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In an impoverished country, elephant poaching is a quick way to make big money. A pair of poachers explain how they track and kill elephants in one of Africa's top game reserves.

Marcela Gaviria has had countless surgeries for complications from a childhood cancer that nearly took her leg in 1982. Through it all, she's had one surgeon, Dr. Dempsey Springfield, and on her wedding day, they danced together.

Jail inmates in Westchester County, N.Y., have sued the county for $500 million: They want to be issued dental floss. The county is reluctant, saying prisoners elsewhere have used floss as a weapon — and to escape.

Golfers are used to hazards like sand traps, though rarely an obstacle as interesting as a shark. This week, at a golf course in Southern California, a 2-pound leopard shark was spotted on the 12th tee. It had apparently been dropped by an ocean bird flying overhead.

Earthquakes, terrorist attacks and muggings have all scared people to death. Sporting events, too, sometimes cause frenzied fans to drop dead. Neurologist Martin Samuels of Brigham and Women's Hospital explains how positive or negative excitement can lead to a heart-stopping surge of adrenaline.

BASE is an acronym for the objects the practitioners of the sport jump from: Buildings, Antenna, Span, Earth. Wingsuits are sometimes involved; parachutes, always. Avid BASE-jumper Luke Hively shares his experiences in the air and Science Friday investigates the physics and neuroscience of the sport.

The Science Friday Book Club meets this week to talk about our fall pick: "Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman!" : Adventures of a Curious Character. Physicist Lawrence Krauss joins the club to discuss Feynman's contributions to physics and his unconventional life.

Over the past decades, officials have been quick to look for an al-Qaida link in terror attacks. But as Islamist groups spread throughout the Middle East and North Africa, their relationships with — and differences from — al-Qaida are growing increasingly complex.

In the United Arab Emirates, a new ecology is emerging at a lake formed by desalinated water that's been pumped in from the Persian Gulf.

Our panelists will predict who will be the next superhero to make a major life change.