Ratings

Science

Behind the Scenes: The Making of a Cover

By Paul Adams Posted on 10.8.2008 5 Comments

Welcome to Intelligent Design, the PopSci art department blog. Our first story brings you into the world of covers. The Future of Sports issue was quite unusual for us, bringing together both an unfamiliar image and an unfamiliar topic, and presented some unique challenges. The process, however, is pretty typical. in this film, we'll take you from concept to complete image and hopefully reveal just how much work goes into producing our unique 3-D CG images. Purists note: I've glossed over the typography part: we'll cover that in a future installment. Come back each Wednesday for upcoming stories which will include product reviews that you won't find in PopSci, movies, TV, books and the arts in general and of course more insider secrets. We hope you like what we're doing and we'd love to hear from you, about these stories and the magazine's design in general. Intelligent Design. The science behind the art. The art behind the science. In this installment, watch creative director Sam Syed's video explanation of all the details that go into making a good first impression.

Entertainment & Gaming

A Table-Sized Weight Bench for a Shoebox Sized Apartment

By Abby Seiff Posted on 7.1.2008 8 Comments

A 450 square foot shoebox apartment was once a valid exemption from owning fitness equipment (and merely one component of your preemptive exercise avoidance plan). But you soon may have one less excuse for that gut.  The Otto-Bench, a concept created by Gabriel Prero, presents the first chink in your oversized armor. The aesthetically pleasing ottoman or coffee table, transforms seamlessly into a weight bench and houses all the required hardware needed to get buff.

Science

Eat (Chocolate), Drink (Coffee) and be Merry

By Abby Seiff Posted on 6.17.2008 0 Comments

Stumped at the café? Go for a mocha. According to new research, the tasty beverage provides a double-whammy of health benefits: chocolate may slow cancer growth, and java could help you live longer. The good news about chocolate comes from scientists at Georgetown University Medical Center, who found that a synthetic chemical that is similar to a compound present in cocoa beans slows the growth of colon cancer by 50 percent.

Technology

The World's Spookiest Weapons

By Abby Seiff Posted on 5.9.2008 21 Comments

Atom bombs are just the beginning. In the last half-century, the greatest military minds on Earth have developed an arsenal of weapons to make mutually assured destruction seem tame. Whether these masterpieces of destruction come from miles above Earth or millimeters below the skin, they have one thing in common: they're spooky as hell.

DIY

How to Make Convincing Fake-Gold Bars

By Megan Miller Posted on 3.14.2008 26 Comments

On Wednesday, the BBC reported that millions of dollars in gold at the central bank of Ethiopia has turned out to be fake: What were supposed to be bars of solid gold turned out to be nothing more than gold-plated steel. They tried to sell the stuff to South Africa and it was sent back when the South Africans noticed this little problem.