Guest Thinkers — July 26, 2011

New York Owl Felled By Herpes

City investigators have determined that a great horned own found dead in Inwood Hill Park last month succumbed to avian herpes.

The virus is not transmissible to humans.

[Photo credit: Great horned owl by Vicki’s Nature, Creative Commons.]

A Chinese philosophy book with open pages.

Thinking

5 philosophy books that shaped Chinese thought

Dive into China's profound intellectual legacy through five seminal texts that have shaped millennia of thought.

Dolly Parton on stage with an acoustic guitar showcases her musical talent.

High Culture

Are America’s distinct accents dying out?

In Georgia, it's becoming less common to pronounce words like "prize" as "prahz."

The Well

When neutron stars collide

NASA’s Michelle Thaller explains what happens when the densest stars in the galaxy collide.

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5 min

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with

Michelle Thaller

Hard Science

How Mars lost its magnetic field — and then its oceans

Chemical changes inside Mars' core caused it to lose its magnetic field. This, in turn, caused it to lose its oceans. But how?

Starts With A Bang

JWST discovers the farthest gravitational lens ever

A more distant galaxy liked the lens so much that it went and put a ring on it. Here's the science behind this remarkable cosmic object.

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