September 18, 2014

Making New Friends at the Great Barrier Reef

The above photo, taken by Greg Varinot, is part of a larger album you can peruse here.

For all things ocean-related check out our collection of interviews with renowned oceanographer Sylvia Earle. Below, Earle explains that environmental threats to the oceans have lasting consequences for humanity:

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Photo credit: Greg Varinot / 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.

Up Next

Culture & Religion

Nearly 2/3 of Americans Can’t Name the Three Branches of Government. But That’s Not the Real Problem.

A recent Annenberg survey reveals what we already know: Americans, by and large, are ignorant of their country’s constitutional framework. The predictable calls for tougher high school civics standards ignore the fact that people don’t have much of a reason to care about the government.