This stuff really is like crack. Credit: Getty

Reader staffers share stories that fascinate, alarm, amuse, or inspire us.

Hey, did you read

• That Hurricane Patricia, the most powerful storm ever recorded, is expected to hit west-central Mexico this afternoon? —Mike Sula 

• This story about the calculated urbanization of Evanston? —Ryan Smith

• That Illinois State museums have been warned that Governor Rauner’s closure may cost them their accreditation? —Deanna Isaacs

• About a study claiming that cheese is as addictive as drugs? (Tell me something I don’t know, amirite?) —Brianna Wellen

• About the science of Little House on the Prairie—Aimee Levitt

• About the rise of escape room games? —Sue Kwong