💡 The Deep Time of Walden Pond

The latest from Nautilus, this week’s Facts So Romantic, and your question of the day. [View in browser](| [Join Nautilus]( Together with Did a friend forward this? [Subscribe here.]( Hello there Nautilus readers, and thanks for popping in. Today we have a personal take on solving the hole in the ozone. Plus, Big Brother of the brain is here, and we gaze at the spider orchid, expert of sexual deception. In this week’s Facts So Romantic—ant surgeons, mind control, and more. I was quite touched by some of the reasons many of you gave for keeping, and continuing to wear, certain old garments. Check out your question of the day (on skepticism) and free story (on the deep time of Walden Pond) below. Happy Independence Day to all you “Yanks” out there. (I’ll never forget how endeared we were when our row mate on an Aer Lingus flight, an Irish woman in her 20s, asked whether my wife and I were “Yanks.”) —Brian Gallagher The latest in Nautilus ENVIRONMENT How We Solved the Hole in the Ozone A scientist’s first-hand account shows the world can tackle a global environmental crisis. BY SUSAN SOLOMON The most striking thing was the solitude. [Continue reading→]( The Best Way to Cook in the Summer Cooking in the summer is a sweaty chore, but with the [Breville Joule Turbo Sous Vide Machine]( it doesn’t have to be. The [Breville Joule Turbo]( uses a temperature-controlled water bath to gently heat meats and vegetables with scientific precision so they come out perfectly cooked every time. Just set it and forget it! You’ll get restaurant-quality dishes, more time spent relaxing, and—best of all—no sweltering kitchen. [Embrace the ease of sous vide](, and start enjoying your summer evenings even more. [BUY ON AMAZON]( More from Nautilus ENVIRONMENT March of the Spider Orchids This flower uses sexual deception to spread. BY LIZ LINDQWISTER [Continue reading→]( NEUROSCIENCE Big Brother of the Brain Is Here A behavioral neurologist spells out the danger. BY ADOLFO PLASENCIA[Continue reading→]( Sandwich Bags That Clean the Oceans Help fund [4ocean’s mission]( to remove trash from our waterways with their [LunchSkins]( eco-disposable, self-sealing food storage bags. Everybody wins—especially our planet. [Shop 4Ocean]( FACTS SO ROMANTIC The 5 Best Things We Learned Today The white spider orchid can inspire male wasps to try to copulate with it. [Nautilus→]( Neuroscientists can make you move your right hand, and you would then claim, and fully believe, that you moved it yourself. [Nautilus→]( The stratosphere is normally too dry for cloud particles to form, yet Antarctica is so cold, what are known as polar stratospheric clouds can emerge. [Nautilus→]( Ants can carry out life-saving amputations. [Current Biology→]( The earliest known example of visual storytelling is over 51,000 years old. [Nature→]( WE'RE CURIOUS TO KNOW... What is your most memorable experience of someone doubting you could do something? 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 We Solved the Hole in the Ozone.]([”]([)]( Top Answers to Our Previous Question(On Something Old That You Still Wear) • Peter’s face was extraordinarily handsome, but his coolness factor was off the charts whenever he wore his brown leather bomber jacket. He knew how much I loved wearing it myself, so much so that, when he broke my heart six months later, he let me keep it. He’s long gone, but I still wear that bomber jacket whenever I, too, want to feel “cool.” Even my 31-year-old daughter often borrows it! It is in these moments that I’m reminded how a simple article of clothing can transcend time, holding multiple generations of memories in its fibers. – Cyn T. • I am wearing a “Dilbert” T-shirt from about 1990 that says, “I am not unemployed, I am a consultant.” Which I was, and still am. – Joe B. • I have two pairs of Merino wool socks that are at least 36 years old. I still wear them regularly, and they still are whole, with no holes or threadbare heels. They are without question the best socks I have ever owned. – Friedrick H. • I have a pair of suede, waterproof Hush Puppy loafers that I have worn for over 50 years. They were likely made in the Wolverine Worldwide factory in Rockford, Michigan, near Grand Rapids. In the last decade, that factory was found to be the source of contamination from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, some coming from drums of waterproofing chemicals that were dumped in that area. So now I feel guilty wearing them. – Duane H. • I have a rayon skirt-suit that belonged to my late (fashionista) grandmother, which is a typical 1960s pattern—a pink and black floral motif. I love it! It looks current today, washes beautifully, and never needs ironing. – Sandra E. • I have a T-shirt that I wore to the hospital to be with my mom in her last hours of life on March 2, 1996. It is coral tone in color with a large botanical heart consisting of flowers of various colors with “Nature Lover” written in small script above it. I still wear it and love it. – Peggi M. • I have a huge collection of 1970s Biba clothing, which I loved so much in my youth (and still do) that I made a point of always being able to fit into all of it today—dresses, belts, blouses, etc. They are still forward-looking. – Wendy L. • When my Mom died in 2016, I found an old flannel shirt, fraying at the collar, that I remember Dad used to wear. He passed away in 1993. A friend tried repairing it but the material is too thin and delicate to stitch. So I wear it as-is, a few days every couple months. It gets me reflecting on our lives. – Ross C. QUOTE OF THE DAY “There is nothing more fascinating to me than attacking a scientific mystery, and what could be more fantastic than one involving the coldest, remotest place on Earth?” [Susan Solomon writes about her efforts solving a very public environmental crisis.]( Your free story this Thursday! ENVIRONMENT The Deep Time of Walden Pond The science and history of the lake Thoreau made famous. BY CURT STAGER A careful reading of Walden; or, Life in the Woods makes it clear that Thoreau never intended his cabin to be a solitary hermitage, although fans and detractors alike often misunderstand this. [Continue reading for free→]( A Moon Is Born Musicians are a lot like the moon: they come out at night, they go through phases, and they often have rocky origins. The same is true of indie rocker K.Flay. K.Flay, born Kristine Flaherty, struggled with her father’s death before discovering the joys of creating music in college. She’s now a Grammy-nominated solo artist and sought-after collaborator in the indie scene. She’s also the perfect person to give voice to “The Moon Is Underrated,” Sean Raymond’s [story]( on the mysterious origins of the moon. You can now [watch]( or [listen]( to K.Flay read Raymond’s story on [YouTube]( or [Spotify](. P.S. The American naturalist and author Henry David Thoreau left for Walden Pond to begin an experiment in cabin living on this day in 1845. He moved largely in order to write in a quieter setting than he could find in town and to “live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.” One winter there, [Thoreau drilled more than a hundred holes]( through the pond’s ice and lowered a weighted line to “produce what may be the first map of the floor of an American lake,” wrote Curt Stager, “thereby identifying Walden’s deepest point in the western basin near his cove.” 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](. Copyright © 2024 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](