Consciousness is a hard problem because it is emergent, mixes software and hardware, and is dizzyingly self-referential. It’s harder still because, in a sense, it impossible to study directly.

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The full Nautilus archive • eBooks & Special Editions • Ad-free reading
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If Oaks and Orchids Could Talk
Lucas Gutierrez wants to turn plant frequencies into a language humans can understand -
Celebrating the Relationship Between Science and Illustration
A conversation with Society of Illustrators executive director Arabelle Liepold -
The Extraordinary, Imperiled Science at the End of the Earth
Firing experts in Antarctica couldn’t come at a worse time -
Breaking a Cycle of Apocalypse
John Larison’s new novel The Ancients suggests some societies are built for cataclysm -
An Earthy Fallen Star
The strange mushroom that puffs life into forests around the world.