A college course forces John Rennie to confront a furious rat, and himself, and as a kid, comedian Gastor Almonte seeks answers about some of the scientific terms he hears around school.
Read MoreUnlikely Paths: Stories from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
After a troubling personal experience with the health care system, Heng Ji decides to try to fix it, and when Brendan Harley is diagnosed with leukaemia in high school, it changes everything.
Read MoreBorders: Stories about divisions
César Nufio's childhood experience as a Guatamalan immigrant shapes his life in science, and seeking acceptance as a child of Kurdish immigrants in Denmark, Cansu Karabiyik decides to become a scientist.
Read MorePain: Stories about unpleasant physical sensations
While Renee Joshua-Porter is in labor, she starts feeling a horrible stabbing pain in her back, and despite being in excruciating pain, Gretchen Douma worries getting a knee replacement will ruin her blossoming acting career.
Read MoreGross Science: Stories about the yucky parts of science
In order to score extra credit in her high school anatomy class, Amy Segal embarks on a journey to build a cat skeleton, and Dave Coyle goes on a smelly mission to find the endangered American burying beetle for his undergraduate project.
Read MoreExpect the Unexpected: Stories about unforeseen circumstances
While shooting a TV show about the brain, producer Esther Stone gets the opportunity to interview a notorious serial killer, and as someone who’s seen every single episode of Mayday, Sara Mazrouei considers herself an expert in all the ways you can die on a plane until she takes a flight to Australia.
Read MoreChildhood Dreams: Stories about youthful aspirations
On the top bunk in her childhood bedroom, Kayla Hernandez makes plans to escape her home life and become a scientist and, as a teenager, Marc Abbott dreams of finding a wife and having kids, but a case of testicular torsion could ruin it all.
Read MoreCalling: Stories about one's vocation
When pediatric oncologist Sam Blackman gets called for a consult by the obstetrics department, he’s convinced they have the wrong number, and after 25 years of teaching, Matthew Dicks questions whether or not he should still be a teacher.
Read MoreBlending In: Stories about trying to belong
Neuroscientist Pardeep Singh feels more than out of place when he ends up as a contestant on The Bachelorette and when Thiago Arzua comes to the United States from Brazil to study science he doesn’t know how to fit in.
Read MoreHealing Power of Nature: Stories about finding peace outside
Geography and Environmental Sciences Professor John Aubert is having a hard time connecting to his now teenage daughter, and Sarah Luchini may be in over her head, literally, as she tries to cross a river while hiking on the Appalachian Trail.
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