The Ecological Catastrophe You’ve Never Heard Of

In 12 minutes, a landslide, tsunami, and flood devastated a valley in Canada. Plus: want to get out alive? Follow the ants; Behind the Scenes with physician Rahul Parikh; and more. [View in browser]( | [Become a member]( EDITORS’ CHOICE Newsletter brought to you by: January 22, 2023   Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here](. Good Morning! Start your Sunday with some of the latest and most popular stories from Nautilus—then go Behind the Scenes with physician [Rahul Parikh]( below [READ NAUTILUS](   [ARTS]( [Encouraging Conservation Through Communication]( Two Jackson Wild fellows on what we can learn from the birds. BY MARY ELLEN HANNIBAL The Jackson Wild Media Lab offers a fellowship each year to media creators to hone their skills in furthering science and conservation communication. [Continue reading →]( Experience the endless possibilities and deep human connections that science offers [SUBSCRIBE TODAY](   [Intelligent Security for Clever Canines]( Your dog is smart! But you already knew that. She also has a [general intelligence factor](, or g, just like you. Canny canines deserve the smartest technology to give them the freedom to explore while staying safe. [SpotOn]( puts the most advanced GPS fence technology in the palm of your hand. Swap buried wires with their patented True Location™ GPS technology to build custom fences from anywhere. Reliable, flexible, and intuitive, [SpotOn]( provides savvy security for intelligent dogs. [Protect Your Dog](   Popular This Week [MICROBIOLOGY]( [Mobile Genes From the Mother Shape the Baby’s Microbiome]( Tiny genetic sequences in a mother’s bacteria seem to hop into the infant’s bacteria, perhaps ensuring a healthy microbiome later in life. BY YASEMIN SAPLAKOGLU [Continue reading →]( [GEOSCIENCE]( [The Ecological Catastrophe You’ve Never Heard Of]( In 12 minutes, a landslide, tsunami, and flood devastated a valley in Canada. BY MARA JOHNSON-GROH [Continue reading →]( [TECHNOLOGY]( [ChatGPT Is a Mirror of Our Times]( What language AIs make up for in efficiency they lack in humanity. BY PHILIP BALL [Continue reading →]( [PSYCHOLOGY]( [Want to Get Out Alive? Follow the Ants]( Ants show that emergency exits can work better when they’re obstructed. BY CONOR MYHRVOLD [Continue reading →](   [BEHIND THE SCENES]( [Rahul Parikh Takes Us Behind “Why Reading Your Doctor’s Notes Can Be Painful”]( Not long ago, a mother asked Rahul Parikh, a pediatrician, to run some tests on her child, Parikh’s patient. “Intellectually and clinically and scientifically, I knew that doing those tests had no value whatsoever, but she wasn’t going to take no for an answer,” Parikh told me in [our recent conversation](. “She was what I would call ‘insistent.’” It’s not uncommon for doctors in these situations to pass that information on to their colleagues who might be seeing the same patient. They might write in the patient’s electronic health record, “Patient insists that this test be done.” (The parent of the patient, in this case.) But was that the best way to characterize the mother’s request? Starting to write, “Patient insists…,” Parikh caught himself, knowing that, after the passing of the 21st Century Cures Act, she’d be able to see her child’s patient notes and read what Parikh had said about her. Would it be more appropriate, he thought, to say she’s uncomfortable and worried? “This rule pushed me in that moment to put myself in her shoes in a way that I hadn’t before,” Parikh said. “And that’s beneficial, but it also requires stopping and rethinking how I write notes, and tuning to a new audience—a patient, a consumer.” That reflection prompted him to write his [recent story](, “Why Reading Your Doctor’s Notes Can Be Painful.” Not every doctor will have that sort of second thought, and amend their words to something more patient-friendly. Using “insists,” Parikh said, “may have made her look unfairly stubborn or obstinate, and may have stigmatized her as being a ‘demanding patient.’” If the mother of his patient decided to look at what Parikh had written about the visit, she may well have been stung by the remark. We also discussed, among other things, whether patients know that they can look at their notes. I asked Parikh if medical centers are taking any steps to raise patients’ awareness about this fact. “I don’t think healthcare systems, doctors’ offices, have gone so far as to put big signs that say, ‘Hey, you can now read your notes online. Go here to do it,’” he said. “There’s an interesting sub-story here about [what we think patients want](, and what they really do or don’t want, that’s driven in part by some of the advocacy around this—the strong sense among a group of dedicated people who really feel like this is going to be the right thing to do: open notes. If you ask people if they want it, they’ll probably say yes. But the question is: Will they actually take advantage of it once it’s there? I’m not sure where the ball’s going to land here, but it may be that even if we were to advertise it, or make it very visible to patients, that they may not be as interested as we think they are.” [Watch here](. —Brian Gallagher, associate editor   [Start Fresh With Science]( Welcome new memories and new hobbies this Lunar New Year with [MEL Science.]( Subscribe today and get a free science set with code LUNAR. [Claim Your Gift](   More in Arts [What Happens When Icebergs Collide With Art]( From DJ Spooky to Herman Melville, artists illuminate the sublime, increasingly transient nature of our planet’s icebergs. BY MARISSA GRUNES [Continue reading →]( [Is AI Art Really Art?]( What it will mean to be moved by an AI’s mindless creativity. BY ED SIMON [Continue reading →](   P.S. Can games improve research? Five behavioral scientists [recently argued]( that gamifying experiments could be a big win for the field. Among other things, gamified studies could perk up the dozing and distracted study participants experimenters frequently encounter in the lab. Disengaged subjects deliver worse data. The remedy is sparking their intrinsic motivation. No other media meets our emotional and social needs like electronic games. [Why shouldn’t science tap into their potential?](   Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher   BECOME A SUBSCRIBER [Share the Nautilus Experience This Lunar New Year]( As the Lunar New Year ushers in the Year of the Rabbit, [Nautilus]( would like to wish you health, happiness, and good fortune! A new beginning is the perfect time to get fresh perspectives, explore new ideas, and cultivate community. For the rest of the month, when you buy a subscription for yourself, you can [give a six-month digital subscription]( to a friend for free. Have a Happy Lunar New Year! 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