Reading
Most abstainers continue to drink less after the month is up
The post Dry January: What Happens to Your Body When You Skip Alcohol for a Month appeared first on Nautilus.
We’re counting down our most-read pieces of 2025. This list will be updated daily until we reach #1 on December 31. Thanks to all our contributors, readers, and supporters this year!
1. The Em Dash Responds to the AI Allegations
by Greg Mania
2. Voting for the Mayor Who Promised to Blow Up the City Doesn’t Mean I Approve of the Mayor Blowing Up the City
by Mike Drucker
3. Unsung Heroes of Motherhood
by Wendi Aarons and Johanna Gohmann
A new look at the cluster offers evidence of a dramatic space crash
The post Celebrate the New Year With This Cosmic Champagne Cluster appeared first on Nautilus.
Our most-read article of 2025.
(Originally published Juily 17, 2025.)
“In recent months, a curious fixation has emerged in corners of academia: the em dash. More specifically, the apparent moral panic around how it is spaced. A dash with no spaces on either side? That must be AI-generated writing. Case closed.”
— Joseph Mellors, Inside Higher Ed
Our 2nd most-read article of 2025.
It’s so easy to label people these days. From the way folks have been talking, you’d think everyone falls into two buckets: those who voted against the mayor who promised to blow up the city and those who voted for the mayor who promised to blow up the city. And now that the mayor, whom I voted for, is blowing up the city, as he promised, I’m one of many people who are being unfairly blamed for something I didn’t want. Okay? I didn’t want the mayor to blow up the city like he mentioned many times; I just wanted him to fix the old bowling alley like he promised in passing once. Anyone saying I’m partially responsible for the explosions is just a sign that they have no argument.
Visual evidence of our planet’s curvature is relatively recent
The post The Photos That Shaped Our Understanding of Earth’s Shape appeared first on Nautilus.
A burned-out parent is a less emotionally real parent
The post The Emotional Cost of Parental Burnout appeared first on Nautilus.
These feathery gas detectors became beloved pets in the dark depths
The post When Canaries Actually Worked in Coal Mines appeared first on Nautilus.
It has a surprising cerebral signature
The post Here’s What’s Happening in the Brain When You’re Improvising appeared first on Nautilus.
Our 3rd most-read article of 2025.
Originally published May 9, 2025.
Julie Owens, who bravely tugged on a tankini in mid-January in order to chaperone her twins to an indoor water park. After nearly swallowing a wet Band-Aid in the wave pool, Owens—in a show of tremendous valor—merely dry heaved thrice.
Hannah Robertson, who not only took her eleven-year-old to Sephora but also bought the pubescent child a sixty-five-dollar jade roller and a twenty-five-dollar toner, all without once rolling her eyes or mentioning the patriarchy.
The December 24 drone strike in Venezuela is the latest in a long tradition of CIA interventions in Latin America — which often lead to destabilization and blowback.
The post CIA Was Behind Venezuela Drone Strike, Source Says appeared first on The Intercept.
Engineers had been trying to solve this problem for 40 years
The post This Robot is Tinier than a Grain of Salt appeared first on Nautilus.
The lobbying group is taking a quieter approach this midterms cycle, but it’s still seeking to keep Congress in Israel’s pocket.
The post AIPAC Is Retreating From Endorsements and Election Spending. It Won’t Give Up Its Influence. appeared first on The Intercept.
If you’re looking for your genetic origin story, your DNA will only take you so far.
The post Genetic Ancestry Doesn’t Tell Your Whole Story appeared first on Nautilus.