Brian Gallagher
A Real-Life Trader Talks About “The Big Short”
After watching The Big Short, I felt I had a decent grasp on the causes of the 2008 financial crisis. The film, which is being released across the United States today, is based on the book by Michael Lewis, and describes how a few prescient financiers bet against the debt bubble and made millions. Nautilus […]
How to Solve the Hardest Logic Puzzle Ever
A step-by-step guide to True, False, and Random.
This Man Was Accused of Trying to Pull Earth Out of Its Orbit
Gregory Laughlin has a funny story: While he was working as a planetary scientist at the NASA Ames Research Center in the early 2000s, he was accused in the press of trying to shove Earth into a new orbit, farther from the Sun. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . […]
The Hidden Warning of Fall Colors
Did autumn reds and yellows evolve to repel insects?
Why a Post-Nuclear World Would Look Nothing Like “Mad Max”
Mad Max: Fury Road envisions an embarrassing, nightmarish future. Worldwide droughts have driven humanity to nuclear war over water, destroying modern civilization, and disfiguring the earth into a planet-spanning Sahara. Decrepit old goons control the last remaining pockets of groundwater and arable land; essentially, the movie is one drawn-out, violent chase scene through a sterile […]
The Simple Logical Puzzle That Shows How Illogical People Are
More than 90 percent of people err on this test. Will you?
Daredevil’s Powers Are More Realistic Than You Think
In an early episode of Daredevil, Netflix’s new series about Marvel Comic’s blind superhero, there’s a telling scene in which the crime-fighting protagonist tends to an injured friend. Although he lost his eyesight in a traffic accident as a boy, Daredevil can nevertheless perceive her wounds. From across his apartment, he senses that a cut […]
How Enormous Dominoes Can Help You Rethink Saving for Retirement
Can the spectacle of crashing dominoes shock people out of old habits?
Is Our Universe a One-Off Fluke, or an Endless Cycle?
Paul Steinhardt is torn. On the one hand, he has been working on and contributing to the theory of inflation for decades. On the other hand, he thinks it may very well be wrong. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . Inflation describes the early universe going through an unimaginably […]
Nobody Knows the Real Price of a Forest—and That’s a Problem
A Cambridge economist discusses wealth, health, and disaster.