Surprising Science — September 14, 2011

Polar Region Unfrozen in just 30 Years

Arctic sea ice is melting at its fastest pace in almost 40 years. The Northwest Passage was again ice-free this summer and the polar region could be unfrozen in just 30 years.

bigthinkeditor

What’s the Latest Development?

Arctic sea ice has melted to a level not recorded since satellite observations started in 1972, and almost certainly not experienced for at least 8,000 years, say polar scientists. German researchers say the sea-ice retreat can no more be explained by the natural variability from one year to the next—the record melt is due to human-made global warming.

What’s the Big Idea?

If current trends continue, a largely ice-free Arctic in the summer months is likely within 30 years, up to 40 years earlier than previously anticipated. The last time the Arctic was uncontestably free of summertime ice was 125,000 years ago. Floating Arctic sea ice naturally melts and re-freezes annually, but the speed of change has shocked scientists—it is now twice as great as it was in 1972.

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

Technology & Innovation

Hyundai’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Hopes

Along with the likes of Daimler, Honda and Toyota, all of whom firmly believe hydrogen is the fuel of the future, Hyundai is hyping hydrogen, cruising cross-country in a fuel-cell Tucson.