Surprising Science — April 9, 2014

Einstein’s Last Desk

Albert Einstein passed away on April 18, 1955. A photographer from LIFE snapped his desk at Princeton hours after Einstein had died. Einstein gave new meaning to the saying, cluttered desk, cluttered mind. Perhaps genius requires a little disorder.

Hard Science

Plants perform quantum mechanics feats that scientists can only do at ultra-cold temperatures

Plants at room temperature show properties we had only seen near absolute zero.

The Past

The 1920s plan to make criminals confess to a terrifying skeleton

Would you confess your crimes to a skeleton with “an unnatural ghastly glow”? One inventor thought you would.

Smart Skills

Swamped by too much info? Here’s how to beat the “noise bottleneck”

It’s the paradoxical observation that the more we try to process, the less we actually can.

a painting of a woman shaking hands with a man.

Thinking

Philosophy obsesses about death. Instead, we need “natality” — a focus on birth

A philosophy of birth can offset the prevailing narrative around extinction and mortality.

a flock of pink birds flying through a cloudy sky.

The Well

Groupthink is for mindless pawns, but group thinking will push humanity further

“Groupthink” gets a bad rap. In reality, we need groups to focus our thinking and to build on the ideas of others.

Up Next

Words of Wisdom

Khalil Gibran on Work

“Work is love made visible.” – Khalil Gibran