Why Nature Prefers Hexagons

The geometric rules behind fly eyes, honeycombs, and soap bubbles. Plus: behind the scenes with synthetic ecologist Elena Kazamia; what is scientific discovery worth?; and more. [View in browser]( | [Become a member]( EDITORS’ CHOICE Newsletter brought to you by: February 5, 2023   Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here](. Good Morning! Here’s some of the latest and most popular stories from Nautilus—plus this week’s Behind the Scenes with synthetic ecologist [Elena Kazamia]( below [READ NAUTILUS](   [PHYSICS]( [What Is Scientific Discovery Worth?]( The quest to detect neutrinos has physicists—and society—asking hard questions. BY PAUL M. SUTTER More than a decade ago, a team of scientists decided they wanted to shoot neutrinos from Fermilab outside Chicago to a target buried in an abandoned gold mine 810 miles away. [Continue reading →]( Experience the endless possibilities and deep human connections that science offers [SUBSCRIBE TODAY](   [This Dog Fence Can Be Installed in 2 Minutes and Never Needs Maintenance]( According to renowned psychologists, [nature’s health benefits]( help relieve stress and restore focus—so why not enhance your dog’s well-being with more time outside? [SpotOn]( is a wireless fence that can be set up in minutes and managed in the palm of your hand with an easy-to-use app. Its patented True Location™ GPS technology offers the widest range of GPS coverage on the market, pulling location data from 25 to 30 satellites across four global systems. [Save 15% on your purchase]( with code NAUT15. [Experience Life Unleashed](   Popular This Week [HEALTH]( [Why Reading Your Doctor’s Notes Can Be Painful]( A physician diagnoses the problem with medical notes—with a prescription for change. BY RAHUL PARIKH [Continue reading →]( [MICROBIOLOGY]( [The Universal Clock of Aging]( Father Time is ticking away in our DNA. BY ELENA KAZAMIA [Continue reading →]( [PSYCHOLOGY]( [The Creative Sweet Spot of Dreaming]( A recently identified stage of sleep common to narcoleptics is a fertile source of creativity. BY KRISTEN FRENCH [Continue reading →]( [PHYSICS]( [Why Nature Prefers Hexagons]( The geometric rules behind fly eyes, honeycombs, and soap bubbles. BY PHILIP BALL [Continue reading →](   [BEHIND THE SCENES]( [Elena Kazamia Takes Us Behind “The Universal Clock of Aging”]( “I don’t think anybody dreams of becoming an algal scientist,” Elena Kazamia says. But now she’s in love with algae. The synthetic ecologist, who works as a biofuel production researcher for a company called [Viridos](, in San Diego, didn’t really understand what they were until starting to study them in earnest, with the goal of advancing sustainable energy. That was around 2008. “Algae was the hot thing,” she says. “It still is today—things come around in circles.” The work helped her to realize that, as far as cells go, “algae are actually really exciting—a lot more than most other cell types,” she says. “There’s just so many different kinds. They have fascinating biologies that are so disparate compared to human cells. Most of them are actually pretty similar, even though we have cells like a brain cell and a heart cell. Algal cells can be just worlds apart.” Her recent story in Nautilus, “[The Universal Clock of Aging](,” was, for Kazamia, a delightful opportunity to return to her “more philosophical thoughts” on cells. “This is still a huge fascination: How is it that something that started as a unicellular life form developed, all the way to where we are sitting here, connected across a huge distance speaking to each other about life in the universe?” Kazamia says. “That’s what biology is to me, and I could spend more than a single lifetime researching this.” Her curiosity about why cells die led naturally to the question of aging. Her story is about how cells can measure time. Kazamia details the work of geneticist [Steve Horvath](, who discovered that there is a single formula based on certain DNA signatures and cells that can reliably tell us how old that tissue is. It works across every tissue in the body, and across more than 150 mammals. “That’s really surprising,” [Kazamia says](. “It’s very rare to have findings in biology that hold across cell types, across a variety of life. It speaks to something very fundamental. It tells us that there must be some sort of program to aging, or at least that’s what the field believes now. That’s quite remarkable. If you think of a body, there’s a lot of cells that are collaborating. Your brain cells have to be collaborating with the blood cells in your body so that you stay alive. But a brain cell lives a lot longer than a red blood cell. So it’s kind of weird that they measure time at the same rate, though. It’s not clear exactly how they do it. But it’s pretty neat that they do it.” In our conversation, we also discussed, among other things, whether aging was a kind of incidental coding error on the part of evolution, or something it selected for. “Horvath certainly sees it as an unintentional consequence, but he’s just on one side of that argument.” Kazamia explained how this might matter for those trying to slow down or stop aging. “If aging’s just this unintentional thing that happens—doesn’t bring any benefit, not really selected for—then that gives you more space to try to reverse it.” [Watch here](. —Brian Gallagher, associate editor   [Healthy Relationships Start With Health]( Give the gift of good health this Valentine’s Day with the [Oura smart ring](. Save $50 on the Rose Gold finish for a limited time. [Learn More](   More in Physics [How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Uncertainty]( I now realize Heisenberg and Schrödinger are less like physicists and more like therapists. BY PAUL M. SUTTER [Continue reading →]( [They Probed Quantum Entanglement While Everyone Shrugged]( This year’s winners of the Nobel Prize in Physics were driven by curiosity, skill, and tenacity. BY DAVID KAISER [Continue reading →](   Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher   BECOME A SUBSCRIBER [The Earth’s Great Forgetting]( [Issue 47]( of Nautilus brings [The Great Forgetting](. Summer Praetorius explores how science ripples through our personal lives, juxtaposing the arc of her science with the arc of her brother’s life, culminating on one of the most moving stories we’ve ever published. Also: Learn what organoids can tell us about how the brain works, the mysterious vanishing of 11 billion crabs, and how to stop worrying and embrace uncertainty. [Read these intriguing stories and more]( in Nautilus’ Issue 47 print edition. [Get Nautilus in Print](   [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Copyright © 2023 NautilusNext, All rights reserved. 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