51¶¯Âþ

marine life

The free-energy principle: Can one idea explain why everything exists?

Mind

The free-energy principle: Can one idea explain why everything exists?

What life is and how the mind works fall within the compass of one bold concept. But critics say that by attempting to explain everything, it may end up explaining nothing

Features

Life

Two injured comb jellies can merge to form one individual

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Illustration of asteroids with geysers

Space

Freeze-thaw cycle helps asteroids ferry molecules of life to planets

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A shark survived being stabbed through the head by a swordfish

Life

A shark survived being stabbed through the head by a swordfish

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Coral bleaching

Environment

Here's how coral reefs might survive hotter, more acidic oceans

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Space

Search for alien transmissions in promising star system draws a blank

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Manta ray {Manta birostris} from below, Sulu-sulawesi seas, Indo-Pacific

Life

Richard Powers's new novel is a beautiful love letter to our oceans

Culture

Knausgaard

Society

51¶¯Âþ recommends Karl Ove Knausgaard's novel The Third Realm

Culture

A day octopus hunting with a blue goatfish

Life

Octopuses and fish hunt as a team to catch more prey

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Technology

‘Shazam for whales’ uses AI to track sounds heard in Mariana Trench

An artificial intelligence model that can identify the calls of eight whale species is helping researchers track the elusive whale behind a perplexing sound in the Pacific

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Life

Sharks leap out of the water more often than you might think

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Space

Two new books explore how UFOs captured the world’s imagination

Culture

Life

Pregnant shark that disappeared may have been eaten by another shark

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Environment

How a viral video made turtles the face of the ocean plastic crisis

Comment

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