Biology
Posted by Brandon Keim on July 31, 2013
In the annals of natural history, there is perhaps no fish so singularly unusual, even mysterious, as Anguilla, the eels. Unlike every other migratory fish on Earth, they spawn in the open…
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Matter
Posted by Jennifer Ouellette on July 30, 2013
One of my favorite scenes in the film Galaxy Quest—a satirical love letter to Star Trek and its rabid fans—is when Jason, an actor on a fictional TV series within the movie, ends up…
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Numbers
Posted by Rose Eveleth on July 29, 2013
Should extraterrestrials be looking down at Earth from space, they would know a few things about us humans. They would know our routines are dictated by the sun. They would see that we…
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Matter
Posted by Matthew Francis on July 26, 2013
“Some part of our being knows this is where we came from. We long to return. And we can. Because the cosmos is also within us. We’re made of star stuff. We are a way for the cosmos…
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Culture
Posted by Sally Davies on July 25, 2013
Trudging through the mire of midtown Manhattan in the middle of a July heat wave makes you long for relief from your earthly trials—and at the corner of 8th Avenue and 37th Street last…
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Matter
Posted by Kyle Hill on July 24, 2013
One of the most beautiful things you’ll ever see in a war zone had no name, until it was given one in honor of two soldiers who gave their lives.Benjamin Kopp, a US Army Ranger, and Joseph…
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Culture
Posted by Jennifer Ouellette on July 23, 2013
It’s 2077 in the city of Vancouver, now part of the North American Union, run by a “Corporate Congress.” Technically, everyone is still free and enjoys the fruits of a highly technologically…
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Matter
Posted by Nautilus Editors on July 22, 2013
As recently as the late 80s, finding a planet orbiting another star seemed like the stuff of sci-fi fantasy, about as realistic as a diminutive alien riding a flying bicycle, or a sports…
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Numbers
Posted by Claire Cameron on July 19, 2013
How would you like to get around in a vehicle that “never crashes, that’s at least twice as fast as a plane, that’s solar powered, and that leaves right when you arrive, so there…
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Biology
Posted by Veronique Greenwood on July 18, 2013
If you were to design a leg for a bipedal animal from scratch, what would it look like? Don’t bother looking down at your own body for inspiration—you won’t find a good model there.…
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