Nautilus Narrations

For decades, scientists, engineers, and others in the planetary defense community have been theorizing on ways to interrupt the journey of an Earth-bound asteroid. In this episode of Nautilus Narrations, watch space and astronomy creator Sunshine Nate read " Here to Save the Day! " by Tom Vanderbilt from Nautilus Magazine, and learn about the very real threat of an asteroid causing catastrophic da...

Following devastating heat waves in 2016 and 2017 that caused intense bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef, it was impossible to ignore the existential vulnerability of coral in a warming world. In response, Australia’s government established the Reef Restoration and Adaptation Program (RRAP). Their mission: figure out how to protect the reef. David Mead, the program’s director, called it a “no-sto...

"Quantum mechanics is confusing, nonintuitive, and seemingly nonsensical. What I found through my journey is that this confusion and senselessness isn’t a bug, but a feature, and creates a new way to see our everyday life," writes cosmologist Paul M. Sutter ."Instead of interpreting quantum mechanics, I ultimately realized, maybe we should just submit to it—and let quantum mechanics...

Science has been accumulating evidence that friendship isn’t just critical for our happiness, but also our health and longevity. Friendship is also particularly important to acclaimed street artist and purveyor of friendship, Kai – the perfect narrator for this episode of Nautilus Narrations. Kai's signature persona “IF,” which stands for “Imaginary Friend," is found in every single piece of Kai’s...

The way we live is out of balance with the way we eat. Urbanization and population growth will require more farmland, more transportation, and an even bigger ecological footprint—unless we can find more efficient ways to feed the world. One intriguing solution is to give traditional agriculture a 90 degree twist into vertical farming. In this episode of Nautilus Narrations, food and travel creator...

Throughout history, vultures have been burdened with an image evoking notions of death, greed, and moral emptiness. Yet, scientists argue that these misunderstood birds are far more valuable than their reputation suggests. As nature's cleanup crew, vultures perform an essential ecological service, preventing the spread of disease by swiftly disposing of carcasses. Watch Liz Clayton Fuller, AKA...

The debate over whether music is universal has intensified, with scholars from various fields weighing in on the idea that all music shares fundamental traits. Some ethnomusicologists argue that labeling music as universal oversimplifies its cultural richness and diversity. Watch Emperor X read " What Makes Music Universal " by Kevin Berger from Nautilus Magazine and learn why the debate...

A team of engineers and scientists recently accomplished an astonishing feat: they drilled into the Earth's mantle, retrieving a core sample nearly a mile long. Watch Cate Larsen aka   GroovyGeologist   read " The First Good Glimpse of the Earth's Mantle " by Marcia Bjornerud and find out what we've discovered from the longest-ever sample of the Earth's middle layer. Cate Larsen uses the connectiv...

What is a sea shanty? Where did they come from? Why do they still matter? Watch Grumpy frontperson Heaven Schmitt explore the complicated legacy of sea shanties in this episode of Nautilus Narrations based on author Katy Kelleher's essay " What Should We Do With an Old Sea Shanty? " from Nautilus Magazine. Grumpy’s new EP Wolfed is available now wherever you stream music ! You can fo...

How does a billion years of Earth’s history go missing? Our latest episode of Nautilus Narrations featuring American history educator and content creator, Dr. Tim Johnson, tackles this troubling phenomenon in fascinating detail. Watch Dr. Tim read ' The Great Forgetting ' by paleoclimatologist Summer Praetorius from Nautilus Magazine, and find out why Earth is losing its memory. You can fo...

Have you ever felt the presence of another person, but nobody is there? Cognitive scientists are on a quest to explain this bizarre phenomenon, and who better to dive into the research than paranormal investigator and Ghost Files host, Ryan Bergara! Watch Ryan read "Why We Sense Somebody Who Isn’t There" by science journalist Phil Jaekl from Nautilus Magazine, and learn about the fascinating histo...

Charles Darwin called orchids an "abominable mystery," fascinated by their odd shape and wild variety. To this day, there are over 28,000 varieties, with more cropping up every year. Understanding how they diversify so easily could help us better protect them from a changing environment. Watch Joey Santore, botanist, educator, and creator of Crime Pays But Botany Doesn't read " Why Is Everything A...

Can cryogenically freezing coral stop time long enough to save them? Listen to musician, producer, and coral reef activist Stranger Cat explore how scientists are refining ways to cryogenically freeze coral larvae in an effort to preserve populations that are under threat from warming waters as she reads " Frozen Reefs " by journalist CD Davidson-Hiers from Nautilus Magazine. Stranger Cat is no st...

