• 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

    The Breakdown: Tic The Spinning Hamster

    By Megan Miller Posted on 3.7.2008 7 Comments

    Tic, the unfortunate hamster in this video, loses his footing while getting some exercise and gets pulled into the spin cycle, completing nearly 12 revolutions in about four seconds before ignominiously dropping out of the wheel. However, while Tic may be bewildered by what happened during his morning training session, we need not be. Why does he get pulled into the spin? How does he remain in orbit for 12 rotations before falling off of the wheel? How does he finally escape? These are the questions we will address for Tics sake.

  • Entertainment & Gaming

    Raising the (Energy) Bar

    By Abby Seiff Posted on 2.28.2008 1 Comments

    While most folks are not quite sure whats in that solidified mush known as a PowerBar, athletes have long sworn by its energy-boosting qualities. So, why then, after years of commercial success, did PowerBar announce this week that its changing its formula? The answer lies in research published in this months issue of the journal Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.


138 years of Popular Science at your fingertips.

Innovation Challenges



Popular Science+ For iPad

Each issue has been completely reimagined for your iPad. See our amazing new vision for magazines that goes far beyond the printed page



Download Our App

Stay up to date on the latest news of the future of science and technology from your iPhone or Android phone 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


February 2012: The Future of Fun

Science is reinventing play, from extreme sports to gamification to ridiculous roller coasters to the playgrounds of tomorrow, and this issue is chock full of fun. Also, on a less fun note: Did global warming destroy my hometown?


circ-top-header.gif
circ-cover.gif