DIY (Page 12)

PopSci's curated collection of life skills, tech tips, and hands-on projects we think you'll love.

Latest in DIY

Person working out in living room with dumbbells.

How to start lifting weights—even if you’ve never picked up a dumbbell in your life

By Amanda Svachula

iPhone screen showing the Shortcuts app on iOS.

7 automations that will transform how you use your iPhone

A person wearing a yellow sweater and sitting at a wooden desk while using a silver Macbook laptop.

It’s time to buy the domain name of your dreams

A pale beige DIY wooden phone amplifier with a Jack Skellington fabric speaker cover on a black shelf against a white wall, with an iPhone inserted into the top, playing music from the band Durry.

Make your phone louder with this DIY wooden speaker

By Jean Levasseur

Tablet on stool showing Bing's AI-powered chat mode.

How to search the web with Bing’s new AI-powered chat mode

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A person holding an empty photo frame up against a seaside cliff landscape, showing how an AI image extender can add pixels beyond the edge of an original photo.

How to use AI to expand the background of any image

Piles of music CDs

CDs are cool again. Here’s how to rip them.

Toilet on palm tree-filled beach

Why your poop gets weird on vacation—and what to do about it

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A wooden DIY device charging stand holding three tablets and an iPhone, on a black shelf against a white wall.

Clean up your cable clutter with this DIY charging station

By Jean Levasseur

Wifi antenna on laptop used by person outside

Installing a WiFi antenna can boost internet speeds all around your home

A woman running on a desert trail to burn the most calories.

These heart-pumping exercises burn the most calories

How pilots end up in a ‘death spiral’

How pilots end up in a ‘death spiral’

By Julia Craven

Person typing on laptop showing Google Chrome on the screen.

How to keep your Google Chrome extensions from snooping on you

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A person sitting on a light green couch reading a book, viewed from above.

StoryGraph is a comprehensive book-tracking app for all sorts of readers

ISS astronaut taking selfie during space walk for social media

Make your social media feed smarter with these science accounts

By Jamie Helmick

A person holding an Android phone with battery saver mode on.

How to keep your Android battery from dying when you need it most

By Whitson Gordon

A customized Google Chrome new tab page that uses Tabliss to change the display from the default into a lush mountainous landscape with a road, and the time of day.

4 ways to customize Google Chrome’s new tab page

Two bear cubs in a meadow.

How to keep your food safe from hungry bears when camping

By Alisha McDarris

Hands hold a new iPhone on a desk with empty iPhone boxes.

Easy tips to make your expensive phone last longer

Twitter alternative Bluesky is fun, friendly, and kind of empty

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Mountains and a pine forest covered in wildfire smoke.

What to do when wildfire smoke fills the air

By Natalie Wallington

Hand holding a cupcake with purple frosting, sprinkles and a birthday candle.

How to make sure you never miss someone’s birthday

Two people in workout clothes putting food and supplements into a blender to make their own pre-workout

What science says about popular pre-workout ingredients

By Purbita Saha

The mpox virus. 3D illustration.

What you can do to prevent the spread of mpox

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Loxley Browne (right) CEO and founder of Club Athena in California with Akshaya Koramutla, the Student Advisory Board President.

This STEM club for girls turned a real BMW into a sweet racing simulator

By Kristin Shaw

A woman wearing a black shirt leaning over a dead computer with her hands on her temples, wondering how she can get her silver Macbook to turn back on, or how she can recover files from it.

How to save a dead computer, or at least try to revive it

Three people hiking in the rain wearing raincoats.

How to stay dry and safe while hiking in the rain

By Alisha McDarris

A person sitting in a dark room playing video games with a two-monitor computer set up.

4 Discord alternatives for work and play

Person holding laptop and a white reusable water bottle.

You’re probably not washing your water bottle often enough

By Amanda Svachula

Opened silica gel packet on a wood countertop, ready for someone to find another use for them.

6 clever ways to reuse silica gel packets

By Bridget Reed Morawski

The Mozilla Firefox office building.

11 hot Firefox tips and tricks that might finally convince you to switch browsers

White-skinned person pouring ice cubes into bath with a dark-skinned person recovering after a workout. Illustrated in orange, white, and black.

