The time it takes to ship COVID test samples to central labs and back is a burden—people risk infection as they wait days, sometimes weeks, for results.Photograph by MIA Studio /…

Fishing for eels was a primal childhood experience for Patrik Svensson. On summer nights his father would take him down to a small stream near their home in Sweden. It was a magical…

Epidemics have a way of making one wonder about death. To put it plainly, in the raw form it takes as it first rises from our hearts: Why? Why on Earth does it have to be this way?In…

In the 2004 film, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, a heartbroken man played by Jim Carrey undergoes an experimental treatment to erase memories of his ex-girlfriend, played by…

Helen Fisher first appeared in Nautilus in 2015 with her article, “Casual Sex May Be Improving America’s Marriages.” Since then we’ve interviewed the biological anthropologist…

Reprinted with permission from Quanta Magazine‘s Abstractions blog.The heartbeat and other bodily processes play a surprising role in shaping perception and cognition.ManuMata /…

In the summer of 1977, on a field trip in northern Patagonia, the American archaeologist Tom Dillehay made a stunning discovery. Digging by a creek in a nondescript scrubland called…

This summer, NASA’s Perseverance rover will set out on a voyage to the edge of the Jezero crater on Mars. The goal of the mission is to learn more about our neighboring planet, and…

Dear Bella,I’m going to imitate Rudyard Kipling and tell you a just-so story. Kipling was one of the most popular writers in the world 100 years ago. He wrote The Jungle Book. And…

A concerned clownfish father looking after his nest of tiny, orange eggs.Justin RhodesBecoming a parent brings out the best in many animals. Although parenting is usually left to the…