Guest Thinkers — September 1, 2010

The fountains of Etna

Over the weekend, Mt. Etna (Italy) had some spectacular Strombolian fire-fountaining. Lucky for us, Marco Fulle and a group went up to the summit on Friday (the 13th) and got some great pictures of the current (ongoing) eruption which have been posted on Stromboli Online. Sounds like the eruption has been increasing in the past week, so it could be a busy summer in the Aeolian Island of Italy.

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.

▸

7 min

—

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

Chaiten Eruption enters second month

If you needed any evidence that Chaiten is still erupting quite vigorously, just check out the MODIS image taken on 5/31 (above). The eruptive column is still delivering ash across […]