FEATURES

Your Brain on Fun
What happens in your brain when you feel pleasant sensations, such as winning at a tough video game or eating a fresh chocolate chip cookie? It turns out that our brains have a special mechanism that they use for all pleasures, from tasting food to listening to music to having fun with friends. These “hedonistic hotspots” link to each other and to other brain regions, forming a powerful pleasure circuit.
By Jeanne Miller

Vacation Fun Outta This World!

What makes a vacation great? Certainly a getaway should promise fun, interesting new experiences, and a change of scenery. And plenty of travel destinations scattered across the globe offer these opportunities. But in the not-too-distant future, your next great vacation could offer more—much more. It won’t just get you out of the house—it will take you out of this world!

By Mary Beth Cox

Fun 101: (aka How to Escape Boredom)

Boredom is the enemy of fun. If fun is pulling a 360 air on your mountain bike, boredom is a flat tire. If we want to figure out the future of fun, we have to first figure out how to end boredom. Imagine that: a world where each second is interesting and noting is dull That sounds like science fiction, but new psychological research hints that being bored—even in class—may one day be a thing of the past.
By Aaron Millar

Pinball! Where Science Meets Fun
Have you ever played a pinball machine? The rules are simple: Launch a ball on to the playfield and then use the flippers to aim your shot and score as many points as possible. If the ball “drains,” your turn is over. For the last ten years, Michael Schiess and the folks at the Pacific Pinball Museum in Alameda, California have been working to promote, preserve, and celebrate pinball machines.
By Merry Dankanich

Holoball
Jojo hung from the start bar with his two teammates, Jazz and Brick. He felt quaking in his artificial spring joints—wrists, elbows, shoulders, ankles, knees, and hips. His hips were the last surgery. The eye implants had been first, eight years ago when he was four. They always do the eyes first because of the implants don’t take, you’ll never be a holoball player.
A short story by Hillary Grey Fleenor

Mary Catherine Makes Everything Fun!

Mr. Bluni’s lab kids have some ups and downs at the theme park. How does riding the roller coaster teach them about apparent weight in orbit?
By Nick D’Alto

ACTIVITIES

The Silliest Science

We all laugh at a funny joke. But exactly what makes a joke funny? And why do we laugh? The answers can prove elusive, which is strange since biologists know exactly what a laugh looks like. Laughter requires the movements of dozens of mouth and facial muscles, as well as your throat and diaphragm, tear ducts, and sometimes even your arms, legs, and torso. Fortunately, gelotologists (scientist who study laughter) are conducting experiments to explore how, where, and why we find humor.

By Nick D’Alto

Imagination Challenge!

What can you build out of a cardboard box?

By Kathryn Hulick

DEPARTMENTS

Science Scoops
By Kathryn Hulick

Ask Dr. Cy Borg
Scary Amusement Park Rides

Person to Discover
Do Animals Giggle? An interview with Behaviorist Jonathan Balcombe

Dr. Jonathan Balcombe takes issue with the usual nature documentaries that focus on animal competition and struggle for survival. He points out that life in the wild involves cooperation, play, companionship, touch, and many other pleasures that we value in our lives.
By Jeanne Miller

e-Scape with O and Aarti: Four Far-Fetched Future Fun Fantasies!
Just what is a futurist? They take a look at scientific discoveries and ask, What if? O and Aarti have read about some future scenarios and take a look at them from a kid’s perspective.
By Dan Risch

Hippo Doodle
By Karen Romano Young

You’ve Got Mail!
ODYSSEY's reader response department welcomes your letters, original poems, stories, drawings, and responses to questions!
E-mail odysseymagazine@caruspub.com with You’ve Got Mail! as the subject, or snail mail You’ve Got Mail, ODYSSEY
30 Grove St., Suite C
Peterborough, NH 03458

Consulting Editor

Peter Stromberg received his Ph.D in anthropology from Stanford University, and is now Professor of Anthropology at the University of Tulsa. His most recent book is Caught in Play: How Entertainment Works on You (Stanford University Press, 2009).