Inside Issue 54 of Nautilus: “The Asteroid Hunters” and More

Meet the planetary defenders monitoring the skies for asteroids. [View in browser](| [Join Nautilus]( Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here]([.]( INSIDE ISSUE 54 Meet the planetary defenders monitoring the skies for asteroids Dear Nautilus reader, Issue 54 of Nautilus has arrived, and we’d like to give you a glimpse of the stories inside. But first, here’s an abbreviated note from Nautilus Editor Kevin Berger about the cover story of Issue 54. “Science elucidates the ways of nature. And those ways are marvelous and strange and surprising. Spooky, too. Although “spooky” may not be the right word for the annihilation of Earth. In our cover story, “The Asteroid Hunters,” Christian Köberl, a professor of planetary geology, explains that Earth is “in the middle of a cosmic shooting gallery.” That could be a tagline for movies like Deep Impact, and “The Asteroid Hunters” has plenty of drama. But it’s time to take back the image of asteroids from Hollywood. That’s exactly what writer Tom Vanderbilt does.” [Continue reading →]( Inside Issue 54 of Nautilus THE PORTHOLE [How life began](; [why some people see static everywhere](; [the trouble with human evolution](; [what plants hear](; [how ants can shape a landscape](; and [a supernova ready for its close-up](. COVER STORY [The Asteroid Hunters]( Meet the astronomers with an eye on the end of the world BY TOM VANDERBILT MY 3 GREATEST REVELATIONS [With the Apollo Missions, We Became Like Gods]( What Rebecca Boyle learned while writing Our Moon, about the power of our satellite to guide evolution and human curiosity. BY REBECCA DOYLE FEATURES [The Magic of the Blackboard]( Why scientists can’t quit chalk, even in the digital age. BY THEO ZENOU & THOMAS W. HODGKINSON [Who Controls Your Thoughts?]( Our minds are being coerced in covert ways. BY KATHERINE HARMON COURAGE [The Echoes of Light]( What astronomers see in the light bouncing across the universe. BY LIZ KRUESI [The Groundhog Watchers](Meet Susan and Joe. Their daily observations of the groundhogs in their yard are making science history. BY BRANDON KEIM [What You Don’t Know About Sperm](A remarkable tale of evolution. BY DAVID P. BARASH [The Enlightening Beauty of an Einstein Ring](What a trippy gravitational phenomenon can tell us about the universe. BY BRIAN GALLAGHER [The Dark Side of Awe]( Probing our sense of mystery and wonder. BY KEVIN BERGER [Why We Sense Somebody Who Isn’t There](When expectations aren’t met, our brains spook us. BY PHIL JAEKL [The Bittersweet Science]( Boxing is reputed to fight Parkinson’s disease. I put on the gloves to find out. BY MARK MACNAMARA [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 Get unlimited ad-free articles, like those found in this issue, by becoming a Nautilus member. [Join Now]( [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( Copyright © 2024 NautilusNext, All rights reserved.You were subscribed to the newsletter from [nautil.us](. Our mailing address is: NautilusNext360 W 36th Street, 7S,New York, NY 10018 Don't want to hear from us anymore? [Unsubscribe](