Guest Thinkers — September 1, 2010

SI/USGS Weekly Volcano Activity Report for 4/8-14/2009

All your volcano news and a Sakurajima webcam!

Here’s the latest Global Volcanism Program activity report for worldwide volcanism. Some of the highlights (beyond Fernandina and Llaima) include:

Vulcanian-style eruptions at Sakurajima, Japan. And guess what? There is a Sukarajima webcam!{Hat tip to Eruptions reader Jodie Morris for this link}.

Strombolian-style explosions and avalanches associated with lava flows at Arenal, Costa Rica.

A 10,000 foot / 3,000 meter ash plume from Dukono in Indonesia.

Satellite imagery exposed a thermal anomaly in the dome at Shiveluch on the Kamchatka Peninsula.

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

Things settling down at Redoubt

The eruption at Redoubt might have not seemed that destructive, but the economic effects might be more significant than expected on Alaska’s economy.