The best way to relieve sore muscles after a brutal workout

Baby sleeping naked in a white hammock

Why you should sleep naked tonight, according to science

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A hand holding a phone showing a QR code for sharing WiFi.

The easiest ways to share your WiFi password

By Whitson Gordon

A male and a female mallard duck in some green grass by some bushes.

Don’t feed ducks bread. Here’s what to give them instead.

By Natalie Wallington

Hand writing on notebook

How to improve your handwriting

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Hand sanitizer bottle and hands.

How to make hand sanitizer

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Person with dark skin and short hair jumps rope while pregnant person with light skin and hair in a bun squats and lifts dumbells. Illustrated in orange, black, and gray.

The 6 essential parts of an effective workout

By Frankie de la Cretaz

Tabby cat on hardwood floors playing with a fabric toy resembling a mouse

5 ways to ensure your cat actually likes playtime

By Jamie Helmick

Mammatus types of clouds over a lighthouse and rocky coast

A scientific guide to clouds, even the ones that look like udders

By Briley Lewis

An elderly person with short gray hair, wearing a pink shirt and jeans, with their hands on the shoulders of a kid they're teaching how to ride a bike. The child is wearing a red helmet and using a balance bike on a park path.

Pro tips for teaching a kid how to ride a bike

By Jean Levasseur

Person in a suit and tie sitting outside in front of their computer, looking frustrated.

How to get rid of the giant ads blocking your favorite websites

Senior man and woman in wheelchair

How to get through to your aging parents without arguing

By Judith Graham / KFF Health News

split screen showing phone with halo on one side, phone with horns on the other

The Opt Out: 10 rules for better internet etiquette

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

hands typing on laptop keyboard

Prove your writing is not AI-generated by tracking changes in your docs

A person wearing running shorts holding their thigh on a beach, potentially wondering what happens when you pull a muscle, because they probably just did.

Here’s what really happens when you pull a muscle

By Nicole Wetsman

Person outdoors holding a white iPhone on their hands.

What to know about Apple’s new Rapid Security Response updates

Person on yoga mat doing bridge exercise to work out muscles in core, neck, and back. Illustrated in red, black, white, and gray.

A guide to the muscles you forget to exercise

By Jamie Helmick

Wall covered in ripped posters and stickers.

How to use science to remove sticker residue

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A person sitting in front of a laptop that has a skull and crossbones in green code on the screen, indicating that it may have been infected with malware that they'll now need to remove.

How to remove malware from your suffering computer

Pink feathery muhly grass are one the many native types of grass you plant in the US.

9 native grasses that will revitalize your sad, water-wasting lawn

By Helen Bradshaw

A Minecraft world with multiple mods installed, and a tiger in the foreground.

Customize your Minecraft experience by installing a creeper-load of mods

By Jamie Helmick

Seemingly happy person listening to music on earbuds

Social media posts are better with music. Here’s how to add your favorite tunes.

A kitchen counter with a tray of drying seed bombs, a bowl with a mixture of powdered clay and potting mix, and two seed packets for rosemary and lavender.

Make your own seed bombs to garden on the go

By Jamie Helmick

A MacBook sitting next to an iPad used as a second screen.

You should use your iPad as a second screen

Screenshot of photo editing in Adobe Lightroom Classic

5 AI tools in Adobe Lightroom Classic to boost your photo editing

A Windows 10 laptop on a desk under a desk lamp, with the Windows desktop on the screen.

How to reset Windows 10 or 11 without losing everything

By John Kennedy

DeWalt power tools arranged on a plain background

Save more than 45% on DeWalt power tools at Amazon right now

By Stan Horaczek

A mouse eating a morsel of food, a scene that would prompt many to wonder how to get rid of mice.

How to get rid of mice and keep them away

By Mary Beth Griggs

Hands on laptop typing.

How to find your IP address whenever you need it

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A person typing on a laptop and editing on photoshop.

5 AI-powered Photoshop tools to subtly—or dramatically—alter your images

Box of iHealth COVID rapid tests being distributed at a school before the US COVID public health emergency ended

Your guide to COVID testing for the unforeseeable future

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

Screenshot of MusicBrainz Picard sorting a music album.

Use MusicBrainz Picard to organize your sloppy music collection

A black Apple TV 4K box on a black surface next to an Apple TV remote.

14 crisp tips for your Apple TV box