Why are humans so awed by an eclipse, that seemingly rare, brief dip of the daytime sun behind the moon? Listen to Pooja Prabakaran, lead vocalist of the indie pop-rock trio Koyal, explain this phenomenon in detail as she reads " How a Total Eclipse Alters Your Psyche " by neuroscientist Joel Frohlich from Nautilus Magazine. Koyal's second studio album 'breathe in. breathe out' drops on February 2...

Can advancements in machine learning predict natural disasters before it's too late? Early signs are positive, and Photay's latest album 'Windswept' explores similar natural phenomena, making him the perfect artist to read "How to Predict Extreme Weather" by Aubrey Clayton from Nautilus Magazine. In this episode of Nautilus Narrations, Photay examines how climate science is forging a more perfect...

The lives of Eels are full of mystery, and like its animal namesake suggests, each song on Being Dead 's new album  EELS  feels like uncovering a new cavern, plunging into depths unknown but fully open to what will be revealed. That's why Falcon and Shmoofy, the multi-instrumentalists and best friends behind Being Dead, were the perfect duo to read " Eels Don’t Have Sex Until the Last Year of Thei...

Drummer, composer, and bioacoustic artist Lisa Schonberg knows the hidden power of ants. Through her project Amplifying the Tropical Ants (ATTA), Schonberg recorded the tiny pitter-patter of Amazon ants and added drums to transform it into a jazz-like percussive frenzy. That’s why she was the perfect person to read Summer Rylander’s story “ The Tiny Ant and the Mighty Lion ” about the ripple effec...

“There’s definitely a lot of mental breakdowns at the studio if I’m being so real,” Lunar Vacation singer Gep Repasky said in a recent interview about the emotional toll creating the band’s latest album took on her. “I probably cried like every other day.” It’s a familiar story for artists of all stripes, but what about artificial intelligence? AI has no emotions so what does that mean about the a...

When you hear about “the vacuum of space” it’s tempting to imagine an infinite void of nothingness, but according to astrophysicist Paul M. Sutter, the vacuum of spacetime “is an entity in its own right.” And space is something indie folk artist Cassandra Jenkins knows well. Her lifelong fascination with the universe led her to create a custom planetarium show for her latest album, My Light, My De...

The shoegaze genre is famous for its distortion, passing the sounds an electric guitar makes through filters to transform them into something new. Biologist Daniel Hanley does something similar with light. His team—including mathematicians, a physicist, and a filmmaker—uses cameras and software to simulate how different animals see the world. That’s why Jasamine White-Gluz of the shoegaze band No...

Mushrooms sprout up overnight, but iconic jewelry brands usually don’t—except for Beepy Bella. The brainchild of wunderkind artist Isabella Lalonde, Beepy Bella enjoyed rapid success earning her a spot on Forbes “30 Under 30” list this year. So it makes sense that mushrooms are a recurring motif in Lalonde’s work. It also makes Lalonde a natural fit to read Simran Sethi’s story “Can Tripping Save...

Dent May know a thing or two about memory. The indie-pop artist’s song “Time Flies When You're Having Fun" starts with the line “Walk through a memory,” going on to say “Traveling in a fantasy, trust the illusion.” It turns out that’s a decent summary of how our memory actually works. As Cody Kommers detailed in the Nautilus story “Faulty Memory Is a Feature, Not a Bug,” the brain doesn’t...

Our most ancient ecosystems are in a state of constant renewal. “They all create or reinforce the very conditions they need to survive,” writes Ferris Jabr in his story “The Oldest Ecosystems on Earth.” The same is true of artist/producer fish narc, who cut his teeth in DIY spaces in Seattle before joining emo rap group GothBoiClique as well as pursuing a solo career. Join fish narc as he reads Fa...

Einstein’s theory of gravity is a cornerstone of modern cosmology, but astronomical observations far away near the “cosmological horizon” suggest gravity may act differently at large scales. Is there a glitch in the universe? We’ve enlisted indie folk rocker Marissa Nadler and her gravity-defying voice to guide you through this curious anomaly as she reads Tom Metcalfe’s story “A Cosmic Glitch in...

Donald Nelson, the unflappable biologist, spear fisherman, and shark fanatic who inspired Richard Dreyfuss’ frenetic marine biologist in Jaws , was a lot more mellow than his on-screen counterpart. His friends describe him as completely at home in the ocean, according to Katharine Gammon’s story “The Shark Whisperer.” “Mellow” and “at home in the ocean” also describes the music of the beachy album...