Eric Weinstein and Jocko Willink discuss the reality of war

On the latest episode of The Portal, the two men talk about the consequences of a public being shielded from battle.

Photo by Gail Orenstein/NurPhoto) (Photo by NurPhoto/Corbis via Getty Images
  • On The Portal, Eric Weinstein discusses the consequences of Americans not seeing the reality of the wars we wage.
  • His guest, former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink, says that every war ensures that innocent civilians will die.
  • Both men agree that the public should be exposed to the reality of war instead of being shielded from it.
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That black hole photo: How event horizons bend time, space, and light

The recent photo of a black hole is something extraordinary. Here's why.

  • Black holes are usually surrounded by disks of very, very bright, very hot material. And that's how we find them.
  • Black holes themselves give off no radiation at all. Any light gets absorbed into the black hole — all forms of light, from gamma rays to radio waves.
  • A black hole's gravity is so strong it actually bends space itself. What does this mean? There's no way to get out of the black hole — out of the event horizon — because space and time themselves are bent into the black hole.
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See remarkable NASA photos of a new volcano eruption

ISS astronauts and NASA satellites capture amazing photos of the Raikoke volcano eruption.

NASA
  • Astronauts and satellites take memorable photos of the Raikoke volcano eruption in the Kuril Islands.
  • The eruption is the first in volcano since 1924.
  • The plume of the eruption got as high as 17 km (10 mi).
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It takes very little to successfully disguise yourself

A new study finds even simple, easy, appearance alterations fool people

(Getty Images/Big Think)
  • We're not as good at facial recognition as you might think.
  • Who needs Mission Impossible latex masks?
  • You can change your hair or make up and pass for someone else.
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Behold, close-ups of the sand from around the cosmos

Think you've seen sand? You haven't seen sand.

Image source: Evil Minion on Shutterstock
  • Microscopic photography exposes the beauty and strangeness of sand.
  • Water wave action produces a startling variety of sand grains.
  • That stuff between your toes is a lot more interesting than you might think.
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