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May 2016

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Features

Spock and Kirk Illustration

Battle for the Soul of Star Trek

Kirk's ego! Spock's salute! Lucille Ball's regrets! A new oral history reveals the clashes behind pop culture's final frontier

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To Boldy Return

The starship Enterprise comes in for a new landing

Brain Training Illustration

How to Plug In Your Brain

If neuroscientists are right, you’ll soon be able to sharpen your focus and boost your memory by recharging your brain—with electricity

Orion’s heat shield

Next Stop Mars

NASA's Dava Newman explains just how close we are to sending astronauts far, far away

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Home Away From Home

A Nevada real estate magnate has poured $290 million into a wild dream of being a landlord in outer space. His first tenant: NASA

Astronaut Dummy

Model Astronaut

A cautionary tale about the android who just wasn't suited for the job

Sam Bousfield

Ready for Takeoff

Drones and autonomous cars are fueling a transportation revolution. Your flying car is around the corner

Departments

Discussion

Reader responses to our April issue

Phenomena

C'mon Baby Light My Flier

How the psychedelic concert poster rocked the world

Phenomena

Identity Crisis

Capturing the chaos of living in a world of endless distraction

Phenomena

NASA’s 'Rocket Girls' Are No Longer Forgotten History

Thanks to a new book, these female pioneers who helped the U.S. win the space race are finally getting their due

Phenomena

When Nature Knows Best

Can proteins from living cells solve problems that vex supercomputers?

Phenomena

Sparks Fly Over Tabloid Biz Flick!

On its 75th anniversary, new controversies arise over the legendary Citizen Kane

Traitors and Haters

The story behind Benedict Arnold's betrayal shows how close the Revolution came to defeating itself

Tweet All About It

From "user-generated content" to political screeds, the future of news happens to look a lot like the psat

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