That Is Not How Your Brain Works

Forget these scientific myths to better understand your brain and yourself. Plus: the race to colonize Mars perpetuates a dangerous religion; behind the scenes with marine biologist Danna Staaf; and more. [View in browser]( | [Become a member]( EDITORS’ CHOICE April 23, 2023   Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here](. Good Morning! Here’s the latest stories from Nautilus—and this week’s Behind the Scenes with marine biologist [Danna Staaf]( below [READ NAUTILUS](   [PHILOSOPHY]( [The Race to Colonize Mars Perpetuates a Dangerous Religion]( We can learn about the universe without conquering it. BY BRIAN GALLAGHER My alarm rang me awake at 6:25 AM, and I drowsily yet eagerly tapped my way to YouTube, blinking my bleary eyes to see clearly. [Continue reading →]( Experience the endless possibilities and deep human connections that science offers [SUBSCRIBE TODAY](   [Advanced Math and CS Concepts, Simply Explained]( Whether you’re part of a mathematician duo solving [the world’s greatest numerical mystery]( or a math enthusiast cracking the elusive "einstein tile," anyone can achieve great things in mathematics—and with [Brilliant](, anyone can master it. Brilliant is the easiest, most effective way to level up on core concepts in math, data analysis, CS, and more. The intuitive app and bite-sized lessons accommodate all skill levels, while real-time feedback and straightforward explanations make learning efficient at every age. [Join 10 million+ users sharpening their skills]( and start your 30-day free trial. Get 20% off a premium annual membership as a special bonus for Nautilus readers. [Master Math With Brilliant](   Popular This Week [ENVIRONMENT]( [The Challenge of Blue Carbon]( Wetlands store a lot of carbon—but turning that into a business isn’t easy. BY MARK HARRIS [Continue reading →]( [GEOSCIENCE]( [The Iceberg Cowboys Who Wrangle the Purest Water on Earth]( My journey to meet the people herding frozen leviathans on the maritime frontier. BY MATTHEW BIRKHOLD [Continue reading →]( [EVOLUTION]( [Animal Sex Determination Is Weirder Than You Think]( Parasites, weather, and luck can play a role in determining whether some animals are male or female. BY DANNA STAAF [Continue reading →]( [NEUROSCIENCE]( [That Is Not How Your Brain Works]( Forget these scientific myths to better understand your brain and yourself. BY LISA FELDMAN BARRETT [Continue reading →](   [BEHIND THE SCENES]( [Danna Staaf Takes Us Behind “Animal Sex Determination Is Weirder Than You Think”]( When she was 10 years old, Danna Staaf saw an octopus up close for the first time—a big one—at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. She had that moment many people do: the realization someone’s looking back at you with a lot of cognitive power. “And yet, it’s in a body that’s completely unfamiliar to us,” [Staaf told me recently](. “It’s got no bones. It’s got eight wiggly arms and suction cups. And that sealed the deal for me. It’s like, these things are like aliens on Earth, and I need to know more about them.” Staaf followed her determination to Stanford University, where she received her PhD studying squid. “I was studying how they make these itty-bitty little hatchlings the size of a grain of rice,” she said. She focused on the Humboldt squid, which grows from a tiny hatchling to be about as big as a human adult. “I thought that transformation was like the caterpillar-to-butterfly transformation that I think we all love the first time we learn about it. But it was happening in so many different animals in so many different ways.” Her latest story in Nautilus is about wild transformations. In [“Animal Sex Determination Is Weirder Than You Think,”]( Staaf delves into the variety of ways animals have evolved to become male or female—at birth, at different points in their life, or according to how hot or cold it is outside. “We’re oddballs,” she said, referring to the way humans, via XX or XY chromosomes, become male or female. “A lot of animals do it very differently. A lot of reptiles don’t use genetics at all, much less entire chromosomes. They determine whether their body is going to make sperm or eggs based on the temperature they experience as embryos.” Consider the roly-poly, or pill bug. They “determine their sex based on whether they’re infected with a particular bacterium,” the Wolbachia, Staaf explained. Wolbachia evolved “feminizing influences, to turn their hosts into solely egg-producing machines, basically, which means Wolbachia-proliferating machines. That’s advantageous for the Wolbachia. But if they make all of their hosts female, to the point that there aren’t any more males in the population, then the population dies out, because there won’t be any sperm to fertilize those eggs. And that’s also bad for the Wolbachia. So there ends up being this balancing act between host and parasite, or host and symbiont.” In our conversation, Staaf also discussed sex determination in fungus, as well as the mother-child interactions among cockroaches and sharks. She is currently working on a book, [Nursery Earth: The Wondrous Lives of Baby Animals and the Extraordinary Ways They Shape Our World](. “I just think here are some really beautiful stories that I’d like to get out in the world,” Staff said. [Watch here.]( —Brian Gallagher, associate editor   [The Science We Need for the Ocean We Want]( The [UN Ocean Decade]( is calling for innovative knowledge-based solutions and ideas to create the Ocean We Want. Submissions are open now until August 31, 2023. [Learn More](   More in Philosophy [When Mary Wollstonecraft Was Duped by Love]( A spotlight on the personal life of the trailblazing philosopher. BY REGAN PENALUNA [Continue reading →]( [Can AI Help Us Be Better People?]( One question for Jon Rueda, a doctoral student in moral philosophy at the University of Granada. BY BRIAN GALLAGHER [Continue reading →](   P.S. The theoretical physicist Max Planck was born on this day in 1858. Today, his name is synonymous with the ultra minuscule: Planck length (a resolution of about 10-35 meters) and Planck time (about 10-43 seconds). In a personal essay, Subodh Patil wrote, “Any attempt to probe spacetime beyond the Planck scale will result in quantum fluctuations with so much energy localized within that region, [that it can spontaneously collapse into a black hole](.”   Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher   BECOME A SUBSCRIBER [Plants Are Perceptive]( Issue 48 of [Nautilus]( features “[What Plants Are Saying About Us](.” Amanda Gefter discovers that her houseplants are endowed with feelings and memories, shifting her thoughts on human perception. Also: We are all programmed to die; the void in the universe is alive; and more. [Get Nautilus in Print]( Thanks for reading. [Tell us](mailto:brian.gallagher@nautil.us) your thoughts on today’s note. Plus, [browse our archive]( of past print issues, and inspire a friend to sign up for [the Nautilus newsletter](. 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