Surprising Science — October 19, 2010

Lucid Dreaming Real

Lucid dreaming — the premise for Hollywood blockbuster Inception — is real and becoming more common, experts believe.

Lucid dreaming – in which people are aware that they are in a dream and can therefore manipulate it, and the premise for Hollywood blockbuster Inception – is real and becoming more common, experts believe. The most recent research suggests that about eight out of ten people will have a lucid dream in their lives. Professor Mark Blagrove, a psychologist who runs a sleep laboratory at the University of Swansea, said that according to studies the number of people in Western societies who experienced a lucid dream had increased by between 10 and 40 per cent since the 1980s.

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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On the impact of the increased cost of health labor John C. Goodman predicts: “Huge labor market upheaval and high unemployment, looking indefinitely into the future.”