Guest Thinkers — August 16, 2010

BLOOPER OF THE WEEK: TD Celebration Fells OSU Star Receiver

Despite my misgivings about the vast commercialization of college athletics, and its impact on university culture, I did tune in to at least parts of Monday night’s BCS championship game. Just in case you were one of the 20 million or so viewers wondering how star OSU receiver Ted Ginn might have injured his ankle after returning the opening kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown…the picture above, captured by the Columbus Dispatch, tells it all, and the paper has the scoop here. Consider this the “soft journalism” post of the week.

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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