How the Western Diet Has Derailed Our Evolution

Plus: communication breakdown in the brain; this drug can mend a broken heart; the mystery of the blue whale songs; and are we doctors or data workers? [View in browser]( | [Become a member]( EDITORS’ CHOICE December 18, 2022   Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here](. Good Morning! Here’s some of the latest and most popular stories from Nautilus—plus my Behind the Scenes chat with [Simran Sethi]( below [DROP BY NAUTILUS]( [HEALTH]( [Are We Doctors or Data Workers?]( I want to solve illnesses, not scroll through them—the dilemma of electronic health records. BY MICHAEL DENHAM “Stop, or I snap your nose off,” Gregory House tells a crying, wriggling toddler. [Continue reading →]( Experience the endless possibilities and deep human connections that science offers [SUBSCRIBE TODAY]( [Dive Deeper into the Mesozoic Era]( Experience the age of the dinosaurs with this handcrafted, limited edition [Mini Museum](. The Age of Dinosaurs exhibition presents 35 breathtaking fossils from the Mesozoic Era, spanning 185,000,000 years. Take a look at [the greatest dinosaur collection]( ever assembled. [Learn More](   Popular This Week [HEALTH]( [Communication Breakdown in the Brain]( Inside the research to get neurons back in a healthy conversation with one another. BY SARA GOUDARZI [Continue reading →]( [PSYCHOLOGY]( [This Drug Can Mend a Broken Heart]( A new therapy promises to take the sting out of traumatic memories. BY SHAYLA LOVE [Continue reading →]( [ZOOLOGY]( [The Mystery of the Blue Whale Songs]( Earth’s largest animals are singing in ever-lower tones, and nobody knows why. BY KRISTEN FRENCH [Continue reading →]( [MICROBIOLOGY]( [How the Western Diet Has Derailed Our Evolution]( Burgers and fries have nearly killed our ancestral microbiome. BY MOISES VELASQUEZ-MANOFF [Continue reading →](   BEHIND THE SCENES [Simran Sethi Takes Us Behind “Can Tripping Save the Planet?”]( A decade ago, on a visit to San Francisco, I took mushrooms with a few friends in anticipation of our walk through Golden Gate Park to the California Academy of Sciences. The aim was to enhance the “night life” experience of combining cocktails, music, and animal exhibits. It was my first time on [psilocybin](, the hallucinogenic substance in magic mushrooms, and I was not prepared for the mystical encounter that planted me in front of a blue-glowing tank housing a single undulating jellyfish. I could not look away, and as I stared, with people chatting and drinking and dancing around me, I welled up with feeling and weeped at what seemed like the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen. It’s the implications of this sort of experience, being overcome with a sense of oneness or fellowship with nature, that Simran Sethi explores in her recent Nautilus story, “[Can Tripping Save the Planet?](” I recently spoke to Sethi, a researcher focused on personal, social, and environmental change, eager to hear what moved her to write about this subject. “What was really inspiring to me in wanting to write this piece was the experience that Extinction Rebellion co-founder Gail Bradbrook has shared, around going into the jungle, consuming ayahuasca and iboga, and coming out with a sense of knowing what she needed to do to be more effective in the world,” [Sethi told me](. “And that was: launch this radical environmental direct-action organization called Extinction Rebellion.” The group puts on dramatic but peaceful acts of protest and civil disobedience to instigate better stewardship from corporations and governments of our climate and ecosystems. In her story, Sethi dives into the research shedding light on the mysterious connection between psychedelic use and eco-activism. Bradbook, a longtime pro-environment advocate, didn’t become an environmental activist as a result of that particular trip in the jungle—she’d taken psychedelic drugs before—but it evidently crystallized her resolve. Sethi sees this transformative power as stemming not just from the psychoactive substances, but also from the cultures that supported its use for countless generations. “I think it’s really important to recognize that this expansion of consciousness, this mind-altered state, comes from the cultures that have stewarded plants and psychedelic practices,” she said. Researchers should understand how these substances have been traditionally consumed, she contends. “That, to me,” she said, “is going to reveal a lot around where the research needs to go.” We also discussed, among other things, her views on indigenous “ways of knowing,” as well as her next book project. “It’s an expansion of the book that I already wrote, which was about the loss of agricultural biodiversity told through bread, wine, coffee, chocolate, beer, and flavor. How can we save biodiversity by savoring? And now it’s expanding that to look at psychedelics.” [Watch here](. —Brian Gallagher, associate editor   [The Great Gift Shift]( This holiday season we’re proud to present… a fresh take on giving that we’re calling [‘the great gift shift’](. Because when it comes to showing that you care, nothing beats that one-of-a-kind, pre-loved find. [Read More](   [“Cynical as the character was, House embodied the doctor as detective, solving medical mysteries with his smarts not charts.”]( [Writer and medical student Michael Denham grapples with the impersonal, data-driven reality of clinical care.](   More in Health [Can Organoids Take Us into a New Era of Medicine?]( Meet the human cell-based models that are better, faster, cheaper—and more ethical to use—than animals. BY KATHARINE GAMMON [Continue reading →]( [What Can Night-Shift Workers Do to Feel Better?]( One question for Sarah Chellappa, a neuroscientist at the University of Cologne. BY BRIAN GALLAGHER [Continue reading →](   Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher BECOME A SUBSCRIBER [Not Your Average Science Magazine]( [Nautilus](takes you into the depths of science and spotlights the ripples in our lives and culture. With each issue, readers gain an in-depth understanding of science and philosophy through multifaceted narratives as told by distinguished scientists and writers. [Subscribe now]( and experience the endless possibilities and deep human connections that science offers. [Join Today]( [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](.