• If we ever get to Mars, the beer might not be bad. Hops grows well in Martial soil, an experiment by college students suggests.

• We look at the science behind the Swiss government’s recent decision to ban tossing lobsters and other crustaceans into boiling water.

• A new novel by the Austrian author Robert Menasse lays bare the oddities of the E.U. bureaucracy in Brussels with satire and sympathy.

• The discovery of a secret tunnel under the Berlin Wall that was intended to help reunite a family in the 1960s has fueled memories of a dark chapter in Berlin’s history.

• Toronto has welcomed thousands of Syrians and their cooking, supporting a small boom in food businesses.

• In soccer news, Liverpool ensured that Manchester City would not go unbeaten through its Premier League schedule, but its 4-3 victory barely dented City’s invincible aura.

• Three American tennis stars did not make it out of the first day of the Australian Open. (Here’s a look at some players to watch.)