Surprising Science — April 9, 2014

A Family Saves a Whale and Gets a Big Thank You

This incredible video of a family stumbling on a whale trapped in a fishing net in the Sea of Cortez will put a smile on your face.

Michael Fishbach, a conservationist and researcher, was enjoying a sunny afternoon with friends and family while on vacation. Their boat came across a young humpback whale floating lifeless in the water. They thought the whale was dead, and then it forcefully exhaled, signalling its immense frustration. The humans soon discovered that the whale was badly trapped in a fishing net and began an hours-long rescue effort. Their hard work was rewarded in the most astonishing way.

Watch the incredible rescue and joyful happy ending.

To read more, head over to Most Amazing Planet.

Image credit: Tory Kallman/Shutterstock

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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