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It's not the hard work that will make astronauts lose it on long planetary missions — it's boredom. And something that can become very boring very fast is a rote menu. A simulated Mars mission reveals why cooking for others will be vital on long space journeys, and why wraps rule.

Ten years ago this week, a massive electrical blackout struck the northeastern US and parts of Canada, affecting some 55 million people. IEEE Spectrum journalist Bill Sweet describes the causes of the outage and how the electrical grid has changed since the 2003 failure.

Just 40 days after winning the women's single title at Wimbledon, Marion Bartoli of France announced on Wednesday that she is retiring from tennis at age 28. Bartoli joins a relatively short list of top athletes who decided to call it quits in their prime. Audie Cornish talks to Stefan Fatsis for more.

California condor conservationists are among those pushing for a statewide ban on lead ammunition in California. Some of the critically endangered birds are dying of lead poisoning. The Los Angeles Zoo has been breeding condors in captivity for decades to restore the species' population. Now a major part of their job is treating birds who've dined on lead-tainted animal remains in the wild. They — along with a bill making its way through the Legislature — identify lead bullets as the top condor threat. But hunters and shooters question lead's environmental impact. And they say a ban would leave them with few affordable, convenient options.

Attorney General Eric Holder called this week for sweeping changes to America's drug laws. He's part of a growing movement of black leaders pushing for major changes to the nation's 40-year war on drugs. But for decades, many African-American leaders supported tough sentencing rules.

A photo of Kasetsart University students wearing the cumbersome headgear during an exam went viral, garnering disapproval.

The race to create a viable Internet-based TV service is on, and the contestants include the biggest names in computer technology: Apple, Microsoft, Intel and Google. Sony has apparently reached a deal — as preliminary — with Viacom to carry the company's cable channels on its planned web TV service.

Performance artist Marina Abramovic's piece Measuring the Magic of Mutual Gaze is both art installation and science experiment, in which volunteers sit facing one another while having their brain waves measured. Abramovic discusses these arts and science experiments with neuroscientist Christof Koch, an expert in consciousness.

Republican Gov. Chris Christie has approved a broad measure to ease restrictions on medical marijuana for chronically ill children, but he won't go as far as lawmakers would like.

The conduit with neighboring Kazakhstan was reportedly used to send "thousands of liters" of pure grain alcohol undetected across the border.