Gas hydrates could produce more energy than all other fossil fuels combined. Alaska's got a giant stash of this alternative energy source beneath its north slope. Check out this comic to get the inside scoop.
PopSci is celebrating Earth Day in all kinds of green ways! Check out our gallery to see what we're doing for the planet today, and to discover the science behind our decisions.
The Porsche brand has come to be synonymous with precision, power and best-in-class handling, making it a key benchmark for performance cars. While that's great for Porsche owners, it also means every manufacturer with an eye toward building a quick machine starts to compare itself to the iconic brand from Stuttgart. Competitors across the spectrum have stepped up the game to knock on the German builder's garage door with more horsepower and comparable handling in less expensive packages.
Researchers at North Carolina State University have found a surprising potential weapon against the conjectural "biological terrorism" of the imminent future. Sorry, what's that? We have self-inflicted domestic dangers on our hands that are more real and pressing than... terrorism? How things change. In any case, if suspicious white powders do happen to show up in your mailbox, you'll be prepared to defend yourself against them. It'll be as simple as crushing a pill and stirring it up in yogurt. Just like Mom used to make. Or something like that.
OBESITY IN AMERICA State Lines Obesity, defined as a body-mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher, is not equally distributed across the U.S. Check out this map to find out which state is the fattest (hint: it's the namesake of mud pie), which is the thinnest (think Coors Light), and which spends the most money on obesity-related health care (its governor pumps iron). Read on, after the break, for more of America's (and the world's) fat facts.
PopSci.com welcomes Dr. Bill Chameides, dean of Duke’s Nicholas School of the Environment. Dr. Chameides blogs at The Green Grok to spark lively discussions about environmental science, keeping you in the know on what the scientific world is discovering and how it affects you – all in plain language and, hopefully, with a bit of fun. Now, PopSci.com partners with The Green Grok to bring you exclusive new blog posts a week before they hit the Grok's blog. Give it a read and get in on the discussion! Can you hear it? The buzz on smart grids is getting louder. News reports on green jobs are peppered with talk of a “smart grid.” Google returns 929,000 pages for the term. Even Congress is in the swim, greening the stimulus package with $11 billion for a smart grid. So is Congress wise to fund it? Or are we buying an electrical bridge to nowhere? In this and a post to follow, we’ll look at why smart grids are a smart move.
For most of us, procuring a gallon of milk requires only a quick trip to the corner store. Breastfeeding mothers, on the other hand, need an estimated 30 percent more energy to keep a newborn nipper happy with fresh mama juice. Eating like a horse and lazing about are two ways to offset this extra energy demand, but another factor may contribute as well. According to a new study, support from family may play a key role in helping mothers conserve energy and therefore allow their bodies to prepare more quickly for another pregnancy.
You won’t find geolocator backpacks in the North Face catalog anytime soon, but if you fly south for the winter you may notice one strapped to the back of a migrating songbird. That’s how an inventive group of researchers have been tracking the speed and location of purple martins and wood thrushes flying from Pennsylvania to South America and back. What they’ve have found is truly astonishing.
From the US PopSci team You've heard all about the joys of saving gas money while owning a hybrid. Perhaps you've been envious of your neighbor with the Toyota Prius or the friend with a hybrid Honda Civic. In addition to their stellar mpg, hybrids are at the forefront of an environmental shift in the automotive world; but, if you are thinking about buying one, can you be sure that maintaining this piece of green machinery won't break the bank?
From the US PopSci team Remember the stereotype about the snotty rich kid? Well, now science may even support this old cliché. Generally, people gauge each other's wealth in material terms——the kind of car you drive, your house, or the clothes you wear. But, according to psychologists Michael W. Kraus and Dacher Keltner at the University of California, Berkley, body language also indicates where you stand in the economic pecking order.
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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.
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