Scientists working on behalf of NASA have successfully levitated a mouse using a strong magnetic field. I pay taxes so that stuff like this can happen. I don't hate animals. It's for understanding microgravity better, ok?

[ Read Full Story ]

Ever wanted to launch your own satellite into low earth orbit, then track it on ham radio for a few weeks before it burns up on re-entry? Well, 52 years after the launch of Sputnik, you can. Interorbital Systems is offering YOU the chance (by the end of 2010) to send up a TubeSat Personal Satellite Kit for the low introductory price of just $8,000.

[ Read Full Story ]

A chef and a professor are teaming up to create a dining experience that capitalizes on synaesthetic perception that links tastes to certain sounds. Synaesthesia is the association of different sensory perceptions -- hearing shapes or seeing music.

[ Read Full Story ]

All pet owners will happily explain to you their dog or cat's character traits -- probably in far more detail than you ever wanted to know. But the idea of animal personality is not one that's been formally studied all that much.

A new study has classed a species of bird into groups of more and less aggressive males. Researchers gauged the response of male collared flycatchers to female birds, to a strange object, and to other males. They found that each type of individual displayed consistent behavior in each of these situations.

[ Read Full Story ]

On March 25 at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City, 175 students competed in the final round of the city's largest high school science and engineering research competition. The New York City Science and Engineering Fair (NYCSEF) is sponsored by the NYC Department of Education and the City University of New York. The 19 NYCSEF winners will go on to Intel's International Science and Engineering Fair in Reno, Nevada, May 10-16, to compete for scholarships and other prizes totaling nearly $4 million.

Popular Science caught up with some of the students, whose stunning projects covered such complex topics as stem cell research, wind energy, and cancer treatments. Some of them are already packing up their projects for the trip to Nevada.

[ Read Full Story ]

Without a doubt, the most fun thing I've worked on in my five-plus years at PopSci is the Gray Matter column. Nearly every month since mid-2002, contributor Theo Gray has come up with new ways to illuminate the world of elemental chemistry, often by setting things on fire. But far from your average YouTube-loitering pyromaniac, Gray combines sharp, lively writing with a gifted professor's knack for making the complex simple.

[ Read Full Story ]

Each month, Popular Science features one of Theodore Gray's DIY (if dangerous) experiments. See the whole list here.

2006

January

Making a Perfect Match

[ Read Full Story ]

Make CO2 Ice Cream

Cost: $150
Time: 15 Minutes

Safe | | | | |
Risky

For an illustrated photo how-to, launch the gallery.

[ Read Full Story ]