Issue_8
39 articles-
The Powerful Emotional Pull of Old Video Games
Patrick Gensel via Flickr Lately I’ve been hearing a kind of spectral music in the background of my daily life. It’s a syncopated, repeating MIDI ditty that conjures a feeling of excitement and invigorating challenge. I recently recognized it, and in the process experienced an intense wave of nostalgia. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. […] -
Behind the Scenes: How This Issue’s Beautiful Art Was Made
By now, you’ve likely noticed that we here at Nautilus care a great deal about imagery. Whether it’s our quarterly print edition or our weekly online chapters, the images that accompany each piece are crafted with care. But have you ever wondered where the images you see each week come from, and how they’re made? […] -
Not-So-Sweet Home: The Persistence of Domestic Violence
Zurijeta via Shutterstock The home is in many ways the basic unity of society, a bastion of shelter and family bonds. It is the means by which the social order is reproduced and the context in which children are brought into the world. Yet for millions of women, children, and men, all over the world, home […] -
The Big Benefits of Doing HIV Tests Yourself, at Home
The next time you stop at the local drug store to pick up household standbys like shampoo, ibuprofen, and tissues, you might also consider picking up something rather more serious: an HIV test. Show your ID (the test is only approved for adults aged 17+), pay $40, and you can return home and learn your […] -
How to Map a Galaxy When You’re Right in the Middle of It
Why the Milky Way looks like it spirals.
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The Racehorse on the Runway
The hybrid ecologies of Frankfurt Airport show us how homes and borders intersect.
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Being a Guest Is Good, But Home Sweet Home is Worth Gold
This month Nautilus is tackling the idea of home—what it is, what it means to us, and how we find our way there. Along the way, we’re discovering that home is an essential idea for humans, the subject of countless songs, poems, movies, paintings, novels, and idioms. In English, home is where the heart is. There’s […]
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How Humans Made Squirrels a Part of the Urban Environment
This engraving of a gray squirrel was included in the December 1841 issue of Robert Merry’s Museum. One day in 1856, hundreds of people gathered to gawk at an “unusual visitor” up a tree near New York’s City Hall. The occupant of the tree, according to a contemporary newspaper account, was an escaped pet squirrel, […]
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The Eerie Lawn Pest That Comes From Our Obsession With Lawns
Fairy Ring #3Collage by Amy Ross (with permission) The front lawn is an American symbol of middle-class status and respectability. We trim ours with ride-on mowers, condition them with nitrogen, and hydrate them with elaborate sprinklers, largely because they represent us to everyone driving by. Ironically, it’s due to this energetic maintenance that one pest […]
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What Chinese Medicine Has to Teach Us About New Mothers
Pregnancy, labor and delivery, and the postpartum period put women in peril, giving rise to precautions that gave them a sense of control, such as orienting the birthing room, charms and rituals, and burying a placenta.Vanessa Hua In a strip mall in the heart of Silicon Valley, the pregnant ladies were seeking out ancient Chinese […]
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In Science Fiction, We Are Never Home
Where technology leads to exile and yearning. -
The Termite and the Architect
Animal homes resist our understanding. -
Best of 2013: The Caveman’s Home Was Not a Cave
Our picture of man’s early home has been skewed by modern preconceptions. -
Best of 2013: How to Waste Time Properly
The right distractions can boost creativity. -
Best of 2013: Beyond the Horizon of the Universe
Want to see evidence of other universes? Just look up.
