST image or any other observatory.

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