The Story Collider

Scott Aaronson’s love of video games led him to discover a world, and an identity, he didn’t know existed.

A neighbor's gift of two baby rabbits leads Robin Abrahams to a new view of, and fascination with, personality.

Having lost his ambition to be a scientist, Lawrence David embarks on one more research project -- to collect and study his poop. Every day. For a year.

When her dad is diagnosed with cancer, Abby Pond is sent on a journey home, across the world, and into a new science.

Arran Frood is a science writer who specializes in writing about studies of psychedelic drugs, but a routine story turns personal when he finds himself in a study of MDMA and therapy.

In high school, Adam Wade falls for his lab partner, but is led astray by dreams of golf team greatness.

When Heather Swain is told she has rabies, that turns out to be the least strange part of her experience.

Questions arise when Steve Mirsky is introduced to his friend's new girlfriend, and he relies on his past experience to help -- specifically his degree in chemistry.

As a grad student, Ari Daniel Shapiro has to tag some narwhals to collect data. The problem: it's in the arctic, the devices have never been tested, and if he fails he'll never be able to do research again.

A science writer is challenged when her dog comes down with a case of heartworm -- and then the medication goes wrong.

Rory Scholl has to show up on day one to a new job -- with a severe case of Bell's Palsy.

Christine Gentry's rural, Vietnam vet father rarely talked about important issues, but a series of remarkable moments with animals and nature teach her four lessons she'll never forget.

After turning to a unique field of study -- erections -- Diane Kelly turns to an even more unique source for her research material -- roadkill.

A trip to India to work for an environmental program leads Caroline Howe to a new passion: trash.

A late-night excursion to a party turns absurd and then terrifying as Greg Walloch, who has cerebral palsy, can't jump the fence around Tompkins Square Park.

With her epilepsy medication failing, Sara Peters checks into a hospital with one goal: make the scariest thing in her life happen again.

As a six-year old, Tim Manley has to go to the hospital with a mysterious illness. Fortunately, he has his superpowers and his trusty sidekick -- his mom.

Margot Leitman faces down doctors, friends and uncertainty when she suddenly loses hearing in one ear.

In the Indian Ocean, doctor George Lombardi makes use of the most important lesson his mother ever taught him: floating.

Madeline Huberth confronts the imminent death of a classroom goldfish while navigating the dangerous social waters of junior high.

After becoming ill during a trip to Ecuador, DARPA researcher Chris Roussi seeks medical advice from a local expert: a shaman.

A middle school science fair points the way for Helly Schtevie -- directly away from science.

Aspiring English teacher Will Garré is given a chance to teach his own class -- a physics class, and he realizes he isn't going to be able to MacGuyver his way out of this one.

As a high-schooler, comedian John Flynn finds a way to step out of his siblings' shadows, on the day his science class is determining their blood types.

Having fallen in love with the ability of chemists' to learn about elements by separating them down to their essence, Eli Kintisch has just two obstacles to becoming a scientist: a machine, and another intern.

Erin Barker struggles with a disease that only makes her give up four things; they just happen to be the four things worth living for.

In the IBM pavilion at the 1964 World's Fair, Jamy Ian Swiss encounters a computer that reveals a piece in personality, although maybe not in the way it's inventor intended.

Darlene Cavalier, a former professional cheerleader, had always felt like science wasn't for people like her. But then a chance conversation leads her to learn more about science, and even more about cheerleaders, than she ever imagined.

In a high-stakes race in high school, Jim O'Grady draws from his mother's Bronx background for inspiration.

When science writer David Dobbs is suddenly unable to remember how to drive his kids to school, he sets off on a quest to understand his own brain, and makes a shocking discovery.

While hunting for fossils of some of Earth's oldest organisms, paleontologist Phoebe Cohen and her geologist friend encounter a problem with one of Earth's more recently evolved organisms.

As a young man Tom Levenson tries to follow his deceased father's advice, and takes a wide detour that leads him to contemplate life at the base of Newton's tree.

Writer Blaise Allysen Kearsley asks the question: how do you learn about sexuality when no one tells you anything useful, and everyone else seems to know what they're doing?

In 2007, Matt Danzico engages in a massive project to show that strangers on the internet can be trusted -- and finds himself in the middle of nowhere with a broken-down bus and a stranger with a gun.

At ten years old, David Gelles finds himself abandoned and swimming in an ocean with a storm coming. Alone. Except for the pod of dolphins.

A young social worker, working with a military vet, discovers that part of his own shame is one of the most powerful tools in therapy.

As a college student majoring in Chemistry, Eric Feldman becomes obsessed with a single idea: molecules aren’t real.

Meghan Groome encounters a young science teachers rite of passage: teaching sex-ed. But it’s not until her honors class that the full reality hits her.

As Ed Gavagan watches medical students practice sutures on the subway, he remembers his own traumatic experience.

When Dawn Fraser’s twin is diagnosed with Down syndrome, their parents decide to raise them as equals — a task that produced a new twist on the racetrack.

New York Times reporter Amy Harmon is making no progress on her story about an autistic man trying to live and work independently — until she finds a way to reconnect with her subject matter.

A teacher and his study of the zebra mussel reproductive system inspire Charlie Foster to make a dramatic change in himself.

Adam Becker’s communications with Neil deGrasse Tyson about an error at the Hayden Planetarium lead to an unexpected correction.

As a teenager, Daily Show writer Hallie Haglund had a complicated relationship with her English teacher — one that became even more complicated when they ventured into the wild.

Maija Niemisto is a director of education on the Clearwater, America’s environmental flagship. But when a stranger comes to the side of the ship, it heralds a discovery about her city and herself.

Mark Sam Rosenthal‘s father teaches him about the birds and the bees, but leaves out the one lesson he never learned himself.

Guy Schaffer wanted to understand the brain, but the only job he could find was in a monkey lab– a lab where a monkey attack leads to deeper set of crises.

Two stories of women who confront the craziness of scientists in their lives: one by talking to a stranger, the other by being born to her parents.

What do you do if you’re a trans woman about to transition, and you might someday want children? Elana Lancaster tells the story of a partner’s quest to freeze her sperm.