Ted Berger is trying to build a microchip that can remember things for us. He teaches biomedical engineering at the University of Southern California, and his goal is to create a device that can take over for the hippocampus of the brain, translating thoughts into long-term memories. ...

Gabriel von Wayditch wrote 14 operas, some telling R-rated stories and one that's the longest in history. But hardly anyone's ever heard of him. Music curator Frank Oteri discovered von Wayditch back in the 1980s and has since been on a lifelong struggle to bring his music to ...

In three-card monte, con artists use swift hand moves and constant patter to convince a sucker there's a way to win. A magician, a theater professor, and a real-life grifter each describe how the monte isn’t just a crime; it’s street theater designed to keep its losers entertained. ...

A good magic trick isn’t just a trick – it’s a story wrapped around a trick. Magicians distract their audiences with professional smooth talk called patter, and it sounds eerily similar to what politicians deliver in debates and on the stump. Magicians Steven Cohen,