💡 Confessions of a Theoretical Physicist

The latest from Nautilus, the top science news, and more. [View in Browser]( | [Join Nautilus]( Did a friend forward this? Sign up here Together with Hello there Nautilus readers, and thanks for joining us. We’re back with more stories from The Reality Issue! Today we hear from a scientist who studies fundamental physics and the brain in his quest to understand whether reality is, well, real. (It might be, but that’s beside the point.) We also explore, with a practicing psychiatrist, the feeling of being estranged from reality itself, a condition called “depersonalization-derealization disorder.” Plus, in the news: an unusually speedy star, rain’s role in life’s origins, and more. Check out today’s question (on finding solitude) and free story (on literature’s evolution) below. Be well! — Brian Gallagher The latest from Nautilus Confessions of a Theoretical Physicist My life among the elementary particles has made me question whether reality exists at all. [Continue Reading→]( When Reality Feels Unreal Why your life sometimes feels alien to you. [Continue Reading→]( Don’t limit your curiosity. Enjoy unlimited ad-free Nautilus stories every month for less than $5/month. [Join now]( Join Nautilus in the French Alps for the 10th Anniversary Edition of the Summit of Minds Nautilus is heading to Chamonix Mont-Blanc, France, from September 13 – 15 for a three-day ideas festival with nature at its heart—and [you can join](. There, you’ll be able to dialogue with Nautilus on issues ranging from adaptation as a long-term climate strategy; the science of longevity; the lure of water as an investment theme; and why movement can make for better negotiating skills—to name but a few. All this combined with innovative “walkshops" and experiential outdoor activities in the awe-inspiring natural environment of the Mont-Blanc mountain range. [Sign up now]( to secure your spot! [Sign up here]( The top science news this week • An object the size of 30,000 Earths was spotted zooming at an uncommon speed in the Milky Way—possibly fast enough to break free from our galaxy. [Read on BBC→]( • Scientists alighted on an ancient substance that may have kept the first protocells, or droplets of genetic material, together: water. [Read on Science Advances→]( • Machine learning can reliably identify early signs of autism in young children. [Read on JAMA Network Open→]( • Landscapes with several kinds of habitats bumping up next to each other support species diversity and overall ecosystem health. [Read on Nature→]( • Archaeologists suggest that ancient hunters probably didn’t throw spears at megafauna like mammoths—they planted pikes in the ground for the animals to charge into instead. [Read on PLOS ONE→]( WE ARE CURIOUS TO KNOW... If you were going to try living as a hermit for a time, in what place would you find solitude? Send us your answer! Reply to this newsletter with a brief explanation of your response, and we’ll reveal the top answers in a future newsletter. This question was inspired by “A Hermit’s Reality.” Read on Nautilus→ Tripping Through Nature With an Artist [Watch]( or [listen to]( artist and mushroom lover Isabella Lalonde explore the mystery of how psychedelics deepen our relationships with the natural world. [Watch on YouTube]( Today’s unlocked free story HISTORY Why Doesn’t Ancient Fiction Talk About Feelings? Literature’s evolution has reflected and spurred the growing complexity of society. BY JULIE SEDIVY Reading medieval literature, it’s hard not to be impressed with how much the characters get done—as when we read about King Harold doing battle in one of the Sagas of the Icelanders, written in about 1230. [Continue reading]( P.S. The American poet, playwright, and screenwriter Dorothy Parker was born on this day in 1893. She took up Virginia Woolf’s clarion call to approach the writing of fiction in a new way, by recording the “atoms as they fall upon the mind in the order in which they fall, however disconnected and incoherent in appearance, which each sight or incident scores upon the consciousness.” Julie Sedivy noted that Parker [shaped sentences into “obsessive, rhythmic loops of thought”](: “But I knew,” Parker wrote in “Sentiment.” “I knew. I knew because he had been far away from me long before he went. He’s gone away and he won’t come back. He’s gone away and he won’t come back, he’s gone away and he’ll never come back.” For Parker, Sedivy wrote, all facets of language—from sound to imagery to syntax—became tools for conveying mental states. Thanks for reading! What did you think of today's note? 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 3112 Windsor Rd, Ste A-391 Austin, TX, 78703 Don't want to hear from us anymore? [Unsubscribe](