Radio Country: 💡 A dazzling image of a dying star

Monday, October 5, 2026

💡 A dazzling image of a dying star

TOGETHER WITH BABBEL

Happy Monday, Nautilus readers! As we look out onto the horizon of a fresh new week, let’s take a few moments to learn more about our world—from the unnatural origins of bird flu to the creativity-boosting effects of boredom.

The daily picks:

P.S. You can unlock all Nautilus articles by upgrading to a premium membership.

🫁 Health

> Your immune system ages in two big bursts—one at 40 and one at 60. (Read on Nautilus)

> Did grief give him Parkinson’s? (Read on Nautilus)

> Bird flu has an unnatural history. (Read on Nautilus)

👁️ Psychedelics

> It’s been 60 years since this pamphlet on safe LSD tripping was penned by a pioneer of harm reduction. How does it hold up? (Read on Nautilus)

> What happens in the brain when getting high causes anxiety? (Read on Nautilus)

> Ever heard of “smoking toad”? It’s … exactly what it sounds like. (Read on Nautilus)

✨ Astronomy

> This spectacular star field hides brown dwarfs that never ignite (See it on Nautilus)

> The moon has a new, once-in-a-century crater. (See on Nautilus)

> Here’s just a dazzling image of a dying star. (See it on Nautilus)

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💡 Only on Nautilus

> How “meaning withdrawal”—aka boredom—can boost creativity.

> Why do people believe in ghost stories?

> Egg laying or live birth? How evolution chooses.

Unlock them all

Today’s Trivia

🧐 Starting in the 12th century, the Catholic Church encouraged the killing of black cats—and later associated house cats with witchcraft. This inadvertently contributed to which historic event?

A) The Black Death
B) The English Reformation
C) The Great Schism
D) The rise of Joan of Arc and the outcome of the Hundred Years’ War

Click here for the answer.

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⭐️ What Else We're Reading

Is the Nobel Prize good for science?

It’s been six years since NASA recovered a piece of the asteroid called Bennu. We’re finally closer to understanding from where this ancient space rock came.

Long COVID may be linked to reduced blood flow in the brain.

Maybe it’s time we get to know the wild foods just outside our doors.

He used AI to generate an image of a crocodile in a popular reservoir. Now he’s facing jail time.

🤝 What grip strength has to do with health and longevity.

Fresh Perspectives

❝

In recent years, science has been poking around in boredom and surmising that it may not be a negative thing. It may be evolution’s way of saying, “Get out of the house and be creative.” It may be reminding us that to be human is to be connected to the world.

—Science journalist David Shultz on the creativity-boosting effects of “meaning withdrawal”

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