💡 When Kids Talk to Machines

The latest from Nautilus, this week’s Facts So Romantic, and your question of the day. [View in browser](| [Join Nautilus]( Together with Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here.]( Hello there Nautilus readers, and thanks for dropping in. Today we consider what it means when kids grow up talking to machines. Also, we have the oldest ecosystems on Earth, and the future of leather. Plus, in this week’s Facts So Romantic—the special properties of mycelium, the recycling of Earth’s surface, and more. Check out your question of the day (on hard-to-say words—mine’s “indefatigable”!) and free story (on the mysteriousness of thinking) below. Until we see you again! —Brian Gallagher The latest in Nautilus COMMUNICATION When Kids Talk to Machines Language bots are no substitute for teaching children to speak and learn. BY JULIE SEDIVY To learn language—to enter that doorway into collective human intelligence—children need conversation. Lots of it. [Continue reading→]( The Best Portable Bluetooth Speaker The [Ultimate Ears Wonderboom 3]( delivers big, crystal clear sound in a small, indestructible package. Toss it in the back of a car, drop it on concrete, submerge it in water—the [Wonderboom 3]( won’t stop rocking (for up to 14 hours on a single charge!). It’s dustproof, waterproof, and [Wirecutter’s favorite bluetooth speaker](. A must-have for beach bums and anyone who loves to sing in the shower. [Buy on Amazon→]( More from Nautilus ENVIRONMENT The Oldest Ecosystems on Earth What they teach us about resilience. BY FERRIS JABR [Continue reading→]( ENVIRONMENT The Leather of the Future Your next jacket might be made of mushrooms. BY ELENA KAZAMIA[Continue reading→]( The Absurdity of Animals Animal artist Bruno Pontiroli said, “Absurdity is what makes me want to paint”—and it shows. Visit [Colossal]( to see more of his surreal wildlife paintings. [Visit Colossal]( FACTS SO ROMANTIC The 5 Best Things We Learned Today The amount of linguistic input that children need is four to five orders of magnitude less than that used to train ChatGPT-3. [Nautilus→]( The Amazon rainforest emerged—in a reasonably recognizable form—about 55 million years ago. [Nautilus→]( Mycelium, the material fungi are made of, can be tough enough to break through concrete or take on a shape that is as fine as a silk feather. [Nautilus→]( Plate tectonics recycles our planet’s surface about every 200 million years. [The New York Times→]( Twins are especially auspicious in Mayan mythology and twin sacrifice is a central theme in the sacred K’iche’ Mayan Book of Council, the Popol Vuh. [Nature→]( WE'RE CURIOUS TO KNOW... Are there any words in your native tongue that, for whatever reason, you still have trouble pronouncing? Let us know! Reply to this newsletter with your response, briefly explaining your choice, and we’ll reveal the top answers. (This question was inspired by“]([The Cognitive Magic of ‘Hi.]([”]([)]( Top Answers to Our Previous Question(On the Last Time You Felt “in the Zone”) • About seven years ago, I had begun working on an app for people with Parkinson’s to track their symptoms day to day. This came after I myself had been diagnosed with Parkinson’s. I was so excited about the project, as well as for the people it would help, that I went “head down” on the coding of a basic stereotype. When I started feeling tired, I closed my computer, and realized that 14 hours had elapsed since I had begun. – Nick P. • I experience flow when I am focused on drawing. I lose all sense of time. Recently I created a series of bird pictures (five from photo references). I often feel like someone else drew it: How did that lovely image come from my mind, eyes, and hand? In this state of flow, I become immersed in a magical place of extreme focus, relaxation, and pleasure. – Terri M. • The only time I am in a “flow” state is when I don’t have any kind of clock around me. Time machines seem to march us onward to old age and death, whereas the flow state is like eternal waves lapping on a shore. – Roz W. • Last time I was experiencing “flow” was sawing a design out from a flat sheet of sterling silver. My blade moved perfectly. No tugging. Just smooth movement. – Gigi S. QUOTE OF THE DAY “It’s not hard to imagine a future in which a parent tucks a child in at bedtime with an app that not only reads a story but draws the child into gentle back-and-forth conversation about it.” [Julie Sedivy on language among the robots.]( Your free story this Thursday! COMMUNICATION The Kekulé Problem Where did language come from? BY CORMAC MCCARTHY I call it the Kekulé Problem because among the myriad instances of scientific problems solved in the sleep of the inquirer Kekulé’s is probably the best known. [Continue reading for free→]( Get 15% Off a Nautilus Membership for Father’s Day What better way to connect with your father than by sharing the science storytelling you love? From now through Father’s Day you can gift your dad [a digital Nautilus membership]( for 15% off. Each digital Nautilus membership includes unlimited ad-free articles, a weekly newsletter, and bonus access to Nautilus channels. Nautilus’ engaging science storytelling is the gift that keeps giving year-round. Save money and make your dad proud! [Get 15% Off]( P.S. The acclaimed novelist Cormac McCarthy—author of The Road, No Country for Old Men, and others—died on this day in 2023. In his only work of non-fiction, he wrote about the beguiling relationship between language and the unconscious. “Bear in mind that the unconscious has no pencil or notepad and certainly no eraser. That it does solve problems in mathematics is indisputable,” he wrote. “How does it go about it? When I’ve suggested to my friends that [it may well do it without using numbers](, most of them thought—after a while—that this was a possibility. How, we don’t know. Just as we don’t know how it is that we manage to talk.” Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher Thanks for reading. [Tell us](mailto:brian.gallagher@nautil.us?subject=&body=) your thoughts on today’s note. Plus, if you find our content valuable, consider [becoming a member]( to support our work, and inspire a friend to sign up for [the Nautilus newsletter](. Copyright © 2024 NautilusNext, All rights reserved. You were subscribed to the newsletter from [nautil.us](. 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