The Top Science News

The uncanny risks of AI clones; why we masturbate; COVID fuses our brain cells; and more. Plus: is morality in decline? [View in browser]( | [Become a member]( June 13, 2023   Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here](. Good Morning! Here’s the top science news—and this week’s One Question with psychologist [Adam Mastroianni]( [READ NAUTILUS](   DISCOVERIES The Top Science News This Week   [The Evolution of Masturbation Is Associated with Postcopulatory Selection and Pathogen Avoidance in Primates]( Creatures across the animal kingdom do it. Is there a deep reason why? [Proceedings of the Royal Society B→](   [SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Viral Fusogens Cause Neuronal and Glial Fusion That Compromises Neuronal Activity]( Answers to part of the puzzle of how getting COVID affects our brain. [Science Advances→](   [Thermal Imaging and Clandestine Surveillance Using Low-Cost Polymers with Long-Wave Infrared Transparency]( Spy tech could soon come standard on your smartphone. [Advanced Optical Materials→](   [The Global Human Day]( What do we all typically do in a 24-hour period on Earth? [PNAS→](   [AI Clones Made from User Data Pose Uncanny Risks]( This won’t surprise anyone who has seen the 2000 sci-fi film The 6th Day starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. [The Conversation→](   [Nothing About Collective Irrationalities Makes Sense Except in the Light of Cooperation]( Why people believe weird things. [Philosophical Psychology→](   [Scientists Discover a Virgin Birth in a Crocodile]( Biologists are catching up to Jurassic Park. [The New York Times→](   [The Search for Earth’s Hidden Mountains]( Why are there mountain ranges with peaks four times as tall as Everest deep inside our planet? [BBC→]( Experience the endless possibilities and deep human connections that science offers [SUBSCRIBE TODAY](   [ONE QUESTION]( [Is Morality in Decline?]( INTERVIEW BY BRIAN GALLAGHER One question for [Adam Mastroianni](, a psychologist at Columbia University where he studies how people perceive and misperceive their social worlds.   No, it’s not. Participants in our studies tell us that people are less kind, less nice, less honest, less good, that this has been happening their whole lives, that it’s been happening recently, and that it’s been happening everywhere. Which should make it pretty easy to find some evidence of this somewhere, and we find no evidence of it anywhere. In fact, we find pretty good evidence that it [hasn’t happened](. [Read the interview](   Related Nautilus Stories   [PSYCHOLOGY]( [The Hidden Connection Between Morality and Language]( Are people are more likely to act less emotionally and more rationally when speaking their second language? BY CODY DELISTRATY [Continue reading →]( [PHILOSOPHY]( [The Universe Knows Right from Wrong]( A proponent of panpsychism argues moral truth is inherent in consciousness. BY PHILIP GOFF [Continue reading →](   More in Psychology [The Original Psychotherapists Were Shamans and Priests]( Confession is the key to mental healing. BY KRISTEN FRENCH [Continue reading →]( [Our Super Malleable Sense of Self]( Why is it possible to mistake parts of someone else’s face for your own? BY BRIAN LOWERY [Continue reading →](   P.S. On this day in 1611, the Dutch astronomer Johannes Fabricius wrote his dedication to the first published research on sunspots. Jonathan Keats wrote about how counting sunspots—a 315-year-old science experiment—[unites the past and future of science.](   Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher   BECOME A MEMBER [Explore New Depths With a Free Ocean Issue]( Embark on a journey beneath the ocean’s surface with the new [Nautilus]( Ocean magazine. The Spring 2023 issue sheds new light on ocean exploration, conservation, and research through stories about the ocean waters and hauntingly beautiful narratives about the creatures that inhabit the waters. Join today and [become a Nautilus member]( by June 11 to get the new Nautilus Ocean Issue for free. [Join Now]( 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](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Copyright © 2023 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](.