Guest Thinkers — September 1, 2010

Chaiten Photo Gallery

Erik Klemetti

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Here is a gallery of some ridiculously cool photos from the Chaiten eruption …

The most surprising and impactful new stories delivered to your inbox every week, for free.

A man in historical clothing nails a document featuring a cartoon animal face—a nod to popular memes—to a wooden door, while two others watch.

Mini Philosophy

What makes a meme take off? The 3 rules of virality

One does not simply make a meme go viral.

Union soldiers in blue uniforms escort prisoners past a burning building with a large hole in the wall while smoke and flames rise, during the American Civil War.

Books

The rise and fall of John Wilkes Booth: America’s first celebrity assassin

Before becoming America’s most infamous assassin, John Wilkes Booth was a magnetic actor who was beloved by audiences and courted by critics.

The Vera Rubin Observatory is situated on a rocky hilltop under a clear, star-filled night sky, with distant mountains and a bright planet visible on the horizon, inspiring astronomers to solve puzzles of the universe.

Starts With A Bang

Ask Ethan: What puzzles can the Vera Rubin Observatory help solve?

In just its first 10 hours of observations, the Vera Rubin observatory discovered more than 2000 new asteroids. What else will it teach us?

Starts With A Bang

The 6 strongest materials on Earth are harder than diamonds

For millennia, diamonds were the hardest known material, but they only rank at #7 on the current list. Can you guess which material is #1?

The spiral galaxy, surrounded by dim stars and interstellar dust, stands out against a dark background, shining brighter than astronomers once imagined.

Starts With A Bang

The sky is brighter than astronomers imagined

The most famous Hubble images show glittering stars and galaxies amidst the black backdrop of space. But more was captured than we realized.

Up Next

Guest Thinkers

Chaiten Eruption, Day 7

nn Another day, another development at Chaiten. Military stationed near the volcano helping with evacuations reported “booming noises” and saw incandescent blocks getting hurled from the vent area. This suggests that lava […]