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a plane landing
Aviation

The 10 longest airplane flights on Earth

These ultra-long commercial flights are becoming more common thanks to design innovations and fuel capacity.

By Mack DeGeurin

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A purple and green graphic depicting a laptop screen "locked down"
Tech Hacks

This is the best browser to maximize your web privacy

Switch to the Tor Browser to lock down your online activity.

By David Nield

Firefighter with headlamp in the dark surrounded by low blazes.
Land

Here’s what supercharged the monster wildfires in Spain and France

Last summer brought Europe’s most destructive wildfire season on record. This season is on track to break it.

By Sachi Kitajima Mulkey / Grist

a white porcupine
Wildlife

Rare baby albino porcupine rescued in Maine

Only about one in 10,000 porcupines are born with albinism.

By Margherita Bassi

TAKEHARA, JAPAN - FEBRUARY 24: Rabbits look for food at the beach on Okunoshima Island on February 24, 2014 in Takehara, Japan. Okunoshima is a small island located in the Inland Sea of Japan in Hiroshima Prefecture. The Island often called Usagi Jima or "Rabbit Island" is famous for it's rabbit population that has taken over the island and become a tourist attraction with many people coming to the feed the animals and enjoy the islands tourist facilities which include a resort, six hole golf course and camping grounds. During World War II the island was used as a poison gas facility. From 1929 to 1945, the Japanese Army produced five types of poison gas on Okunoshima Island. The island was so secret that local residents were told to keep away and it was removed from area maps. Today ruins of the old forts and chemical factories can be found all across the island. (Photo by Chris McGrath/Getty Images)
Wildlife

Wild boars develop taste for beloved rabbits on popular island in Japan

Trouble in bunny paradise.

By Andrew Paul

Two angles of a phallic themed copper nail cleaner from ancient Rome
Archaeology

1,600-year-old phallic nail cleaner discovered near roadwork in England

Ancient Rome viewed male genitals as symbols of good luck, protection, and fertility.

By Andrew Paul

a plane being unloaded out of a white truck
Aviation

‘Exceptionally rare’ World War I-era biplane returns to Long Island

This 1919 Curtiss Oriole may have mapped parts of South America and helped film some movies.

By Mack DeGeurin

a red spiky flower growing in a swamp
Land

5 gnarly plants in the Okefenokee Swamp, from digestive slime to Earth’s fastest predator

The newly named UNESCO World Heritage Site is home to 620 plant species.

By Laura Baisas

DHAKA, BANGLADESH - NOVEMBER 11: A monkey carrying a puppy are seen around the park in Dhaka, Bangladesh on November 11, 2022. A monkey was spotted carrying a puppy around the park. The monkey also carried the puppy on its lap and was seen jumping from a tree's branches. Even though monkeys and dogs do not necessarily bond, a different animal friendly relationship was seen in Dhaka. (Photo by Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
Wildlife

Monkeys sometimes have ‘pets’ like humans

And it may explain why we love ours so much.

By Andrew Paul

Smallpox virus seen under microscope
Evolution

Chilean mummies prove Europeans brought smallpox to the Americas

The 500-year-old smallpox DNA is the oldest ever found in the Americas.

By Andrew Paul

Two lead slingshot bullets inscribed with the initials CN and D with a ruler for size comparison
Archaeology

Roman soldiers pelted rebels with signed slingshot bullets

The artifacts have the initials of a general charged with quelling an uprising in present-day Spain.

By Andrew Paul

a mammoth tusk on a field with the sun setting
Wildlife

Ice Age humans preferred hunting female woolly mammoths

Scientists also found a mammoth that was neither biologically female or male.

By Laura Baisas

schoolboy e-learning on laptop during computer class in classroom.
Technology

Schools are rethinking whether every student needs a laptop

By Janice Mak / The Conversation

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Popular Science has been demystifying the worlds of science and technology since 1872. We explain the inner workings of the phone in your pocket, explore world-changing innovations, and examine everything from the marvels of deep space to the secret lives of staples like bread. We deliver an engaging, approachable, and inclusive look at emerging technologies and scientific advances.
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