Technology & Innovation — May 10, 2010

Going Off the Grid

“What constitutes status and sex appeal in the land of the eternally wireless?” Ellen Ruppel Shell thinks it may be the ability to take time away from technology-enabled distractions.

bigthinkeditor

“What constitutes status and — being bold here — sex appeal in the land of the eternally wireless?” asks Ellen Ruppel Shell. “Possible answer: the opportunity to go through an entire morning, train ride, even day, with no technology-enabled distractions at all! … Imagine going long, luxurious minutes, hours, days not responding to emails, not even LOOKING at emails. Imagine being willing and able to turn your back on all that…and not disappearing, or fearing that you will.”

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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