Biology | Environment
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Chapter one
Motes
Matter | Physics
Bacteria Are Masters of Tai Chi
The remarkable science that helped me understand what it means to be a physicist.
Biology | Environment
The Ecologist Who Threw Starfish
Robert Paine showed us the surprising importance of predators.
Biology | Extraterrestrial Life
The Surprising Importance of Stratospheric Life
The science of bacteria in the atmosphere is getting its moment in the sun.
Chapter two
Figments
Culture | Psychology
Selfishness Is Learned
We tend to be cooperative—unless we think too much.
Biology | Animals
In Which I Try to Become a Swift
The closest I ever got to flying with the birds was on the ground.
Biology | Health
When Pigs Fly
It’s no fairy tale—factory farms and air travel form a viral expressway to pandemics.
Biology | Animals
What Wild Animals Do in the Dark of the Night
Capturing wildlife with flash photography at the turn of the century.
Chapter three
Trends
Culture | Paleontology
Paving Over the Fossil Record
Why isn’t India doing more to protect its rare evolutionary record?
Ideas | Science Practice
Why Is Biomedical Research So Conservative?
Funding, incentives, and skepticism of theory make some scientists play it safe.
Biology | Physiology
Is This New Swim Stroke the Fastest Yet?
The surprising performance and physics of the fish kick.
Ideas | Philosophy
Zombies Must Be Dualists
What the existence of zombies would do to our philosophy of mind.
Chapter four
Waves
Matter | Technology
The Perfect Wave Is Coming
Surfers have dreamt it—now engineers are delivering.
Ideas | Science Practice
The Lessons of a Ghost Planet
Vulcan shows us science beyond the scientific method.
Numbers | Oceanography
When Good Waves Go Rogue
Even in calm seas, waves can become monsters.
Biology | Evolution
The Fly in the Primordial Soup
Hydrothermal vent models transform the origins of life from unlikely to near-inevitable.
Chapter five
Categories
Numbers | Economics
Can Topology Prevent Another Financial Crash?
New regulations are applying network science to restructure global finance.
Culture | History
Ingenious: Nathaniel Comfort
The science historian talks to Nautilus.
Numbers | Aerodynamics
Fish School Us on Wind Power
Record-efficiency turbine farms are being inspired by sealife.
Matter | Physics
How Big Can Life Get?
An illustrated trip from smallest to biggest.
Biology | Oceanography
The Ocean Gets Big Data
A new array of cameras, vehicles, and sensors promises to change ocean science.
Related Facts So Romantic
“Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add nothing to them.” —Jules Verne
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Matter
Our Solar System Would Be Weird Even If It Didn’t Harbor Life
What would our solar system look like if an alien were to spot it from another planet, orbiting a distant star? How improbable would it appear? For the first time in human history, thanks…
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Matter
Fireworks Displays Can’t Include a Perfect Red, White, and Blue
Mother Nature can be a handful when she wants to be,” says John Conkling, the former technical director of the American Pyrotechnics Association and a professor emeritus of chemistry…
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Matter
Listen to the Large Hadron Collider’s Weird, Whale-Like Sounds
To refer to the Large Hadron Collider merely as the world’s largest machine, or the world’s most powerful particle accelerator, would be to engage in prosaic understatement—the Collider…
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Biology
Alaska Is a Perfect Place for Birds to Spread Disease Worldwide
Last May, as wild birds from around the globe converged on Alaska’s western shores for the summer breeding season, local citizen scientists did, too. Armed with sterile polyester-tipped…
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