Kristen French

Journalist, Writer and Editor at Freelance

Associate Editor at Nautilus

Associate editor @Nautilusmag Fine me on blue sky at https://t.co/zdAOXORbhQ

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Articles

The Ocean Odyssey of Wilson

3 days ago | nautil.us | Kristen French

In the 2000 Hollywood blockbuster Cast Away, Tom Hanks plays Chuck Noland, a FedEx systems analyst who becomes stranded on a desert island and, desperate for companionship, begins conversing with a volleyball he finds washed up on the sand. He names it Wilson and gives it a mohawk of reeds for hair. Near the end of the movie, Wilson the volleyball slips off a raft and floats away to sea, devastating Noland. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .
Building a Library of Reverberation with the Echo Thief

6 days ago | nautil.us | Kristen French

Chris Warren, aka the Echo Thief, sits in a chair in the center of his sound lab and sings. Each note hangs in the air, layering onto the next like a cake and building into a complex chord, creating a rich cathedral of sound. He is harmonizing with himself.
Mapping the Earth’s Magnetism

1 week ago | nautil.us | Kristen French

As legend has it, a shepherd named Magnes first discovered magnetism. While traversing Mount Ida in what is now northwestern Turkey around 1000 B.C., he noticed that the metal cap of his staff and the nails in his shoes were ineluctably drawn to certain rocks. He dug to uncover the origin of this powerful attraction and discovered the mineral magnetite, a magnetic oxide of iron, suffusing a chunk of lodestone. Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now .
The Visual Language of Crystals

2 weeks ago | nautil.us | Kristen French

In the startling black and white timelapse video below, potassium phosphate crystals bloom and explode on the screen into a kaleidoscope of patterns and shapes, some jagged as a steak knife, others pillowy like balls of cotton or fresh snow. The video took French audiovisual artist Thomas Blanchard seven months to create: Each crystallization sequence evolved over a period of between 15 and 24 hours, with a single photograph snapped approximately every minute.
A Map of Everyday Morality from the r/AITA Subreddit

3 weeks ago | nautil.us | Kristen French

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“Monsters of the Deep” Show Explores the Role of Imagination in Science

1 month ago | nautil.us | Kristen French

For centuries, seemingly unknowable monsters lurked under the murky seas around Europe, revealing only glimpses of themselves to wary seafarers. During these expansive times, when ocean travel was revelatory and perilous, maps tended to feature drawings of hideous dragons and serpents of the seas. But slowly, Europeans became acquainted with these beasts as they washed up on the shores and as the whaling industry began to haul them alongside their ships.
This Plaintive Song Is From a Land Without Lullabies

1 month ago | nautil.us | Kristen French

In the 1830s, American poet and educator Henry Wadsworth Longfellow reportedly declared that “music is the universal language of mankind.” Since that time, many scholars and scientists have come to believe that making songs and rhythms is embedded deep in the biology of Homo sapiens, an evolutionary adaptation forged over millennia, likely to enable social bonding: Lilting lullabies to soothe children and bind them to their mothers, rhythmic jigs to connect groups in synchronous dance.
Author Jack Lohmann on His New Book White Light, about Phosphorus

2 months ago | nautil.us | Kristen French |Jack Lohmann

Author Jack Lohmann started thinking about phosphorus when he learned the story of Nauru, the world’s smallest island nation, which lies between Australia and Hawaii. In 1899, a geologist named Albert Ellis discovered a strange rock propping open a door at a trading and plantation firm there named the Pacific Islands Company and realized it was in fact high-grade phosphate ore, a highly sought after source of fertilizer.
Surfing the Brazilian Wave With Personhood Rights

Dec 16, 2024 | nautil.us | Kristen French

Join ADVERTISEMENT Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. or Join now . Environment The true meaning of legal protection for nature. Sign up for the free Nautilus newsletter: On a blazing morning in October, I paddled my surfboard into a caramel-colored sea off a beach in Brazil, hoping to catch a wave with its own individual rights.
When Daydreaming Becomes a Nightmare

Aug 29, 2024 | nautil.us | Kristen French

Throw on the Power Lights! Rev her up to 8,500! We’re going through!” shouts the commander to his crew, as he navigates through the worst storm in his 20 years of flying. A harrowing scene unfolds but then Walter Mitty is brought back to reality by the sound of his wife’s voice, the daydream fading into the byways of his mind. Not long after that, he’s struck with a new fantasy, and then another.