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Chapter one
Inescapable


Your Next New Best Friend Might Be a Robot
Meet Xiaoice. She’s empathic, caring, and always available—just not human.

Why We Swim in Quarries
The powerful allure of the deep azure.

Our Conflicted Feelings For R2-D2
Lucas’ droids are halfway between human and inhuman, so we can both love and ignore them.

Love Is Like Cocaine
From ecstasy to withdrawal, the lover resembles an addict.
Chapter two
First Love

She’ll Text Me, She’ll Text Me Not
The science of waiting in modern courtship.

What Pigeons Teach Us About Love
The sweet, avian romance of Harold and Maude.

This Valentine’s Day, Go Public or Go Home
Ken Kraaijeveld unveils ancient secrets of seduction from the animal kingdom.

Describing People as Particles Isn’t Always a Bad Idea
Using physics to describe social phenomena can work—if it’s the right physics.
Chapter three
I Melt

Nothing Snowballs Online Like Fear
How online fear feeds political smear campaigns, stock market rumors, and ISIS propaganda.

Why Our Intuition About Sea-Level Rise Is Wrong
A geologist explains that climate change is not just about a global average sea rise.

It’s a Fishapod!
The story behind the discovery of the four-legged fish.

Secrets in the Ice
Love notes and warning messages are buried in Earth’s frozen archive.

The Neuroscience of Wine
Why our minds can be led astray about the tastes of wines.

How Climate Change Could Starve the Monkeys
My sister the scientist makes a startling discovery in an Ugandan jungle.
Chapter four
The Search

Am I Ugly?
What science says about my outer beauty.

Spark of Science: Childhood Discovery
Kirk Johnson’s mom gave him 5 minutes at a rest stop. It was enough to find an arrowhead.

Ingenious: Kirk Johnson
The director of the National Museum of Natural History on how we get into science.

How to Learn to Love to Practice
Is there a secret to staying in the zone?

Curiosity Depends on What You Already Know
We seek novelty, but not too much.
Related Facts So Romantic
“Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add nothing to them.” —Jules Verne
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