Technology & Innovation — April 30, 2009

George Mitchell Sees the Future

Politicizing the federal deficit has long been a campaign maneuver to get out the votes and make the other candidate look responsible for all our financial woes.

When Big Think asked George Mitchell about the first 100 days of the 44th presidency last year, he mentioned the d-word as an issue at the top of the to-do list. Take a walk down memory lane with us and listen to how Mitchell gauged the candidates’ deficit-tackling proposals during the campaign.

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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