💡 Awe’s Dark Side, the Sound of Aurora Borealis, 10 Timeless Papers, 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—plus today’s free story below [PSYCHOLOGY]( [The Dark Side of Awe]( Probing our sense of mystery and wonder. BY KEVIN BERGER I read a book last year that gave me the strangest feeling.[Continue reading→]( The latest from Nautilus [COMMUNICATION]( [10 Timeless Papers That Challenged Our Thinking]( My favorite readings for my students. BY JOHN HORGAN [Continue reading→]( [ENVIRONMENT]( [The Northern Lights Make Music]( The aurora sizzles with sound, and we can hear it on Earth. BY CASPAR HENDERSON[Continue reading→]( If you’re passionate about classic cars, [the Daily Vroom is a must-read newsletter](. It’s packed with insights into market trends, news about car auctions, and more. Whether you’re a serious collector or just curious about classic cars, The Daily Vroom has you covered. Subscribe now for free! [SUBSCRIBE TO THE DAILY VROOM]( WE'RE CURIOUS TO KNOW... What scholarly work has stimulated your thinking the most? 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 [“10 Timeless Papers That Challenged Our Thinking.”]([)]( Top Answers to Our Previous Question(On the Most Memorable Lecture You’ve Ever Watched) - Art Spielgelman talking about the creation of his Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel, Maus, in the mid 90s. I still remember him walking the audience through his creative process, regaling us with tales of personal and professional intrigue, all the while smoking like a proverbial chimney.– Josh S. - One by Mary Matossian of the University of Maryland, College Park, from her 1974 course "Great Persons in Western Civilization." Matossian was a psycho-historian and she taught us the principles of "Family Systems Therapy" which we used to examine the family profiles of 20 "great" persons and how they came to be "great." The knowledge gleaned from these lectures enabled me to examine myself and my family, comprehend the dynamics at work, and better myself and correct many, (but not all!) of my faults. Matossian's opinion was that Anton Chekov was the greatest person who ever lived. Go figure. – W. S. Jenkyns - “Do schools kill creativity?” from Sir Ken Robinson. It is the extraordinary, bright insight into creativity and education, presented with a very British sense of humor, that makes this so impactful. – Torben R. - When Stephen Hawking first announced "Black holes aren't black" to the relativity group at Cambridge University. – Geoff E. FACTS SO ROMANTIC The 5 Best Things We Learned Today The expression of awe is about 75 percent universal among humans. [Nautilus→]( John Wheeler’s phrase “it from bit” helped inspire the thriving field of quantum information science. [Nautilus→]( The sounds of an aurora—crackles and muffled bangs—only last for fractions of a second at roughly the same volume as a human whisper. [Nautilus→]( Rather than being attracted to light at night, moths and other flying insects become trapped in their glow. [The Guardian→]( Parrots can use their beaks to hang and swing on a branch like primates. [Royal Society Open Science→]( [“Isn’t awe just an emotion for the privileged?”]( [Dacher Keltner says it’s not. He talks to Nautilus about how everyday wonder can transform everyone’s lives.]( From The Porthole—short sharp looks at science [PSYCHOLOGY]( [Why We Reject New Ideas]( What Shark Tank pitches, Sundance films, and unusual sandwiches show us about our choices. BY KRISTEN FRENCH When the personal computer was first introduced to the public in the 1980s, some people developed what came to be known as “computerphobia,” a reluctance to talk or even read about computers, a fear of being replaced by the machine or enslaved by it, a conviction that the computer would damage one’s health, and a range of other anxieties. [Continue reading→]( Your free story this Thursday! [ASTRONOMY]( [A Wild Idea to Solve the Mysteries of Black Holes]( Could quantum mechanics hold the key? BY PAUL M. SUTTER There’s an outside chance we’ve been getting black holes wrong. [Continue reading for free→]( World Cancer Day is February 4th Cancer affects everyone. To commemorate World Cancer Day on February 4th, we’ve unlocked a selection of the best Nautilus writing about this insidious illness. Read the stories below for free any time through February 4th and join Nautilus for unlimited access to unique storytelling about the subjects that matter most. - [How Life Really Works]( By Philip Ball - [Young and Healthy and Waiting to Get Cancer]( By Lyndsey Walsh - [Cancer Shouldn’t Pose a Threat to Our Lives. We Should Find It First.]( By Gayil Nalls - [What We Really Are Is an Agglomeration of Cells]( By Michael Denham [JOIN NAUTILUS]( P.S. The German theoretical physicist Werner Heisenberg, who helped pioneer quantum mechanics, died on this day in 1976. He came up with what’s called the “Heisenberg uncertainty principle,” which places a stringent limit on our precise measurements of position and momentum: The more you know about one, the less you know about the other. “This principle only applies to very small (quantum) scales,” Paul Sutter wrote. “But if there’s a fuzz factor modifying momentum at very small scales, perhaps there’s a balance to it in nature, another fuzz factor modifying position at very large scales—[scales the size of black holes](.” 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](. 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