Surprising Science — December 3, 2009

Why We Age

While others struggle to combat the aging process, Dr. Leonard Guarente, director of MIT’s Institute on Aging, seeks to understand it. A forty-year veteran of the university, he is best-known for discovering the gene that governs aging through his painstaking studies on yeast.

While his research suggests that eating fewer calories can extend human life, he also notes that general discontent that accompanies a restrictive diet may very well do more harm than good. Guarente believes that innovations in his field could soon extend life by up to 50 years, and he also offers tips on how to live longer now.

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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