Stop Worrying About Deepfakes

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 [NEUROSCIENCE]( [Why We Sense Somebody Who Isn’t There]( When expectations aren’t met, our brains spook us. BY PHIL JAEKL For 10 months, Ernest Shackleton and his crew, bound for the South Pole, were stranded in Antarctic ice. [Continue reading→]( [Peak Your Curiosity]( [The Curiosity Box]( is the perfect subscription for deep thinkers. Satiate your curiosity with premium science toys, engaging experiments, and limited-edition collectibles designed for adults delivered straight to your door four times per year. [Enjoy 30% off your first Curiosity Box]( with the code MERRY. [GET THE BOX]( The latest from Nautilus [TECHNOLOGY]( [Stop Worrying About Deepfakes]( Where many see the death of reality on the Internet, this hacker-turned-Notre Dame professor sees communion. BY ANNE STRAINCHAMPS[Continue reading→]( [PSYCHOLOGY]( [Will Psychedelics Replace Antidepressants?]( Psychedelic treatment is helping patients make difficult emotional breakthroughs. BY STEVE PAULSON[Continue reading→]( [PSYCHOLOGY]( [Your Brain Wants a Linear Story]( Artists may jumble time for dramatic effect. But your unconscious is always putting the narrative in order. BY AJDINA HALILOVIC [Continue reading→]( [ASTRONOMY]( [Could the Universe Be Finite?]( It’s not absurd to think the universe might endure forever. BY ERIC SCHWITZGEBEL & JACOB BARANDES[Continue reading→]( WE'RE CURIOUS TO KNOW... Have you ever felt the presence of someone who wasn’t with you? If so, what might have prompted the experience? Let us know! Reply to this newsletter with your response, briefly explaining your choice, and we’ll reveal the top answers. (This question was inspired by [“Why We Sense Somebody Who Isn’t There.”)]( Top Answers to Our Previous Question(On Your Most Memorable Encounter With an Animal) - I went on safari with my brothers and parents and, during the night, I felt hot, so I opened the French doors. Below was a watering hole where the animals drank. A lion walked in through the French doors at the same moment my mother opened the door to see if we were asleep. The lion roared, my mother screamed, and the lion left. I burst into tears, and told my mother that she had scared my lion away. She shut the French doors and I got told off. – Lesley W. - I was chaperoning a highschool whale-watching field trip just beyond Cape Cod. The captain was preparing to return to Boston Harbor when a pod of whales began to breach off the port bow. I was around the middle of the vessel when a whale breached about 10 yards from the port side. A child said, "Look Mommy! I can see its gills!" What appeared to be gills were scars likely left by a collision with the propeller of a boat. Looking the whale in the eye, I began to weep.– Robert M. - A hummingbird got into our Colorado cabin and was frantically flying from window to window, banging around. The bird was perched on the far side of the room as I went to the open door it flew in. I looked at the hummer, put out my finger for a perch. The bird immediately flew across the room, sat on my finger, stared into my eyes, and flew off into freedom. No bird brain here. – Jack Z. - I spent 45 minutes kayaking with a mother orca and her calf in Glacier Bay National Monument, in Alaska. They would roll over on their sides with one eye out of the water and just look at us. We paddled hard to stay with them, although they clearly stayed with us. I can whistle quite loudly and did so, and they clicked and whistled back. It was magic. Then a commercial fishing boat with engines roaring came on the scene, and they were gone in seconds. – Bobbe S. FACTS SO ROMANTIC The Best Things We Learned Today It’s possible to induce neural activity that consistently elicits a felt presence. [Nautilus→]( If a person faces difficult personal challenges during a psychedelic experience, ones they usually try to push aside, that pretty strongly predicts antidepressant response. [Nautilus→]( If you have someone sit for a portrait and then expose the same film to an old photo of their long-lost loved one and in the double exposure, it would appear as this ghost-like apparition. [Nautilus→]( Our reaction times and reading pace slow and we have a harder time accessing memories related to events when they are presented to us out of order. [Nautilus→]( The bizarreness of relativity theory prevents us from using “past,” “present,” and “future” in the ordinary, commonsense way. [Nautilus→]( In The Field Take on the wilderness with the toughest outdoor watch collection on the market from [G-SHOCK](. Equipped with a compass, altimeter/barometer, temperature readers, and pedometer, you’ll always be ready to make quick decisions and accurate actions when you’re out in the field. Whether you’re trekking through the wilderness or running errands in the city, the durable, stylish [Adventurist Classic]( backpack is the perfect companion. Your outdoor activities can continue well into the night with a dependable [IMALENT]( adventure flashlight at your side, illuminating your path to captivating adventures. Your free story this Thursday! [PSYCHOLOGY]( [The Problem with the Way Scientists Study Reason]( They overly rely on logic and philosophy, and neglect psychology’s more natural ally: biology. BY SACHA ALTAY In March, I was in Paris for the International Convention of Psychological Science, one of the most prestigious gatherings in cognitive science. [Continue reading for free→]( EXCLUSIVE MEMBER CONTENT | [Explore Memberships→]( [Where Art Meets Science]( Our readers often tell us that our commitment to art and illustration is one of the most cherished parts of Nautilus. It’s a key ingredient in the special sauce that makes Nautilus and our community so unique—the recognition that art is another outlet for the creativity that drives our storytelling. With that in mind, we’ve got a gift you’re going to like: our favorite art platform, Colossal, is offering $25 towards a membership to their platform, exclusive to Nautilus members. Colossal is a leading contemporary art platform that celebrates the work of thousands of artists, many of whom are influenced by science. It’s an online gallery, where you’ll find rich stories behind the work and artists. Recently, they’ve featured [puzzles designed to mirror the rare element bismuth’s crystalline network](, [historic glass models of marine invertebrates](, and [an ambitious project to photograph every edible plant seed in exquisite detail](. This $25 credit is only available to Nautilus members, so join Nautilus with any membership to claim yours. [JOIN NOW]( P.S. The Dutch biologist Nikolaas Tinbergen, the founder of behavioral ecology, died on this day in 1988. Sacha Altay wrote about how psychologists haven’t taken one of Tinbergen’s famous lessons to heart when studying our own ability to reason. “Instead of trying hard to find biases in human cognition using weird tasks with little ecological validity,” Altay wrote, “the psychology of reasoning would be more productive” if more researchers took heed of Tinbergen’s advice to [“interview animals in their own language.”]( 🎤🐢 Today’s newsletter was written by Brian Gallagher Thanks for reading. 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