The Top Science News

Plus: this week’s One Question—“Does Consuming Cannabis Boost Creativity?”—and related Nautilus stories. [View in browser]( | [Become a member]( November 15, 2022   Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here](. Good Morning! Here’s the top science news—plus this week’s One Question and related Nautilus stories [READ NAUTILUS](   DISCOVERIES The Top Science News This Week   [The Neurons That Restore Walking After Paralysis]( [The brain cells that enable]( walking after a spinal cord injury curiously aren’t needed for the activity pre-injury. [Nature→](   [Acquisition of Chess Knowledge in AlphaZero]( [The chess-playing AI’s]( grasp of the royal game is remarkably human. [Proceedings of the National Academy Sciences→](   [Seeing the Gravitational Wave Universe]( [Several pulsar timing arrays]( may have just detected the first hint of the gravitational wave background. [Science→](   [Evidence for the Cooking of Fish 780,000 Years Ago at Gesher Benot Ya’aqov, Israel]( [The earliest signs]( of cooking by hominins. [Nature Ecology & Evolution→](   [Researchers Played Lady Gaga for Rats. They Bopped Their Heads Like Humans.](//sailthru.nautil.us/click/29699081.14708/aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuc2NpZW5jZS5vcmcvZG9pLzEwLjExMjYvc2NpZW5jZS5hYnExMTg3P3V0bV9zb3VyY2U9bmF1dGlsdXMtbmV3c2xldHRlciZ1dG1fbWVkaXVtPWVtYWlsJmhlPWQ2NmUzZDQzNWRiNWY5YWYwOWNiYjU1ZTEwZGNmZWNk/60aaa7da6c0d2461fe58eb64F04f92ea4 [The animals’ movements to the]( music, which they hadn’t been trained on or exposed to, suggest an innate ability for “beat synchronization.” [USA Today→](   [Chemists Create an “Artificial Photosynthesis” System Ten Times More Efficient Than Existing Systems]( [“We will have to do]( better than nature, and that's scary." [Phys.org→](   [Time Is Running Out for the Leap Second]( [The leap second is]( putting a key tenet of modern life at risk. [The New York Times→](   [Roger Penrose: "Consciousness Must Be Beyond Computable Physics"]( [The 91-year-old mathematician]( is “planning communications with future universes.” [New Scientist→]( Experience the endless possibilities and deep human connections that science offers [SUBSCRIBE TODAY](   [Unlock the Mysteries the Minds]( Inspired by the works of Oliver Sacks, Audible Exclusive [Radiant Minds: The World of Oliver Sacks](harnesses the emotional power of some of his greatest stories to explore neurodiversity, identity, and individuality. Listen to the podcast on Audible with a 30-day free trial. [Start Listening for Free](   [ONE QUESTION]( [Does Consuming Cannabis Boost Creativity?]( INTERVIEW BY BRIAN GALLAGHER One question for [Christopher Barnes](, a professor of organizational behavior at the University of Washington who studies human sustainability, sleep deprivation, behavioral ethics, and leadership.   We conducted two studies, which we carefully designed to test your question, and found similar results across both of the studies. We [found]( that using cannabis makes you more jovial. It puts you in a better mood, and that joviality increases the degree to which you perceive your own work as creative. It also increases the degree to which you perceive other people’s work as creative. But we also had third-party evaluators look at the outputs of the creativity tasks our subjects tried, and we did not find a relationship between cannabis use and that creativity, as rated by third-party evaluators. [Read the interview](   Related Nautilus Stories   [PSYCHOLOGY]( [To Be More Creative, Cheer Up]( The way to tap your inner Hemingway is not how you think. BY KIRSTEN WEIR [Continue reading →]( [ENVIRONMENT]( [The Ecology of Good Weed]( How one small farmer is creating a buzz with organic pot. BY MADISON MARGOLIN [Continue reading →]( [PSYCHOLOGY]( [Finding the Perfect Amount of Creativity in Cars & Religion]( There is only a certain level of novelty that most people are willing to tolerate. BY JIM DAVIES [Continue reading →]( [PSYCHOLOGY]( [How “Meaning Withdrawal,” aka Boredom, Can Boost Creativity]( The power of mind-wandering. BY DAVID SHULTZ [Continue reading →]( [EVOLUTION]( [The Strange Inevitability of Evolution]( Good solutions to biology’s problems are astonishingly plentiful. BY PHILIP BALL [Continue reading →](   [Who Knew George Washington Grew Hemp?]( In the latest issue of the [World Sensorium Conservancy Journal](, Columbia University Asst Prof Lewis Ziska reminds us that rising CO2 is now more than ever impacting the plants we’ve used for centuries to produce medicines. [Read about this]( and more in Plantings. [Read More](   More in Psychology [I Didn’t Know My Mind Was So Strange Until I Started Listening to It]( I took part in an experiment to decipher my inner thoughts. BY PHIL JAEKL One fine spring afternoon this year, as I was out running errands in the small Norwegian town where I live, a loud beep startled me into awareness. [Continue reading →]( [Are You a Naïve Realist?]( Do you think you see the world objectively and others are biased? BY ERIKA WEISZ & SARAH STAMPER When Lee Ross, a professor of psychology at Stanford, explained to his students what his term “fundamental attribution error” meant, he loved to quote George Carlin. [Continue reading →](   Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher   BECOME A SUBSCRIBER [The Most Awe-Inspiring Stories in Science]( [Nautilus]( is a different kind of science magazine. Science is brought to life through narrative storytelling, taking you into the depths of science to highlight today's most vital conversations. Enjoy the wonder and awe of science, distilled into captivating reads. [Subscribe to Nautilus Print + Digital]( today for only $89/year and save 50% annually. [Join Now](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Copyright © 2022 NautilusNext, All rights reserved. You were subscribed to the newsletter from nautil.us. Our mailing address is: NautilusNext 360 W 36th Street, 7S, New York, NY 10018 Don't want to hear from us anymore? Click here to [unsubscribe](.