Nautilus Magazine

The Stories Rocks Tell Us Lessons for our current Earth from the geologic past

Delighted to have an excerpt from STRATA out in @nautil.us this week! 🪨🌏💫

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When Earth Had No Fire Laura Poppick’s 3 greatest revelations while writing her book, Strata: Stories from Deep Time

In addition to an excerpt I have out in @nautil.us this week (nautil.us/the-stories-...)

...I also had a lot of fun writing this 3 Greatest Revelations piece about what surprised me as I researched the book:

nautil.us/when-earth-h...

Black holes refuse to cooperate with Albert Einstein’s model that explains the workings of gravity — but what if we consider black holes less as gravitational bodies and more as quantum objects? Learn more in tomorrow's free story in the Nautilus newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

Scientists are working to rewrite the genetic code. One aspiring creation within this field "would be unlike anything alive today—and perhaps unlike anything that has ever existed on Earth." Learn more in the free story in this weekend's newsletter. Sign up in our bio!

Paul Stamets thinks plenty of problems can be solved by fungi—devastating bee diseases included. Get more details in the free story in tomorrow's newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

I’m excited to say the article I published last week in the MIT Press Reader has now been republished in both Popular Science (@popsci.com‬) and Nautilus (@nautil.us‬). It’s a short-form overview of my book, Gaming Cancer.

popsci.com/healt…

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thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-c…

Does Anybody Really Know What Time Is? Yes, your brain does. It created it.

Physicists have a lot to say about time, but so do neuroscientists -- after all, it's the brain which in some sense creates time, and enables our remarkable capacity for "mental time travel." I spoke with neuroscientist @deanbuono.bsky.social for @nautil.us:
nautil.us/does-anybody... #science

It's tempting to call a crocodile a "living fossil"—but do those even exist? Ferris Jabr investigates in the free story in tomorrow's newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio.

Why are humans so convinced comets portend doom? In the free story in tomorrow's newsletter, author Clayton Dalton goes deep into our desire to parse the unexpected through stories. Sign up at the link in our bio!

In 2011, a weird finding deep below the Earth's surface threatened to "rattle the foundation of physics like it hadn’t been rattled since 1900." Get more details in the free story in tomorrow's Nautilus newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

Forget the stereotypes — fish are way smarter than you think. Find out more in the free story in tomorrow's newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

Languages "settle" into landscapes like physical artifacts do. Learn about the rich information hidden in language in the free story in this weekend’s newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

Evolution and Guinea Pig Toes How one animal's oddity inspired Sewall Wright to take on one of Darwin's big ideas

5. "Evolution and Guinea Pig Toes," Zachary B. Hancock @nautil.us

"It’s a complex idea, but Hancock is a skilled guide . . . ."

nautil.us/evolution-an...

More than 20,000 feet up in the Himalayas, people hunt for gold in the form of a prized fungus—but it’s facing some serious threats. Learn more in the free story in tomorrow’s newsletter! Sign up at the link in our bio.

It’s time to make human-chimp hybrids, argues evolutionary biologist David P. Barash—and the humanzee is more realistic of a feat than you’d think. Learn why in the free story in tomorrow's newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

Do you know the father of digital life as we know it today? His offspring include AI, Siri, and Pixar, but he remains surprisingly unknown. Meet him in the free story in this weekend's Nautilus newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

The Gravekeeper’s Paradox People want permanent tombstones that also show decay.

"We want time to be gentle, but not to stop."

A pick from the @nautil.us archives, from David Shultz: nautil.us/the-gravekee...

Evolution and Guinea Pig Toes How one animal's oddity inspired Sewall Wright to take on one of Darwin's big ideas

check out my new article published in @nautil.us on Sewall Wright's famous shifting-balance theory of evolution, told through the lens of his work with guinea pigs!

nautil.us/evolution-an...

Is all matter conscious? Investigating this nebulous question could “solve two of the hardest problems in science and philosophy at once.” Find out more in the free story in tomorrow’s newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

Physicians often use race to try to provide more equitable care. But that can end up harming patients. Learn more in the free story in tomorrow's Nautilus newsletter. Subscribe at the link in our bio!

The hunt for elusive dark matter can actually teach us a lot about ourselves—the strange substance’s name suggests that “we all want a path from Darkness to Light.” Hear how darkness pervades our imaginations in the free story in tomorrow's newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

If humans ever settle on Mars, these Red Planet residents would “undergo some of the most dramatic evolutionary changes in the human lineage.” Learn what could go down up there in tomorrow’s newsletter by signing up at the link in our bio!

We might want social insects like wasps, ants, and termites out of our homes, but they’re some of nature’s greatest architects. Learn more about how our buildings can benefit from bugs in this weekend’s newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

Do we have free will? Yes, but also no. Two leading scientists have reignited the debate over whether our choices are ever truly our own. To hear both sides of the argument, check out a free article featured in tomorrow’s Nautilus newsletter. Sign up at the link in our bio!

The Vanishing Coast of Louisiana Timelapse photographs documenting life on the bayou.

Along the bayous of Louisiana, five Native American settlements are clinging to disappearing earth, slipping away into the Gulf of Mexico.

How Fishing Could Change the Evolution of Fish Our appetite for fish can alter their bodies, minds, and behaviors

Killing 1.6 trillion wild fish every year—the estimated toll of global fisheries—might also have subtle, long-term consequences on the animals’ minds and bodies. Over many generations, it could even influence fish evolution. 🧪

A Clear View of the Sun’s Fireworks Optical advances yield an unprecedented look at the corona dancing around our nearest star

Optical advances have yielded an unprecedented look at the rapid, fine, and turbulent corona dancing around our nearest star in incredible detail. 🧪

How These Fish Lost Their Memory The unexpected consequences of harvesting old, wise fish

The world's largest herring population used to migrate from northern Norway to the southwest coast to spawn. But a few years ago, they stopped partway and have stayed there since. The cause may be older, wiser fish being harvested. 🧪

Mapping the Earth’s Magnetism Early explorers felt the powerful pull of the poles

Early explorers felt the powerful pull of the poles. Humanity's journey to understand magnetism spans millennia of discovery, navigation, and wonder. 🧪

This Drug Can Mend a Broken Heart A new therapy promises to take the sting out of traumatic memories.

When a memory is remembered, or retrieved, it can be momentarily destabilized with a drug therapy, numbing its emotional pain. 🧪