Surprising Science — February 21, 2014

Exploring the Life of Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla was a rare genius who never received the recognition he deserved while alive. (He was overshadowed by his former boss and rival Thomas Edison). Tesla gave us neon and fluorescent lighting, electric motors, and robotics–just to name a few of his Promethean contributions to humanity. A prolific inventor, one can even call him the William Shakespeare of science.

To learn from this remarkable mind, take a moment to watch this fascinating video about Tesla’s life and work. As we have written before on Big Think, one can never learn enough from Tesla.

Image credit: Javier Moreno Vilaplana/Flickr

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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