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 […]

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.

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Solar storms could turn Earth into Mars. What’s stopping them?

Astrophysicist Michelle Thaller explains how a solar storm could wipe out civilization… and what we can do to prevent catastrophe.

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5 min

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with

Michelle Thaller

13.8

What does the Copernican principle say about life in the universe?

The Copernican principle states that Earth is an ordinary planet, but that does not mean that life is ordinary in the universe.

Why Leo Tolstoy hated William Shakespeare

The Russian writer’s scorn went beyond a difference in taste; Leo Tolstoy virulently hated everything Shakespeare had come to stand for.

LSD hallucinations are due to abnormal brain communication

Scientists use tripping rats to show that LSD disrupts communication between two key brain regions.

Starts With A Bang

Dark energy might be neither particle nor field

Everything else in the universe is either a particle or field. Dark energy behaves as neither, and it may be a property inherent to space itself.

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Words of Wisdom

Khalil Gibran on Work

“Work is love made visible.” – Khalil Gibran