Popsci Archives

Ever feel ripped off that you can only surf or snowboard in the confines of the ocean or on a snowy mountain? The new Loop-In design concept hopes to allow you to shred out of those constraints. Looking like a surf-/snow-/skateboard hybrid attached to two gigantic hoop wheels, the In-Loop promises radical movement just about anywhere, dude.

The Loop-In is still only a concept at this point, based upon the often-theorized, rarely used, huge overhead hoop wheel. In the wild 1920s and '30s, Popular Science had a mania for predicting revolutionary transport concepts that incorporated similar wheels.

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You’ve successfully tested the limits of how much can fit into a #10 envelope without bursting its seams, but now you’re questioning how much postage you need. Sure you could just slap a few of the new 44-cent stamps onto whatever you're sending and be done with it, but that’s good money you’re throwing away.

Instead, spend just a few bucks now to build a simple magnetic postage scale, newly updated from an original article in the February 1971 issue of Popular Science.

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While always keeping an eye forward to the future, Popular Science has had a fixation with all things prehistoric. Here, a look back through the archives at a selection of curated articles from the 1930's, 40's and beyond on everything from tar pit fossil traps to prehistoric humans.

Check out the gallery, and the Land of the Lost trailer, here!

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Our third updated DIY project from the Popular Science digital archives involves luring and then trapping bugs that have managed to find their way inside your house--a truly universal problem. Follow along as we update a circa-1971 trap for today's smarter, more intelligent insects for less than $20.

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November 1970: "Enter the Meditator and surround yourself with the graphics which cover its walls . . . you may find the sensation akin to that mystical communion with nature that you experience when alone in a forest — or the sense of peace you feel in an empty cathedral."

Browse the archives at popsci.com/archives.

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For the eight of us still reading a daily newspaper, compiling the week’s news into a recycling bundle that's able to withstand the journey from kitchen to recycling bin fully intact is a battle of wits, strength and patience. Okay, I’m being dramatic, but wouldn’t it be nice to have a simple contraption to make the job oh-so-much simpler?

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It's official: Santa showed up a little early this year. The unveiling of the Popular Science archives on Google was, last week, a very big deal. Our readers and fans can now search and browse over 136 years' worth of the future then and now whenever they damn well please.

Ever resourceful, PopSci DIY-ers are already doing what they do best. Instructables.com member TimAnderson created a gas mask using instructions in a December 1942 Popular Science Article. How awesome is that?

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