OD’ing on Transcendence, Human Origins, Sea Shanties, 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.]( This Thursday, read the latest stories from Nautilus—and this week’s Facts So Romantic below [PALEONTOLOGY]( [Digging for Our Origins in the Bone Beds of an African Park]( In their search for the last common ancestor of chimps and humans, scientists at Gorongosa National Park are expanding the picture of early primate life. BY CHARLES DIGGES For the paleoanthropologists looking to fill out the pages of humanity’s family album, a cache of ancient teeth unearthed over the past few years at Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique could be like sepia-toned photos from the old neighborhood. [Continue reading→]( The latest from Nautilus [PSYCHOLOGY]( [You Can Have Too Much Transcendence]( Just ask this religious scholar who took 73 high-dose LSD trips. BY STEVE PAULSON[Continue reading→]( [TECHNOLOGY]( [When AI Hallucinates]( Let’s not praise inaccuracy as creativity. BY OLIVER BOWN[Continue reading→]( [TECHNOLOGY]( [Resurrecting an Extinct Animal as a Robot]( A soft robot replica solves a mystery about the evolution of movement. BY KATHERINE SKIPPER [Continue reading→]( [ARTS]( [What Should We Do With an Old Sea Shanty?]( Grappling with the complicated legacy of an unexpectedly popular musical genre. BY KATY KELLEHER[Continue reading→]( FACTS SO ROMANTIC The Best Things We Learned Today Taking 500 to 600 micrograms of LSD is right at the body’s maximum: You can take more, but you don’t get higher. [Nautilus→]( At heart, a large language model’s job description is incredibly simple: Given some text, they tell us what text comes next. [Nautilus→]( Some remains, like the Pleurocystitid’s—picture a tadpole, with a flat hard shell, two long arms, and a tail-like stem—are so distinct from anything alive on Earth today that scientists struggle to characterize them. [Nautilus→]( Thematically, sea shanties can vary widely—some are about hot women in equally hot ports; others about missing a homeland; the hazards of life at sea; and spotting, battling, and slaughtering whales. [Nautilus→]( Only mammals and birds—the creatures evolution singled out for higher cognition—are warm-blooded. [Nautilus→]( [“We’re looking at the evolution of an ecosystem that is new to science.”]( [Charles Digges writes about the effort to find remains of the last common ancestor we shared with African primates.]( Your free story this Thursday! [MICROBIOLOGY]( [Mirror-Image Life]( This biochemist is determined to create a new life form by reversing the shape of molecules. BY PHILIP BALL You’re twisted. Sorry, but we all are. [Continue reading for free→]( From The Porthole—short sharp looks at science [PSYCHOLOGY]( [The Virtues of Not Knowing]( How relishing uncertainty can make us better thinkers and neighbors. BY MAGGIE JACKSON [Continue reading→]( [EVOLUTION]( [My 3 Greatest Revelations]( Joseph LeDoux on writing his new book, The Four Realms of Existence: A New Theory of Being Human. BY JOSEPH LEDOUX[Continue reading→]( EXCLUSIVE MEMBER CONTENT | [Explore Memberships→]( [Enjoy Black Friday Early—Get 25% Off a Nautilus Membership]( [Join for unlimited, ad-free access]( to Nautilus’ unique brand of science journalism. [JOIN NOW]( P.S. Happy Thanksgiving! Here’s a Swiftian proposal, from Dan Garisto, to share around the dinner table this holiday evening: What if we quit Thanksgiving turkey cold turkey? [“Consider, for a moment, the benefits to such a Scheme.”]( 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](. [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Copyright © 2023 NautilusNext, All rights reserved.You were subscribed to the newsletter from [nautil.us](. Our mailing address is: NautilusNext360 W 36th Street, 7S,New York, NY 10018 Don't want to hear from us anymore? [Unsubscribe](