• PPX

    PPX: The Final Countdown

    By PopSci Staff Posted on 5.8.2009 70 Comments

    The PopSci Predictions Exchange will come to an end on May 31. It’s been an amazing two years, with 33,339 registered users betting on the future of our scientific and technological world. We extend our appreciation to all of the dedicated traders who have made this game what it is. It’s been a great run!

    6.16.2009 at 03:23am - Comment by zxypher

    As with most of the previous posts I, too, am disappointed at the sudden drop of this delightful PPX. I didn't do great in playing, but when I did it was very gratifying and pushed positive energy into my day. Today was a scheduled stop of this site to check my stocks and viola... gone. All the research, all the energy, time and scrunching of my brain power is lost to this tragedy. I have better places to get my scientific and technological food; mainly television, the occasional 'Omni', 'Scientific American', and the substantially fulfilling 'Discover' magazines. Then there are websites that feature some wonderfully enlightening information I crave. I liked coming here for the articles and the spectacular images, the neat gadgets and intriguing medical leaps of engineering. Unfortunately, the one thing that would even drag me to those sections in this site was the PPX. It was the one thing that set it apart and created an actual fan base of loyalty, let alone the money it must have generated for the company itself. I guess if making the right business decisions were easy, everybody would be doing it. It just goes to show, even if you invest a little time and energy into something, it can still fail and crash and make you recede into depression. Good luck with your future POPSCI. See you on the flipside. -Randle Kregh CEO Zxypher Enterprises L.L.C.

  • The Environment

    Jellyfish Invasion

    By Posted on 6.4.2008 17 Comments

    For most of us, jellyfish are nothing more than a nuisance. They drift toward beach shores and into our consciousness each summer near the end of their life cycle, making a refreshing dip in the water a bit less carefree for a few weeks. But that may be changing. Last November, a 10-mile-wide and 42-foot-thick swarm of baby mauve stingers (Pelagia noctiluca) decimated Northern Ireland’s farmed-salmon population. Overnight,120,000 fish were reduced to a floating mass of carcasses by billions of the small jellies native to warmer waters thousands of miles to the south. The salmon, which were killed by stings and oxygen deprivation, had a market value of $2 million.

    8.1.2008 at 12:46am - Comment by zxypher

    Its interesting to see that something we have never had a use for has come to bite us in the @ss. We have over-mined everything we wanted or needed to the point we will one day no longer have it. What will we be left with? Everything that we deem unnecessary or dangerous. What a future to look forward to. I'm sure through the stress of uncertainty we will find a use for it all, but a beautiful prospect nevertheless. As every creature coexisting on this planet, we all deserve what we get. I think we should get special torturous treatment, though.



Download Our iPhone App

Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone with full articles, images and offline viewing



Follow Us On Twitter

Featuring every article from the magazine and website, plus links from around the Web. Also see our PopSci DIY feed



Become a Fan On Facebook

Share links with friends, comment on stories and more


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!
tags_sprite.png
POP_embeddedForm_cover_May09.jpg