After a career as a theater manager, Stuart Firestein takes a biology class, which leads him to a completely new life, and a lot of salamander noses.
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When Paula Croxson began to study memory as a neuroscientist, she also learned a new way of thinking about her grandmother's failing memory.
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Writer Jess Zimmerman discovers the dangers of dating a philosopher of neuroscience who thinks he knows what's really happening in her head.
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Journalist Jon Ronson is excited when he hears about some 'sentient' robots, but when he goes to interview them he finds both less and more than he ever expected.
Read MoreAndre Fenton: The twisting road from basic brain research to helping malaria patients
André Fenton always wanted to do research at the most fundamental level -- to uncover basic truths about memory and how it works, never mind how useful. But a friend's accident unexpectedly leads to him inventing a spectacularly useful, and lifesaving, device.
Read MoreRobin & Samantha Henig: The rules of writing with your daughter
Robin Marantz Henig and her daughter, Samantha, decided to write a book together about life as a twentysomthing. There was just one problem -- how to handle the bits you don't want to talk about with your mother?
Read MoreColin Jerolmack: How a sociologist became The Pigeon Guy
Colin Jerolmack was floundering in grad school until he found deep insights into human nature... from pigeons.
Read MoreKelly & Zach Weinersmith: Two nerds fall in love
Biologist Kelly Smith and comic artist Zach Weiner were having trouble dating, until they met online and realized what they each needed was another nerd.
Read MoreAnica Rissi: Confessions of a fourth-grade science fraud
Anica Rissi realizes the true purpose of her science project: to increase her popularity. But how far is she willing to go?
Read MoreTara Clancy: A bartender from Queens learns theoretical physics
Tara Clancy's worry over making bad life choices leads her to think about all the things she doesn't know -- and from there, obviously, to theoretical physics.
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