💡 The Groundhog Watchers

What’s popular this week in Nautilus. [View in browser](| [Join Nautilus]( EDITORS' CHOICE Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here.]( This Sunday, read the latest and most popular stories from Nautilus—plus your free story of the day below [READ NAUTILUS]( [ZOOLOGY]( [The Groundhog Watchers]( Meet Susan and Joe. Their daily observations of the groundhogs in their yard are making science history. BY BRANDON KEIM One spring morning in 2003, Susan Sam looked out the kitchen window of her home in rural Imlay City, Michigan, and saw a small brown animal on the lawn. [Continue reading →]( Illustrator Spotlight ARTS [Building a Bridge Between Data and Art]( A conversation with Issue 52 cover artist Mark Belan. BY THE NAUTILUS MARKETING TEAM Artist Mark Belan is a master at grabbing attention. [Continue reading →]( There’s an E-Bike for Everyone Not sure if you want to commit to a new e-bike yet? You can turn your current bike into an e-bike with [the BAFANG conversion kit](. Rated Best Overall by Treehugger, it’s perfect for DIY enthusiasts. Wirecutter’s pick for best folding bike, [the Dahon Mariner D8](, packs the same punch as a full e-bike and folds up for easy storage. It’s a great option for city-dwellers and commuters. If you want to try an e-bike but don’t want to break the bank, [the Ancheer Blue Spark]( is for you. Popular Science rated it the Best Budget Bike of 2024 and it’s a steal at $350. WE ARE CURIOUS TO KNOW... If we find life on Mars, should we help it thrive—or leave it alone? 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 Thorny Ethics of Making Alien Planets Habitable.”]() Popular This Week [ENVIRONMENT]( [The Tiny Ant and the Mighty Lion]( How one insect is reshaping the ecosystem of the African savannah. BY SUMMER RYLANDER [Continue reading →]( NEUROSCIENCE [An Expert’s Guide to Celebrity Faces]( The way we process faces means that symmetry is only part of the story. BY SIMONE M. SCULLY [Continue reading →]( The latest from Nautilus [PALEONTOLOGY]( [Unraveling the Evolution of Flight]( Bird brain scans and dinosaur fossils hint at when the first creatures grew wings. BY ELENA RENKEN [Continue reading →]( [ASTRONOMY]( [The Thorny Ethics of Making Alien Planets Habitable]( Terraforming Mars could risk exterminating the very lifeforms we dream of discovering. BY ERIKA NESVOLD [Continue reading →]( [“The fate of a great many animals is ultimately a matter of personal conscience.”]( [Brandon Keim writes about the plight of groundhogs and a couple’s inspiring affection for the animals.]( Relive Your Memories While You Preserve Them Nostalgic memories are an important part of our sense of self, as [this Nautilus story]( reports. You can revisit your fondest memories while you save them digitally with the [Kodak Slide N Scan film scanner](. [BUY ON AMAZON]( Your free story this Sunday! [PHYSICS]( [When Einstein Tilted at Windmills]( The young physicist’s quest to prove the theories of Ernst Mach. BY AMANDA GEFTER When they met, Einstein wasn’t Einstein yet. [Continue reading for free→]( EXCLUSIVE MEMBER CONTENT | [Explore Memberships→]( Watch the Creative Sparks Fly Between Yo-Yo Ma and Fabiola Gianotti “What’s permanent is how you grow… if you stop growing, you’re dead…” That’s just one quote from the conversation we recorded between world-class cellist Yo-Yo Ma and renowned CERN director Fabiola Gianotti for our video series [The Intersection](. Although these two brilliant minds come from two very different fields, they’re united by their curiosity—that universal trait that fuels human progress and innovation. When two individuals, each immersed in their own unique field of expertise, come together for a conversation, remarkable things can happen. Join Nautilus by following the link below and enjoy their full discussion. [JOIN NAUTILUS]( P.S. The 19th-century physicist and philosopher Ernst Mach was born on this day in 1838. Amanda Gefter wrote about how, in developing his ideas of special relativity, Einstein was aiming to vindicate Mach. Mach realized that “if we could rewrite science solely in terms of what can measured, then the world could be rendered entirely relational—entirely relative—and [the mind and universe could be unified at last](.” 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, if you find our content valuable, consider [becoming a member]( to support our work, 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](