Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. or Join now .

Light

By Peter DuCharme
February 15, 2015

Where does the story of life and light begin? Maybe with the fact that most life on Earth runs on sunlight, or that starlight may have set the direction in which all of Earth’s biomolecules spiral. But, when most of us cannot see the Milky Way, and glowing screens have shifted our circadian rhythms, have we had too much light, and can we win darkness back?

Get the Nautilus newsletter

Cutting-edge science, unraveled by the very brightest living thinkers.

Psychology

The Psychology of Getting High—a Lot

Zoology

The Shark Whisperer

Astronomy

Nine Rebel Astronomy Theories That Went Dark

Inside an Exploded Star
- By Kristen French
- February 22, 2024
- Astronomy
Cassiopeia A gets a close-up.
Automatic for the Oceans
- By Brian Gallagher
- June 30, 2022
- General
A rock trio on the rise is raising environmental awareness.
Join Nautilus Live—Get the Truth About Sun Exposure
- By Nautilus Editors
- June 5, 2014
- General
Join us at noon on Monday, June 9, when editor in chief Michael Segal will host a live video chat with award-winning journalist and NYU professor, Jessica Seigel about her latest Nautilus piece, “America Is Getting the Science of Sun Exposure Wrong.” There are two ways to participate. You can send us your questions before […]
Forest for the Trees—Why We Recognize Faces & Constellations
- By Robert X.D. Hawkins
- May 19, 2014
- General
A Ganado-style Navajo rugNational Park Service For many thousands of years, and across cultures around the world, symmetry has been seen as beautiful. The mirror-image accuracy of the Parthenon is seen also in the Taj Mahal and the geometric patterns of traditional Navajo rugs. We see symmetry in more fluid, modern media, too, like the […]
The Universe, Expanding Symmetrically and Eternally
- By Amos Zeeberg
- May 14, 2014
- General
Two months ago, we learned of landmark evidence bolstering the theory of inflation, a period very soon after the Big Bang when the Universe expanded at a terrific rate, stretching out and smoothing its lumps, and making it remarkably consistent on large scales. A recent study confirms that, even 13.8 billion years after the […]

Light

Get the Nautilus newsletter

Inside an Exploded Star

Automatic for the Oceans

Join Nautilus Live—Get the Truth About Sun Exposure

Forest for the Trees—Why We Recognize Faces & Constellations

The Universe, Expanding Symmetrically and Eternally

! There is not an active subscription associated with that email address.

Already a member? Log in

Join to continue reading.

! There is not an active subscription associated with that email address.

Already a member? Log in

This is your last free article.