💡 Why Physicists Make Up Stories in the Dark

The latest from Nautilus, the best things we learned today, and more. [View in Browser]( | [Join Nautilus]( Did a friend forward this? Sign up here Together with Hello there Nautilus readers, and thanks for being here. Today we explore an effort to save endangered coral reefs before they perish—by cryogenically freezing them. Plus, astronomers are puzzling over some very large and strange rings in space that may stem from galaxies colliding, and old bones are revealing that puberty hasn’t changed for tens of thousands years. Also, some of the best things we learned today—coral diets, the physics of Vincent van Gogh’s Starry Night, and more. Don’t miss your question today (on historical meetups) and free story (on physics and fantasy) below. See you next time! — Brian Gallagher The latest from Nautilus Frozen Reefs Can cryogenically freezing coral stop time long enough to save them? [Continue Reading→]( The Mystery of the Cosmic Radio Globs What violent galaxy smashups may have wrought across the universe. [Continue Reading→]( Puberty Hasn’t Changed Since the Ice Age The blueprint was set at least 25,000 years ago. [Continue Reading→]( Don’t limit your curiosity. Enjoy unlimited ad-free Nautilus stories every month for less than $5/month. [Join now]( *Thank you for supporting our sponsors. The best things we learned today - When galaxies collide, they’re sometimes called “starburst galaxies,” because the stars within them, as a result of the merger, can rapidly form and collapse, producing cosmic winds. [Read on Nautilus→]( - Hot marine temperatures force corals onto a diet with fewer than half the calories they usually consume. [Read on Nautilus→]( - Despite a sense in pop culture that adolescents are entering puberty far earlier than ever, pre-teens today are actually following a blueprint for puberty that was set thousands of years ago. [Read on Nautilus→]( - By the time they’re 3, kids begin to engage in complete make-believe play, inventing things that do not exist in the real world. [Read on Nautilus→]( - In Vincent van Gogh’s 1889 painting Starry Night, the sizes and intensities of the distinctive eddies and whorls in the sky, and the distances between them, match the real physics governing turbulence in the atmosphere. [Read on Physics of Fluids→]( WE ARE CURIOUS TO KNOW... If you could choose any two historical figures to meet up for a conversation, who would you pick? 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 “When Einstein and Kafka Met.” [Read on Nautilus→]( Top answer to our previous question: On Experiencing Alice in Wonderland Syndrome I experience Alice in Wonderland syndrome thanks to my epilepsy and migraines. It's both a calming, pleasant experience and oddly disorientating. Overall, I quite enjoy it! I stumbled across the term in an Oliver Sacks book and raised it with various neurologists and psychiatrists who are always fascinated. I like to think it's my own little secret world in there. I may be entirely bonkers, but all the best people are! – Sharon S. Get a Limited-Edition Nautilus Reali-Tee Shirt! A collaboration between Nautilus and French designer Mathieu Courbier of Almost Free Services, this [limited-edition t-shirt]( showcases the abstract nature of reality. [Buy now]( Today’s unlocked free story PHYSICS Why Physicists Make Up Stories in the Dark In unseen worlds, science invariably crosses paths with fantasy. BY PHILIP BALL For centuries, scientists studied light to comprehend the visible world. [Continue reading]( P.S. The English scientist Michael Faraday was born on this day in 1791. He had no formal scientific training but, by reading and attending lectures on chemistry and other subjects, he taught himself how to conduct his own experiments. He introduced the idea of a field—an invisible, pervasive influence—to [explain the nature of electricity and magnetism](. Thomas Edison and Joseph Swan wouldn’t have been able to make the world’s first lightbulbs in the 1870s if he hadn’t first invented the electrical dynamo—a device that could generate power and transmit it through a wire. And Faraday was willing to put his own safety on the line for the sake of discovery—he almost blew his hand off while investigating the properties of nitrogen trichloride. Editor’s note: We were so excited about our article "[When Einstein and Kafka Met](," in which graphic artist and author Ken Krimstein imagines how a conversation might have gone between the theorist of relativity and the master of the absurd, that we erroneously mentioned that they really met for a stroll through Prague. History shows the two did meet in the City of a Hundred Spires, but the stroll, alas, is all in Krimstein's imagination. 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](