💡 The Hidden Butterfly Trade

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 [ZOOLOGY]( [The Hidden Butterfly Trade]( How the lucrative market could spark conservation. BY KATHERINE HARMON COURAGE Sitting at what was once Vladimir Nabokov’s desk in Harvard University’s Museum of Comparative Zoology, graduate student Zhengyang Wang spent hours pouring over the final details of insect anatomy. [Continue reading→]( The latest from Nautilus [TECHNOLOGY]( [How to Guarantee the Safety of Autonomous Vehicles]( The key to preventing crashes is to know what you don’t know. BY STEVE NADIS [Continue reading→]( [ENVIRONMENT]( [What Plants Hear]( They sense the buzzing sounds of pollinators, the vibrations of the wind. BY CASPAR HENDERSON[Continue reading→]( Time to Clear the Air Indoor air is often more polluted than outdoor air, as [this Nautilus interview]( explains. Keep your home’s air clean and fresh with [the Coway Airmega air purifier](—a Wirecutter top pick for 2024. [BUY ON AMAZON]( WE'RE CURIOUS TO KNOW... Would you ever feel entirely comfortable letting your car drive you? 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 [“How to Guarantee the Safety of Autonomous Vehicles.”]([)]( Top Answers to Our Previous Question(On the Animal Whose Eyes You’d Like to See Through) • I would be a chickadee or a hummingbird. I love small birds and I love seeing them flit around, and love hearing them sing or hum as they go about their day, bringing their sweetness into our world. – Janette R. • It would be an octopus because they are such entirely different animals than we are and they are very intelligent. How do its eyes convey images to the arms? To the camouflage system? – Natasha F. • I believe a crow’s perspective would be enlightening as these birds are superbly attuned to human behavior, can be found all over the world in both urban and rural settings, are intelligent, and likely could give us humans some good advice if we would and could listen. – Louise M. • The eyes of a peregrine falcon! They can dive at around 180 miles per hour, so they’re the fastest animals. To be able to see clearly at that speed would be incredible to feel for even a minute. Of course, there is the bird’s eye view of the aerial landscape that would inspire me, a complete other sense of freedom. – Carolynn L. FACTS SO ROMANTIC The 5 Best Things We Learned Today Einstein’s theory of gravity cannot deal with a particle being in two places at the same time. [Nautilus→]( There is a vine in the Cuban rainforest that has evolved bowl-shaped leaves that act as sound reflectors. [Nautilus→]( Birds, fish, amphibians, and some insects and reptiles can often see 100 times as many shades as humans do. [Nautilus→]( Stellar flares can increase a star's brightness by factors of tens or hundreds at different wavelengths of light. [Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics→]( An ocean recently formed inside Saturn’s moon Mimas. [Nature→]( [“The Morpho didius butterfly is one of the biggest butterflies in the world.”]( [And, as Zhengyang Wang tells Nautilus, it’s also one of the most commonly traded on eBay.]( Harness the Power of the Sun Rated Best Portable Solar Charger by Wirecutter, [the Allpowers charger]( keeps your phone and laptop charged as long as the sun is shining and folds into a compact case when you’re done. No wires, no batteries, no problem! [Popular Science’s pick for Best Solar Path Light](s turn on automatically to light up your outdoor paths at night while staying virtually invisible during the day. [The Jackery Portable Power Station]( is a personal generator that only takes two hours to fully charge in the sunlight. With enough juice to power any appliance or gadget, it’s a lifesaver in an emergency and the perfect addition to any RV. Your free story this Thursday! [PHYSICS]( [What Physicists Have Been Missing]( An exciting new theory reconciles gravity and quantum physics. I think it’s wrong. But I may be too. BY SABINE HOSSENFELDER A century ago, physics breakthroughs came in rapid sequence. [Continue reading for free→]( Love Demystified by Science Find out what happens in your head when there’s love in your heart. Download a FREE copy of our latest eBook, [The Brave New Science of Love](. And don’t forget, Nautilus members get access to our entire library of eBooks for free. Happy Valentine’s Day! [DOWNLOAD YOUR COPY]( P.S. The mathematical and scientific polymath John von Neumann died on this day in 1957. He is the main character in Benjamín Labatut’s latest novel The MANIAC. That title refers explicitly to one of the earliest computers built—the Mathematical Analyzer Numerical Integrator and Automatic Computer. It was constructed at Los Alamos during the Manhattan Project around an architecture developed by implicit titular maniac von Neumann, Nick Hilden wrote. “The novel’s unique fusion of fact and fiction follows the rise and collapse of von Neumann and his quest to create ‘self-reproducing machines,’ an obsession he assumed because ‘[something had to survive the bombs](.’” 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: NautilusNext 360 W 36th Street, 7S, New York, NY 10018 Don't want to hear from us anymore? [Unsubscribe](