Surprising Science — April 16, 2010

Healthy Unions

Does being in a good marriage make you healthier? Researchers have discovered that people in negative or stressful marriages have lower immune-system response.

bigthinkeditor

Does being in a good marriage make you healthier? Researchers in Ohio have been looking into the correlation between wellness and relationship quality, finding out, among other things, that couples in negative or stressful relationships have lower immune-system response than those in stable, supportive relationships. Marital conflict and hostility, in particular, has been shown to take a profound toll on the body.

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

Sanity-Checking Abortions

Want to terminate your pregnancy? Under a new Nebraska law, you’ll have to prove you’re not crazy first. Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman signed two new laws restricting abortions on Tuesday. […]