The New Gold, Loving the Unknown, DNA Isn’t Life’s “Blueprint,” and More

The latest from Nautilus, and this week’s Facts So Romantic. [View in browser](| [Join Nautilus]( Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here.]( Dear Nautilus reader, We hope you’ve been enjoying our free member newsletter, and we’re excited to share an important update to future newsletters. We’ve been listening to feedback from readers like you, and as a result, will be changing the format to better serve our audience. Don’t worry—you’ll still be receiving a completely free story with every newsletter, exclusive to you as a newsletter subscriber, but readers told us that the Nautilus website delivers an optimal reading environment. You can find today’s free story (and all future unlocked articles) below, highlighted by a green border. But why limit yourself to just one free story? As a thank you to our most loyal newsletter readers (that’s you!), you can upgrade your membership right now for 30% off using code UPGRADE23. That’s our biggest sale ever—so you’ll be saving even more than the Black Friday crowd. Read more of the stories you've come to love without limitations, and enjoy other member benefits like ad-free reading, and priority access to the most in-demand science events, and more. [Upgrade now for 30% off→]( [GENETICS]( [How Life Really Works]( Just as I uncovered a new way to understand life, I got news about my own. BY PHILIP BALL The irony seemed a bit heavy-handed, frankly. [Continue reading→]( [Email Sucks, but Our Newsletter Doesn’t]( [Hakai Magazine]( brings you the best stories from the world’s oceans and coastlines. It’s the perfect balance of heart, art, science, and sass—fearless and never clichéd. Sign up for our free, award-winning weekly newsletter, and never miss a story. [SUBSCRIBE]( The latest from Nautilus [ENVIRONMENT]( [Sand Mafias Battle for the New Gold]( Violent gangsterism and illegal operations dominate sand mining in the global south. BY KATHARINE GAMMON[Continue reading→]( [ARTS]( [When Fire Feeds Fire]( This winning image of a match catching fire brings to mind the wildfires engulfing our increasingly flammable world. BY KRISTEN FRENCH[Continue reading→]( SOCIOLOGY [Do Homelessness Prevention Programs Work?]( The first evidence from a randomized controlled trial that financial assistance helps prevent homelessness. BY BRIAN A. JACOB [Continue reading→]( ENVIRONMENT [No Fish, No Food]( How warming oceans could deplete nutrition for millions in the tropics. BY SYRIS VALENTINE[Continue reading→]( FACTS SO ROMANTIC The Best Things We Learned Today Humans have approximately 19,000 genes. That’s barely half as many as a banana. [Nautilus→]( Sand is the second most exploited natural resource in the world after fresh water. [Nautilus→]( The atoms in your body—the iron in your blood, the calcium in your bones—came from stars that exploded 5 billion years ago. [Nautilus→]( Our deepest drill holes have never reached the mantle. [Nautilus→]( Nietzsche once summed up the idea of free will as “the best self-contradiction that has been conceived so far.” [Nautilus→]( [“To my surprise, I found solace. I am now more amazed by life than ever.”]( [Science writer Philip Ball reacts to finding out that he has an aggressive and high-risk kind of cancer.]( [PHYSICS]( [The Astrophysicist Who Loves the Things We Cannot Know]( A conversation with “rational mystic,” physicist Marcelo Gleiser. BY ANNE STRAINCHAMPS Marcelo Gleiser thinks we have the story of the universe all wrong. [Continue reading for free→]( From The Porthole—short sharp looks at science [GEOSCIENCE]( [Earth’s Core Has a Gas Leak]( Contrary to conventional wisdom, matter can escape the center of the Earth. BY MARCIA BJORNERUD [Continue reading→]( [PSYCHOLOGY]( [The Long History of Psychedelic Theft]( What’s the price of a sacred plant? BY STEVE PAULSON[Continue reading→]( EXCLUSIVE MEMBER CONTENT | [Explore Memberships→]( [Support Independent Science Journalism]( [Join a community of curious minds]( and get more of Nautilus’ award-winning writing every month. As a member, you’ll receive unlimited, ad-free access to Nautilus’ unique brand of independent science journalism. Available both online and in print. [JOIN NOW]( P.S. The astronomer Carl Sagan was born on this day in 1934. In Dan Falk’s story about the lesser known side of the great space scientist, he [described]( the significant place of the irrational number pi in Sagan’s novel Contact—and why the beloved mathematical constant was written out of the 1997 film. Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher Thanks for reading.[Tell us](mailto:brian.gallagher@nautil.us?subject=&body=) 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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