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The Nautilus Reading List of Science Biographies

These beautifully composed books usher you into the life and times of influential scientists

Earth Day Started with an Oil Spill

The day of environmental action and protest has grown and evolved over the past 56 years

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Why These Monkeys Are Eating Fistfuls of Dirt

How about an ice cream cone with a dirt chaser?

The Mystery of the Giant Blobs at the Center of the Earth

Are they remnants of primordial Earth or extraterrestrial in origin?

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Saving the Girl with Dementia

It takes a family to drive research for a rare disease forward

When Scientists Are Dinosaurs 

At the paleontology conference, her new theory was shouted down

The Peace That an Eclipse Brings

The total solar eclipse in 2024 hushed the Earth by striking awe in the humans in its path

Rome Was Built Today

Celebrating the scientific and technical contributions of Rome on the mythical birthday of the eternal city

The Birth of Genius

Leonardo da Vinci, polymath and victim of the vagaries of science funding, was born on this day

The Bra-and-Girdle Maker That Fashioned the Impossible for NASA

Crafting a spacesuit demanded perfection from seamstresses to gluers to engineers — every stitch could mean life or death

The Coming Psychedelic Holiday

The next few days were instrumental in the history of LSD

Why Middle-Aged Americans Are in Crisis

“It’s a sandwich generation, but on steroids”

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Cocaine Fish: How Salmon Behave When Amped Up on Coke

The effects of cocaine pollution in the world’s waterways

The Centuries-Old History of the Super El Niño

We may get an exceptionally strong El Niño this year, but we’ve been tracking the climatic cycle since 1578

A Brief History of the Bizarre-Looking Anglerfish

These mysterious species have a lot of tricks

Arachnophobes Beware: Tarantulas Are Way Smarter Than You Think

They’re particularly good at remembering where their prey is hiding

The Bad Seed and the Problem of Blame

A conversation with behavioral geneticist Kathryn Paige Harden about the heritability of vice

A Light in the Dark: Finding the Good in the Natural World

Is it absurd to think that science can inform our values?

How ‘Tiny Shortcuts’ Are Poisoning Science

Seemingly harmless data tweaks are undermining the integrity of the entire field. We must define the problem to prevent it

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Humans Evolving, One Way or Another

Have we moved beyond the reach of natural selection? If so, it’s likely a relatively recent development.

The New Science of the Near-Death Experience

For the first time, scientists are studying these mysterious states in real time

Check Out the Largest 3-D Map of the Universe

It spans over 11 billion years of cosmic history

Oldest Reptile Mummy Sheds Light on the Ancient Art of Breathing

Its rib breathing set the stage for further evolution of land animals