Surprising Science — May 26, 2010

Centers of Mystery

The strange behavior of two suppermassive black holes may change the way scientists understand the evolution of galaxies, including our own Milky Way.

bigthinkeditor

The strange behavior of two suppermassive black holes may change the way scientists understand the evolution of galaxies, including our own Milky Way. “It is possible that these findings could also shed light on how active galaxies – including faraway, developing galaxies known as quasars, the most luminous objects in the universe – are born and how their jets are formed.”

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

“Competing Narratives”

Robert Fisk thinks that political speak has taken over journalism and that accuracy of fact has become dominated by competing historical narratives that favor power over truth.