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Women in Science & Engineering
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The Problem with Farmed Seafood
We’re decimating the ocean to feed farmed fish. But an innovative solution has surfaced.
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What Is Your Brain Doing on Psychedelics?
Something is happening here, but neuroscientists don’t know what it is
The Porthole
Short sharp looks at science
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The Trees That Remember the Pyramids
Dendrochronologist Valerie Trouet on what tree rings reveal about climate, fire, and human history
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Psilocybin Lifted Her Burden
The Covid pandemic left this frontline medical worker burned out, angry, and depressed. Then she got high.
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In Awe of Tiny Things
Artist and filmmaker Michael Benson on dung beetles, diatoms, and the human drive to explore
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The Nautilus Reading List About the Cosmos
Our writers have read a universe of books on space and astronomy. Here are their favorites.
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Seeking Signs of Life on Venus
The first private mission to the morning star will sample for traces of biological activity in the planet’s clouds
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Creating a Cosmic Movie
Making sense of a new era of time-domain astronomy from the Rubin Observatory
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The Divers Who Stretch the Limits of Human Biology
The most dangerous job on Earth is at the bottom of the sea
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Modeling the Deep
An ambitious mission seeks to map the flow of crucial chemicals through marine food webs in far-flung oceanic gyres
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The Deep Ocean Is a Global Public Good
This visionary new initiative would do more than save the ocean. It would regenerate it.
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The Power Grid Is Struggling. Can AI Fix It?
Renewables, EVs, and AI itself are straining the grid. These researchers have ideas to evolve it.
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New Life for Rotting Seaweed
Problematic piles of Sargassum could serve as useful raw material for a variety of products
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How AI Is Helping Archaeologists Make Discoveries
New clues about ancient civilizations are being unearthed from the data
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High-Tech Lollipops That Detect Disease
This researcher crosses disciplines for unexpected innovations
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A Pediatrician’s Lament
How the blustery rhetoric of Trump and Kennedy makes life harder for local physicians
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Will Trump’s Immigration Policies Hurt US Nobel Chances?
Drastic cuts to science funding and immigration restrictions could hobble the country’s research enterprise
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The Periscope: Book Weeding, Fact-Checking, and Imperiled Fruit Fly Data
What Nautilus executive editor Katherine Courage has been tuning into recently
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What Is Intelligence?
At a church in Italy, we sought to shed an old definition for one that could save us
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What’s Wrong with Having an AI Friend?
Psychologist Paul Bloom on why chatbots make good companions. And why they don’t.
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In the Land of the Eyeless Dragons
The cave-dwelling olm is a canary in the coal mine for environmental change
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Visit the 7 Most Extreme Planets in the Universe
From molten glass rain to oceans of lava, an intergalactic tour of the most terrifying and beautiful climates out there
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The Sean Carrolls Explain the Universe
Why are we here? Is there life on other planets? The renowned scientists who share a name share their answers to life’s big questions.
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The Soviet Rebel of Music
He composed on a computer in a dangerous time. His echo is still heard today.
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How Whales Could Help Us Speak to Aliens
Learning to decode complex communication on Earth may give us a leg up if intelligent life from space makes contact.
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What Poop Reveals About Ancient Humans
The parasites found lurking in 1,000-year-old feces give a glimpse into the health and daily life of the past -
Mysterious Deep Sea Habitats Reveal New Species
Ecosystems that have not been fully explored or catalogued by science are at risk of severe damage -
Check Out the Beak on This Baby Basking Shark
An intriguing image resurfaces from a decades-old paper -
Evolution Is Written in Our Joints
Why do humans have such stupid knees, ankles, and backs? -
Your Chatbot “Friend” Is Only Pretending to Like You
ChatGPT and Claude can’t offer real empathy -
Space Is Raining Junk, and It’s Getting Worse
With another hunk of space debris crashing down, the perils of a jampacked low-Earth orbit hit home -
Remembering the Genius Who Inspired Celebration of the Mind Day
Martin Gardner wanted to make math mathemagical -
This Natural History Museum Heist Rivals the Louvre Robbery
A young music student lifted nearly 300 rare bird specimens from a British museum -
Half-Male, Half-Female Spider Discovered In Thailand
A new arachnid species and a rare intersex specimen in one fell swoop -
Watch My Skeleton Dance for Science
Taking part in a study on low back pain led to some spooky shenanigans -
Can Embracing the Unknown Save Us From Dystopia?
An interview with Daniel Wilson, author of shamanic techno-thriller Hole in the Sky -
How a Rare Disease Could Yield a Pandemic Drug
This autoimmune disorder protects those who have it from viruses of all kinds -
How the Statues of Easter Island Walked Into Place
The iconic heads hewn from volcanic rock may have been wobbled into place by the Rapa Nui people who created them -
Could the Sun’s Orbit Shape Evolution?
The connection between our massive star and the tiniest microplankton -
Lifetime of Friendships Slows Aging
Social ties are deeply connected to how fast your biological clock ticks -
Making Art with Pythons and Lionfish
One artist is raising awareness of invasive species by creating paintings with their discarded remains -
The Pizzly Bears and Grue Jays of the Future
How climate change favors new hybrid species -
This Is What Happens When AI Talks to Itself
The outcome is bliss, Sanskrit and emojis -
This Is What a Baboon Reunion Looks Like
Early experiments in monkey social behavior -
Was Jesus a Shaman?
Three questions for Manvir Singh, author of Shamanism: The Timeless Religion
