I spent the summer of 2011 as an undergraduate researcher at the Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory, in Colorado. My job was to collect burying beetles—necrophagous critters with wing cases the colors of Halloween—using traps made out of coffee cans and...

  Everything you do—walking to your yoga class, making your favorite latte order, talking to your bestie, and just getting through the workday—happens thanks to your brain. Your brain is the control center for your entire body—it’s how you get shit...

  It’s likely you eat three meals a day – modern life is designed around this way of eating. We’re told breakfast is the most important meal of the day, we’re given lunch breaks at work, and then our social...

  In my 20s, I had a friend who was brilliant, charming, Ivy-educated and rich, heir to a family fortune. I’ll call him Gallagher. He could do anything he wanted. He experimented, dabbling in neuroscience, law, philosophy and other fields...

  Seaweed, the colourful macroalgae that grows in the ocean, is a food source for marine life and humans. Each type of seaweed has a unique set of nutrients and can boost vitamin and mineral intake if eaten regularly. Seaweed...

  It was around 23:00 on 13 April 1699, in a small village in the north of England. Nine-year-old Jane Rowth blinked her eyes open and squinted out into the moody evening shadows. She and her mother had just awoken...

  What if I told you that one age group is more depressed, more anxious, and lonelier than any other in America? You might assume I’m talking about teens. Mood disorders, self-harm, and suicide have become more common among adolescents...

  This is one of my deepest truths: If we are in relationship, no matter how scared or unskilled I may be, I want to repair with you. Part political commitment, part survival strategy, part just essence of who I...

  The new era of 5th dimension (5D) access brings with it the quality of more awareness – our higher nature — generating more respect for Earth and every one of its people, taking us into our galactic citizenship! Being...

    This week I came across research that suggests aging hits us in waves. You might feel like you’re on a slow, gradual decline, but, at the molecular level, you’re likely to be hit by two waves of changes...

  Trust me, I understand—in theory—that I should be stronger. Yes, I’m an aerobic beast (or an aerobic addict, if you prefer), but I’m not oblivious to the benefits of having a reasonable amount of muscle. When I play the...

  In his book Our Mathematical Universe: My Quest for the Ultimate Nature of Reality, Max Tegmark writes that “time is not an illusion, but the flow of time is.” In this month’s issue of Nautilus, which looks at the...

When those first fat drops of summer rain fall to the hot, dry ground, have you ever noticed a distinctive odor? I have childhood memories of family members who were farmers describing how they could always “smell rain” right before...

We’ve been hearing about the dangers of too little sleep for years. With 70 million Americans suffering from sleeping disorders, risks of depression, obesity, anxiety, and psychological disorders increase when we get less than seven hours a night. Even memory...

  Strange as it may seem, early germ theorists could tell us a lot about today’s attitudes toward climate change. While researching for a new book about the history of emerging infections, I found many similarities between early debates over the...

Does the idea of mingling at a party send cold fingers of dread creeping up your spine? Or the thought of giving a presentation in front of a room full of people make you feel physically sick? If so, then...

  Never before has it been more important to focus on learning how to improve air quality indoors. Aside from the usual tips and tricks people use, there may be some household items that are polluting the air you are...

 If you’re anything like me, the think-pieces you’ve read on how to spot red flags or deal with a friend’s trauma dumping will have become imprinted on your brain. However, it’s also true that sometimes we need to look at...