Politics & Current Affairs — April 26, 2010

Joining the Fray

“The need for Americans to enter the arena has never been greater,” write Bob and Elizabeth Dole. They write in favor of Theodore Roosevelt’s idea of “robust citizenship.”

bigthinkeditor

“The need for Americans to enter the arena has never been greater,” write Bob and Elizabeth Dole. They write in favor of Theodore Roosevelt’s idea of “robust citizenship.” “America has and will succeed because, not without error, men and women of great devotions and worthy causes are willing to step into the arena.”

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.

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

Stirring in the Deep

Researchers have discovered a deep-ocean current carrying frigid water rapidly northward from Antarctica along the edge of a giant underwater plateau. They call it a climate change “fast lane.”