Surprising Science — October 6, 2010

Astronomy: Post-Singularity Science?

“Within twenty years, astronomy could become the first discipline where discoveries outpace scientists’ ability to keep up with them.”

bigthinkeditor

“Within a couple decades, astronomers won’t ever need to go near a cutting-edge telescope, says a new paper by Ray Norris at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation in Epping, Australia. … As the Technology Review points out, Cornell University researchers last year developed a genetic algorithm that can derive laws of physics from astronomical data. The algorithm came up with Newton’s laws of motion on its own, but also came up with some other mathematical relationships that scientists are at a loss to explain. So is it possible that within 20 years, astronomers will be struggling to keep up with the latest discoveries and developments in their own field? And could other sciences be next? The whole post is worth checking out.”

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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Can Science Measure Morality?

“Values are not logical deductions from processes taking place inside peoples’ heads but are instead arrived at through an interplay of experience, reflection, and debate.”