Issue_7
38 articles-
Chernobyl’s Hot Mess, “the Elephant’s Foot,” Is Still Lethal
This large black mass could be the most dangerous piece of waste in the world. -
A Formula That Shows How to Cheat & Triumph at Tournaments
Gryffindor and Slytherin are about to play their annual badminton match. The best players from each house are supposed to face off on court one, the second best on court two, and so on. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . Slytherin’s coach knows that Gryffindor will put their players […] -
The Curious Case of the Exploding Pig Farms
This pig farm was devastated by an explosion due to foaming. Ross Muhlbauer, Iowa State University Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . At first, the manure was just harmlessly foaming. Only later on did things get lethal. Hog farms in the Midwest are great big barns sitting on top of […] -
The Mental Glitch That Makes Us Throw Good Money After Bad
Luca Cerabona via Flickr Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . You’ve been waiting for today for weeks. You paid more than you could really afford for tickets to a football game, and the day is finally here. But when you look outside your window early Sunday morning, you realize […] -
Up, Up, and Away With Science
Richard Holmes gets high on ballooning.
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Education Is a Waste of Effort—But It Doesn’t Have to Be
In the nearly 25 years that I spent in school, I produced countless term papers, exams, and presentations, nearly all of which of no value to anyone else. And that goes for most of the 20 million or so college and graduate students currently pursuing higher education in the United States. They produce thousands of […]
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For Billions of People, “Wasting Time” Makes Little Sense
Monks relaxing in Sikkim, Indiaflowcomm via Flickr Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . Robert Levine, a social psychologist at California State University, Fresno, will always remember a conversation he had with an exchange student from Burkina Faso, in Western Africa. Levine had complained to the student that he’d wasted […]
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Not Merely the Finest TV Documentary Series Ever Made
A reflection on Jacob Bronowski’s “The Ascent of Man.”
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Preserving Yesterday’s Tech to Get a Better Grasp on Today’s
In 2009, more than 47 million computers in the U.S. were ready for “end-of-life management”—so hopelessly outmoded that no reasonable amount of refurbishment could redeem them. Market-driven innovation, thus far hewing to the demanding prediction of Moore’s law, means that every few months, the gadgets in our pockets and on our desktops are pushed closer […] -
Love Your Dog? You Should Thank Garbage
scion via Shutterstock Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . Just south of the equator, thirty miles off the coast of Tanzania, sits a small island called Pemba. The small patch of dry land jutting out from the Indian Ocean is just 30 miles long and 10 miles wide. The […] -
Drug Users Are Secretive; Their Sewers Tell All
In London’s waste system, like this stretch of the King’s Scholars Pond Sewer, concentration of urinary biomarkers for ecstasy is among the highest of any European city. Jon Doe via Flickr Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . The sewage doesn’t lie. People, however, are less than honest when asked about […] -
Animals’ Wildly Varying Reactions to the Smell of Death
Cadaverine and putrescine are the chemicals responsible for the dead-flesh stench. -
Each Piece of Trashed Plastic Can Find a New Life as Art
In one important way, grocery stores were very different during my childhood. Catsup was only packaged in glass bottles. Soda came in either aluminum cans or glass bottles, and there was no bottled water—no Fuji, Poland Spring, or Evian. Crackers were wrapped in waxed paper. Everything was bagged in paper. Now, some 30 years later, […]