popular science

PopSci Augments Reality

Got a copy of our July issue? Hold it up to your screen

Imagination:
Today the July issue of Popular Science -- with a cover package on the future of energy -- officially hits newsstands, and with its release we unveil an extremely cool first-ever for the magazine biz: The first interactive 3-D "augmented reality" magazine cover.

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Future Human

Small Ways to Fix a Big Problem

Do all those little things we do for the environment—recycling, giving up bottled water, going vegan—really make a difference?

It’s easy to feel deflated by the ever-growing raft of ecological problems out there. According to a recent MIT report, even if I were the most frugal of consumers—say a monk or a hobo—as an American, I’d still emit more than twice as much carbon dioxide as the average global citizen. That's partly because the U.S. infrastructure that we all enjoy (police, roads, hospitals) is an inevitable part of our per-capita contribution. Think globally, act locally?

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Enter PopSci's 21st Annual Best of What's New

Every year, PopSci honors the top innovations in such categories as consumer products and engineering

Learn more and submit your product or technology today at popsci.com/enter.

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New Gear: Green Goods

Who said green's gotta be dull? A scooter, hot tub and robot lawnmower are just some of our top eco-friendly picks.

greengoods_485.jpg:
In each issue of Popular Science, our renowned What's New section keeps you up to date with the most innovative consumer products currently on the market. Here on PopSci.com, we bring you a special expanded and eco-conscious edition of "The Goods."

Helping the environment shouldn't always demand a sacrifice. Click "View Photos" at left to launch the gallery and see our picks for the computers, phones and even barbecues that will ease your conscience in style.

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The Goods: Dorm-Room Blowout

Even if you graduated from college 20 years ago, you'll want to check out our inventory of the best affordable tech-from party-making sound systems to note-taking study aids-for tiny spaces.

In each issue of Popular Science, our renowned What's New section keeps you up to date with the most innovative consumer products currently on the market. Here on PopSci.com, we bring you a special expanded edition of "The Goods," college-style. Click "View Photos" at left to launch the gallery.

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Science Mysteries, Explained

Will too many hot chili peppers kill you? Is the moon on the verge of erupting? PopSci tackles life's whys, hows and who-dunnits in this Q&A-style feature

The world is full of mysteries, and we at Popular Science strive to
do our part to help you make sense of them. What do animals dream about? Is there any way to ensure a blink-free photo? And what is the worst sound on Earth?

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Ranking Words


Weve always known that popular and science belong together. Even so, we were surprised to learn that they are, respectively, the 956th and 957th most frequently used words in the English language. We found the complete rankings of the 86,800 most common words at WordCount

WordCount currently gets its data from the British National Corpus, a 100-million-word collection of written and spoken texts. Eventually, WordCounts creators plan to track word usage at many levels, ranging from a single document to the entire Internet.

According to WordCount, each word in its current archive is scaled to reflect its frequency relative to the words that precede and follow it, giving a visual barometer of relevance. So what comes before and after popular science? Products and notes, appropriately enough.—Dawn Stover

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New Glory: A Flag for a Terraformed Mars

PopSci reviews a bevy of reader-submitted flags and comes up with a winner. Drumroll, please...

When PopSci published Will Snyder's article on terraforming Mars, we opined that the Mars Society's colonial flag could use some sprucing up, so we asked readers to submit their own designs. The week the article appeared, 42 Martian-flag mockups turned up in our inbox. Some featured elaborate designs and detailed explanations (which we've printed in their entirety in the slideshow), while others simply included a name. A couple flags were even sent anonymously.

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Introducing the How 2.0 Blog


You've reached the new online blog companion to How 2.0, Popular Science's award-winning section that each month is chock-full of tips, tricks, hacks and do-it-yourself projects. We know it's a wild world out there in tech land, but never fear, for our crack How 2.0 staff will be here to keep you stocked with all the latest DIY goodness, including weekly projects by our resident hacker Dave Prochnow, handy how-to guides to help you use your tech gear better, and the best DIY tips from around the Web.

We've also partnered with Instructables—the Web's premier community for step-by-step illustrated guides to anything from cooking and cleaning a Dungeness crab to fitting a working PC into the shell of an old Nintendo. We'll be bringing you our favorite projects direct from our Instructables group, along with regular contests and special features. Watch for details of our kickoff contest in the coming days—you're not going to want to miss it.

Oh, and one more thing. This blog will have another very important feature: you. Know of a better way to tweak one of our projects? Jump in on the comments section found on each post. Or submit an Instructables project to our group—we'll be featuring our favorites here regularly. We look forward to seeing what you guys can cook up. Happy hacking! —John Mahoney

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Mystery Science Theater

PopSci tackles life's whys, hows and who-dunnits in this Q&A-style feature

The world is full of mysteries, and we at Popular Science strive to
do our part to help you make sense of them. What causes Slurpee-induced
brain freeze? Will junior1s piano lessons make him smarter? Can men produce
breast milk?

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December 2009: Best of What's New

In our December issue, Popular Science names the 100 best innovations of the year: bombproof wallpaper, self-parking cars, the fastest helicopter, and 97 more. Plus inventor profiles and videos.

Check out the best of what's new here.

Popular Science Photo Pool


Share your photos in the Pop Sci pool at www.flickr.com!
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