Daniel Engber risks derailing his PhD by constant daydreaming, until his neuroscience research gives him a idea that will revolutionize the NBA, and doomed to be the waterboy after tearing his ACL, engineering student Baratunde Cola is determined to make it back to his college's football team.
Read MoreThe Road to Science: Stories about winding paths to science
With her truck stuck in the mud in the Serengeti, Aerin Jacob learns three important lessons, and at four years old, Daniel Miller became one of the youngest people in the state of Texas ever to testify in court -- against his own mother, for sexual assault. As an adult, he struggles for stability, but finds hope in physics.
Read MoreFlora: Stories from the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
While everyone around Anthony Digrado is impressed with his plant PhD research, he isn’t sure if he actually knows what he’s doing, and scientist Jessica Brinkworth turns to gardening in the midst of a burnout.
Read MoreBody Image: Stories about physical appearance
With the looming possibility of a double mastectomy, Connie Henderson considers her options for reconstruction and, growing up Dhruti Shah struggles to accept her dark body hair.
Read MoreAll-Star: Stories from our All-Star Slam challengers
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.
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