💡 The Top Science News

The latest from Nautilus and the wider world of science. [View in browser](| [Join Nautilus]( Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here.]( This Tuesday, check out the top science news and the latest from Nautilus—plus your free story of the day [READ NAUTILUS]( DISCOVERIES The Top Science News This Week [Modern Birds Were Around Before the Dinosaurs Went Extinct]( Researchers find that, about 10 million years after the dinosaurs died out, birds diversified in “remarkable lockstep with that of flowering plants and other organisms.” [PNAS→]( [What Grinds Black Hole Spins to a Halt]( Collapsars—or black holes formed from collapsed stars—slow their spinning down when they shoot out jets of energy. [The Astrophysical Journal→]( [Using AI to Generate Interior Design Ideas More Efficiently]( Researchers created their own fine-tuned AI model and had expert interior designers compare its creative output to others—it achieved high scores in aesthetics, decoration style, and spatial use criteria. [Scientific Reports→]( [The NBA’s Three-Point Shot Is Losing Its Value]( The average expected value of shots from beyond the arc has become less than two-pointers since the 2017-18 season. [Syracuse University→]( “It's Not Literally True, But You Get the Gist” How nuanced understandings of truth encourage people to condone and spread misinformation. [Current Opinion in Psychology→]( [Scientists Identify “Universal Network” of Microbes for Decomposing Flesh]( Findings could help forensic scientists better determine a body's precise time of death. [ARS Technica→]( [A Mushroom Grew in a Strange Place: The Side of a Frog]( Maybe frog and fungi are friends. [The New York Times→]( [The Mysterious Origins of Peru’s Oldest Indigenous People]( The Uros of Lake Titicaca live on floating islands made from reeds. How did they get there? [Big Think→]( 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 Lights]( 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. WE ARE CURIOUS TO KNOW... What is the most memorable romantic gesture you’ve ever experienced? 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 [“The Brave New Science of Love.”]() Top Answers to Our Previous Question (On a Collection You’ve Been Keeping Since Childhood) • I’ve collected unicorns since childhood. I’ve lost count of how many I have (well over 2,000). Figurines, books, pictures, stuffies—the only downside is that sometimes, that’s all I get for Christmas. – Libbie M. • I have a collection of dolls with their national clothing. My godmother brought my first from Norway in 1960. I was 4 years old. I now have over 35 dolls. The oldest are the nicest and dearest. – Marie-Dominique R. • When I was 10, our family moved into a house in nearby Kansas City, Missouri. My parents gave my brother and me a choice of bedrooms; I chose the one adjacent to the top-floor attic. I was soon surprised to discover a 1914 Victrola with 300 78rpm records; otherwise the attic was entirely empty. Now, at 70, after collecting on and off for 60 years, I’ve 10 times as many discs (many collected on my overseas travels) along with machines on which to play them, including a few that play my 250-plus cylinder records. I’ve always thought of this as my personal time machine, revealing the art, mores, technology, and history of the past 120 years. – Peter F. From The Porthole—short sharp looks at science [PSYCHOLOGY]( [The Brave New Science of Love]( What casual sex, pigeon relationships, and a drug for broken hearts can tell us about love. BY KEVIN BERGER Learning that romantic feelings, the fireworks of joy and transcendence, are ignited by nothing but biochemistry is a total downer. Or so it might seem. But we bet you will come away from reading these Nautilus articles on love, compiled for Valentine’s Day, feeling like researcher Anna Machin, who says the more she studies love, “the more in awe I am of its complexity in the human species.” [Keep on reading]( Your free story this Tuesday! [PSYCHOLOGY]( [Your IQ Matters Less Than You Think]( In studies of children and historical figures, IQ falls short as a measure of success. BY DEAN KEITH SIMONTON People too often forget that IQ tests haven’t been around that long. [Continue reading for free→]( EXCLUSIVE MEMBER CONTENT | [Explore Memberships→]( 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 physicist and inventor William Shockley was born on this day in 1910. Shockley was one of many high-IQ children who took extra tests to qualify for a study of geniuses run by Stanford University’s Lewis M. Terman. [Shockley didn’t make the cut](. Even so: “Despite his sub-genius score on Terman’s IQ test, he managed to get his B.S. from Cal Tech and his Ph.D. from MIT, both prestigious technical institutions,” wrote Dean Keith Simonton. “He then joined Bell Labs and began to publish extensively in solid-state physics, getting his first patent at age 28.” He would go on to win a share of the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1956 for his work on electronics hardware, specifically the transistor. 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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