From a (mostly) successful model rocket launch to a missed opportunity by Richard Feynman, Alan Lightman learns that the equations aren't the whole story.
Read MoreRobin Dessel: Sex and the nursing home
When two residents of her nursing home fell in love, sexual rights advocate Robin Dessel had to decide how the staff would handle their rendezvous.
Read MoreStephanie Nothelle: A last cup of coffee
Stephanie Nothelle loves volunteering at her local nursing home, but she doesn't know what to do when one of the residents says, "I die today" and asks for a last cup of coffee -- against doctor's orders.
Read MoreAviva Hope Rutkin: Sensory substitution
For her masters thesis in science writing, Aviva Hope Rutkin starts writing about sensory substitution -- a way of swapping in one sense for another. But her work leads to a mysterious Dr. Bach-y-Rita and a whole new way of knowing someone.
Read MoreRichard Pollack: The wobbly table
Richard Pollack finds himself moderating an uneasy negotiation between Israelis and Jordanians, as part of an international effort to stem a scourge of houseflies.
Read MoreJohn Rennie: The lab safety officer
After he's named lab safety officer, John Rennie must recover a precious sample from the bottom of a vat of liquid nitrogen. So he reaches in.
Read MoreDarcy Burke: The mountain lion book
Darcy Burke's mother gave her a book on mountain lions, and it had the effect that every science writer wishes their book will have. Kind of.
Read MoreAditi Nadkarni: How to impress your graduate advisor
As a new, super competitive, graduate student Aditi Nadkarni thinks she has the perfect way to impress her advisor and labmates ... until one night it spirals a tiny bit out of control.
Read MoreKimberly Rae Miller: Let's fix dad
Kimberly Rae Miller's family had a secret: her dad was a hoarder. But when she begins digging into the research on hoarding, she finds it's not nearly as simple to fix as she'd hoped.
Read MoreSara Peters and Peter Aguero: Praying for a seizure
Sara Peters has epilepsy, but no drugs seem to help. So she agrees to be hooked up to a machine at the hospital for days, in hopes of inducing the one thing she and her husband, Peter Aguero, dread the most: a seizure.
Read MoreBen Moskowitz: Cheating the snake
When Ben Moskowitz gets to take special classes in elementary school, he's excited at first, but then he starts to realize there might be something different about him.
Read MoreAlex Brown: The nature of time and meningitis
Science writer Alex Brown's philosophical education becomes very practical when he is diagnosed with meningitis.
Read MoreSusannah Cahalan: Patient #217
Three years after a mysterious illness nearly drove her insane and took her life, Susannah Cahalan visits a patient with the same rare, dangerous condition.
Read MoreJustin Werfel: Robotics lessons from termites
A physicist decides that the best way to make progress on his robotics project is to go to Namibia to study termites.
Read MoreSeth Mnookin: Science vs. feelings in the fight over vaccines
Science writer Seth Mnookin set out to write a book on whether vaccines were dangerous, but discovered the issue was more complex than he'd thought.
Read MoreMike Nitabach: I was supposed to be a lawyer
As grad school for neuroscience wears on, Michael Nitabach feels the pull of law school, and goes. But he had another surprise coming.
Read MoreEsther Perel: Science & sexuality
Esther Perel's career gets an unexpected boost from the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky scandal.
Read MoreMara Wilson: A love affair of a lifetime (with science)
As a kid, Mara Wilson is decidedly uninterested in science, but as she grows up she starts to look for answers in new places.
Read MoreMeehan Crist: My mother's brain
When Meehan Crist was a child, her mother hit her head. It was only as an adult that she discovered that her mother was covering up something far more serious: something called rather ironically a "mild traumatic brain injury."
Read MoreDaniela Schiller: A new last memory
Neuroscientist Daniela Schiller studies the emotional components of memory. In her previous story her research helped her begin to understand her father, a holocaust survivor. But that story led to a whole new chapter in their relationship, and her understanding of memories.
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