The Thrill of Defeat

 

 

Dear Nautilus Reader,

Imagine working with a Nobel Laureate for eight years on a scientific project, getting tantalizingly close to a breakthrough—and suddenly having someone else make it past the goalpost first. That’s exactly what happened to Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner in 1961 when American biochemist Marshall Nirenberg and his colleagues became the first to decipher the DNA code for a protein. Brenner and Crick’s reaction might surprise you. This and other stories about our very human reactions, this week at Nautilus.

Our Best,

The Nautilus Team
info@nautil.us

DID GRIEF GIVE HIM PARKINSON’S? These identical twins led virtually identical lives—with one tragic exception. By Robin Marantz Henig	YES, YOU’RE IRRATIONAL, AND YES, THAT’S OK The insight that will save you from being manipulated. By David Berreby
MARIO LIVIO ON 25 YEARS OF HUBBLE The astrophysicist looks at the history of the world’s most famous telescope. By Gayil Nalls	THE THRILL OF DEFEAT What Francis Crick and Sydney Brenner taught me about being scooped. By Bob Goldstein
THE SEEDS THAT SOWED A REVOLUTION Galapagos Finches are famous, yet Darwin learned more about evolution from the plants. By Henry Nicholls

READ ISSUE