Biology | Health
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Chapter one
What If?
Numbers | The Web
Are Fantasy Sports Really Gambling?
Fantasy sports are more skill-based than real ones.
Biology | Genetics
Can Science Breed the Next Secretariat?
How a “speed gene” test is stirring up horse racing and athletics.
Ideas | Astronomy
If the Olympics Were Held in Space
A dispatch from the future of extreme sports.
Chapter two
Love & Fear
Biology | Neuroscience
The Strange Brain of the World’s Greatest Solo Climber
Alex Honnold doesn’t experience fear like the rest of us.
Culture | Psychology
The Unique Neurology of the Sports Fan’s Brain
Why we get off on the game—and are better off for it.
Ideas | Philosophy
To Understand Religion, Think Football
Sacred beliefs likely arose out of prehistoric bonding and rituals.
Culture | Psychology
Sports Hooliganism Comes Down to a Fear of Death
Fan riots are sparked by terrible insights that the Grim Reaper is winning.
Biology | Genetics
We Are Nowhere Close to the Limits of Athletic Performance
Genetic engineering will bring us new Bolts and Shaqs.
Chapter three
Mind Games
Ideas | Philosophy
Head to Head: Should We Allow a Doping Free-for-All?
Two philosophers debate the ethics of performance enhancement.
Culture | History
Why Sports Die
Sports don’t survive their cultures of origin if they resist modern measurement.
Culture | Linguistics
The Secret Language of Tennis Champions
How identical twins Mike and Bob Bryan serve science.
Culture | Sociology
Stadiums and Other Sacred Cows
Why questioning the value of sports is seen as blasphemy.
Chapter four
New Rules
Biology | Physiology
The Paradox of Doping in Mountain Climbing
In alpinism, supplemental oxygen is a matter of safety—but some say it’s doping.
Numbers | Artificial Intelligence
The Unexpected Humanity of Robot Soccer
Robots competing in open, physical environments produce familiar behaviors.
Numbers | Math
Revisiting “Moneyball” with Paul DePodesta
Shattering preconceptions about players isn’t all about the numbers.
Culture | Technology
Four Ball Games You’ve Never Heard Of
From bouncy castle soccer to foot golf, we are still inventing new sports.
Ideas | Philosophy
Ingenious: Robert Sparrow & Julian Savulescu
Should doping in sports be unrestricted? A video head-to-head.
Related Facts So Romantic
“Reality provides us with facts so romantic that imagination itself could add nothing to them.” —Jules Verne
See All Blog Posts-
Culture
Is the Nobel Prize Good for Science?
Yesterday, CNN Money published an article headlined, “Nobel prize winner tells Clinton: Tax fossil fuels.” The winner in question was Joseph Stiglitz, an economist at Columbia University,…
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Biology
How We Learned That Neanderthals Bird-Hunted in Winter
A stocky male figure walks along a beach in what is now Gibraltar, on the southwestern tip of Europe, his pronounced brow shading his eyes. Pigeons watch over him on the cliffs overlooking…
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Numbers
Why We Need Quantitative Sports History
The early 19th century golfer Harry Vardon was the Tiger Woods of his day, and not just because he had marital difficulties. He even had a biography written about him, which recounted,…
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Biology
Will This “Neural Lace” Brain Implant Help Us Compete with AI?
Solar-powered self-driving cars, reusable space ships, Hyperloop transportation, a mission to colonize Mars: Elon Musk is hell-bent on turning these once-far-fetched fantasies into reality.…
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