Surprising Science — June 10, 2009

If We Were All Atheists, the Nursing Shortage Would be Far Worse

There are few atheists serving the sick and wounded in our hospitals today.

“Although a Jew, I have acquired tremendous respect for Christianity over the years. For example, it seems every second nurse I meet chose that difficult, undervalued profession in order to serve Christ. So I think the atheists, agnostics, Moslems, Buddhists, and Jews should be most thankful for the Christians in our society or today’s nursing shortage would be far worse.”

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

Personal Growth

Are you crazy enough to change the world?

10 Billion Beats is a non-commercial Global Intention Event that will use drumming to send a wave of positive intention around the world. Starting in Central Kansas, it will follow the sun through the time zones at 7:00 PM on Sept. 18, 2009. (Sept. 19 as it crosses the dateline)