💡 The Origin of the Dinosaur Killer

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 joining us. Today we see why the rock that doomed the dinosaurs was almost certainly an asteroid, and why its likely origins beyond Jupiter’s orbit matter for our own defense of Earth. Plus, celebrated novelist Richard Powers shares his three greatest revelations while writing his latest book, Playground, and we drop in on a conversation between a surfer and a businessman in which they explore the delicate balance between thrill-seeking and sustainability—and their shared reverence for the natural world. Also, some of the best things we learned today—the longevity of Greenland sharks, vaporizing space rocks, and more. Thanks for your responses to our last question, on two historical figures who you’d wish to have a chat with one another. I’ve long entertained the thought of Karl Marx and Charles Darwin comparing notes over a coffee—they lived just 20 miles apart in England yet never met. Check out today’s question (on what you’re most curious about) and free story (on the reality of fictional characters) below. Be excellent to each other! — Brian Gallagher The latest from Nautilus Our Magnificent Ocean Richard Powers on his 3 greatest revelations while writing his latest novel, Playground. [Continue Reading→]( The Origin of the Asteroid That Killed the Dinosaurs The story of the doom-bringing rock may help us prevent a repeat catastrophe. [Continue Reading→]( The Surfer and the Businessman A conversation between Maya Gabeira and Lorenzo Bertelli. [Continue Reading→]( Don’t limit your curiosity. Enjoy unlimited ad-free Nautilus stories every month for less than $5/month. [Join now]( This Toilet Paper Just Might Save the Planet Every day, 27,000 trees are destroyed for toilet paper. That’s far too many, so this brand created luxury 3-ply from bamboo. It feels like regular high-end toilet paper, but doesn’t harm trees. Why bamboo? Not only does it grow 3 feet every 24 hours — it’s the fastest growing plant in the world! — but its short fibers are perfect for creating soft toilet tissue you can feel good about. Nautilus readers get 30% off their 1st shipment for the next 24 hours. Use code NAUT30. [Try bamboo]( *Thank you for supporting our sponsors. The best things we learned today - In the Mariana Trench, the ocean’s deepest, countless kinds of exotic organisms reside, including dragon fish, carnivorous sponges, and zombie worms, but most of them are still unknown to science. [Read on Nautilus→]( - Despite carrying a relatively high number of potentially harmful genes known as transposable elements, or jumping genes, Greenland sharks can live up to 400 years. [Read on The New York Times→]( - The dinosaur-killing asteroid was born in the middle parts of the sun’s gaseous planet-forming disk, in a region that was cold enough to incorporate some ice and carbon-rich organic molecules. [Read on Nautilus→]( - Blasting a large asteroid with a nuclear bomb-like explosion—“like turning the asteroid into its own rocket”—could be enough to nudge it off-course, averting existential disaster. [Read on The Guardian→]( WE ARE CURIOUS TO KNOW... If you had the time and the means to study what you’re most curious about, what would it be? 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 “Our Magnificent Ocean.” [Read on Nautilus→]( Top answers to our previous question: On the Two Historical Figures You’d Pick to Chat with Each Other Margaret Mead and Georgia O'Keeffe. Both were strong women breaking the glass ceiling in a man’s world, in male dominated fields, and were extremely successful. – Evelyn R Jesus and the Buddha. Both had radical and enduring thoughts about life, creation, and our purpose. – Robert B. Thomas Jefferson and Genghis Khan. Jefferson was a polymath. His interests were wide-ranging and he seemed to excel at them all. The U.S. would not exist as it does today without his contributions. Khan was an incredible leader. While often disparaged as being merely a conqueror like Attila the Hun, he did not conquer merely to destroy. Rather, he took the best of what he found in other cultures and brought them back to his homeland to improve life there. – Ira P. 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 ARTS The Case for Treating Gatsby as a Real Person Tibetan Buddhists have a concept called the “tulpa,” thought-created beings who develop an existence independent of their creators. BY ED SIMON It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a reader in possession of a novel with a distinctive voice often finds the very substance of her thought affected by that book’s characters as if they were real. [Continue reading]( P.S. The American novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, author of The Great Gatsby and other works of fiction, was born on this day in 1896. “A literary scholar writing about The Great Gatsby may focus on close readings of the language used in the novel, or she may write about the ways in which Fitzgerald’s life and society influenced the composition of the novel, but [rarely will she ask in what sense Jay Gatsby is ‘real,’”]( wrote essayist and author Ed Simon. “But what if we did suspend our disbelief, and ask more about the ‘reality’ of these characters, whose voices seem so real in our minds?” Simon argues that it’s time for some “occult” literary criticism: “How would discussion of literature change if we began to think of particularly vibrant fictional characters as actually conscious, as real?” 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](. 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