 The best board games motivate players by giving them a fictional role to play out — a real estate tycoon trying to dominate the market, an elite team of scientists and doctors fighting a global disease outbreak or a fledgling New World colony in…

What You Learn In The 'Magic Circle'

 While not as terror-inducing as a demon or ghoul, the sheer number of things that could kill us by swallowing them is truly terrifying. Throughout history, we've been surrounded by substances that seemed benign and innocent in our food, in our…

From Benign to Deadly: A Brief History Of Household Poisoning

 Louie Schwartzberg is on a journey to the center of life on Earth. The filmmaker started with time-lapse photography of flowers, which led him to bees and their role pollinating crops to seeds and plant-based food. That got him interested in…

'Fantastic Fungi' And How To Film Them

 Lydia Hester is counting the days. Not until she can drive, or head off to college, like a teen out of central casting. She's not chasing after her first job, either. She already had one — as the campaign director for her local city councilman, Tag…

Teens Don't Want Hope. They Want Action.

 It begins simply, just a man singing. He bounds from word to word in an unfamiliar language. The cadence, however, is familiar. Suddenly his voice swells, and each syllable breaks into a flurry of harmonious notes. Parts of Swiss words roll and…

Why yodeling still matters: The art form is alive and well in Wisconsin, for the time being

 Dorky comic-book heroes like Batman and the Avengers outgrossed cool superspy James Bond two-to-one at the box office in 2012. Data wizards like Nate Silver deliver commentary alongside former football stars. And many kids beg their parents for…