DIY (Page 17)

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

Latest in DIY

A single large leaf, with some crinkly, brown edges that may be indicative of a nutrient deficiency.

What your houseplants’ yellowing leaves are dying to tell you

By Helen Bradshaw

Person working with laptop in front looking at phone

How to schedule emails on the go

sleeping cat face peeking from under bed covers

How to wake up when it’s still dark outside

By Whitson Gordon

bat eating fruit

Turn your backyard into an awesome hangout for bats

By Helen Bradshaw

person wearing headhphones

How to get white noise, brown noise, or even pink noise playing on your phone

person with laptop on their lap and credit card in hand

This spreadsheet trick will simplify your holiday shopping

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

coffin shaped wooden wedding card box on table

Build a beautiful wedding card box shaped like a coffin for some spooky storage

By Jean Levasseur

diy mechanical keyboard

Build a mechanical keyboard from scratch with 3D-printed components

By William Elcock

person holding phone

The best ways to select text on your phone and computer

person-riding-a-fully-loaded bike in the desert

How to ride off on your first bikepacking adventure

By Alisha McDarris

hand holding android phone showing dynamicspot app on the home screen

You can now bring iOS 16’s coolest home screen feature to Android

phone connected to computer over usb cable

How to create a file transfer hub between your computer and your Android phone

A woman lying on her stomach on a couch, looking at her phone, wearing headphones, and with her feet in the air.

The beginner’s guide to Substack’s new app

By John Kennedy

Three burgers getting cooked on a stainless steel pan while a hand with a spatula works with them

Use the Leidenfrost effect to make your stainless steel pan non-stick

wrist wearing apple watch

How to make your Apple Watch battery last longer

two hands holding us passports in a plaza in madrid spain

8 things you need to know before traveling international for the first time

By Harry Guinness

Young hiker backpacker woman using trekking poles enjoying the Nuptse 7861m mountain during high altitude Acclimatization walk. Everest Base Camp trekking route, Nepal.

Altitude sickness can ruin your hike. Here’s how to prevent it.

By Alisha McDarris

A person standing on a rock by the water under cloudy skies while looking at his phone—hopefully he has a good weather app.

The best weather apps you can put on your phone

screenshot of numi calculator for ios

Your computer’s calculator app stinks. Here are 4 better alternatives.

A young girl feeding a brown-and-white goat over a wire fence on a farm.

7 ways to support a kid who wants to care for animals

By Noah Lederman

screenshot of android battery settings

Stop Android from slowing down apps to save battery

A white camper van with curtains parked on a flat, open expanse of snow under blue skies, near some low mountains or hills.

Now’s the time to get your van-life ride ready for winter

screenshot of vertical sidebar on safari

How to organize your browser tabs vertically—and why you should do it

illustration of woman navigator

Voyagers made it to Hawaiʻi thousands of years ago with no compasses. Here’s how.

hand holding pot with lentils on camp stove

Expert tips for cooking gourmet meals on a camp stove

By Alisha McDarris

How to enjoy fall festivities during the COVID pandemic

By Rachael Zisk

Example of golden ratio in photography

Learn the golden rules of photography (before you break them)

By Harry Guinness/Popular Photography

A bald man wearing a dust respirator and earmuffs working in a woodshop and milling his own wood to make it straight.

Every woodworker should know how to mill their own boards

By Jean Levasseur

Screenshot of noisli platform

19 free online tools you’ll want to bookmark right now

Restroom sign with figures in a holding position

What to do when you’re trying not to poop

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A hard drive cloaked in shadow.

What various weird computer noises mean for your machine

By Whitson Gordon

Your smartphone camera has great hidden features—here’s how to find them

Your smartphone camera has great hidden features—here’s how to find them

By Jeff Carlson / Popular Photography

screenshots of the letterboxd mobile app

7 ways movie lovers can make the underrated Letterboxd feel like home

Best VPNs for multiple devices

The best VPNs for multiple devices

By Steven T. Wright

Person checking their phone and their laptop in a coffee house

How to see if someone has been snooping on your devices

Screenshot of google tv

How to ditch the default Google TV home screen and build something better

A young man standing among numerous houseplants and looking at his phone in front of a white wall with an acoustic guitar hung on it.

A bit of care can keep your houseplants from sheltering harmful mold

By Ellen Airhart

An iPhone iMessage conversation about basketball, with an incorrectly sent message to a romantic partner at the end.

7 tips and tricks to get more out of Apple’s newly updated Messages app

side by side comparison of dog photo with and without background

4 free apps that remove photo backgrounds with little fuss

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

new android 13 player

The new Android 13 features you need to be using

woodshop wall covered in hanging tools

3 reasons to join your local makerspace

By Jean Levasseur

A woman wearing white headphones playing League of Legends on a triple-monitor setup.

6 ways to fight back against motion sickness while gaming

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A black screen showing JavaScript code.

Work faster in Google Docs and Sheets by creating your own shortcuts

macos restart screen

How to stop apps from automatically launching when you start your computer

Serving Turkish coffee cup

How to enjoy the flavor, history, and science of Turkish coffee

By Alisha McDarris

two phones on desk one android one iphone

How to make Android look like iOS

A busy woman overwhelmed at work, holding her face in her hands in front of a Macbook laptop with some open notebooks around it.

6 apps and tools to help organize your life

Stop struggling with ‘inbox zero’ and just delete all your emails

TV in living room with netflix on screen

When should you use a TV over a monitor?

How to replace an old or clogged car radiator

How to replace an old or clogged car radiator

By Chris Rosales / The Drive

notebooks on yellow background

The Opt Out: School devices are sharing your family’s data, but you can stop them

By Karina Montoya

phone next to coffee cup on table showing the twitter app

11 Twitter bots that will make the most of your timeline

A person in a blue buttondown shirt using a Macbook laptop on a wooden desk with a plant and some books nearby.

Your inbox can do a lot more than just organize your email

expiration date on covid test

How to check if your at-home COVID test has expired

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

organized desktop

Teeny desk? Here’s how to make the most of it.

By Anthony Fordham

Person with earbuds and eyes closed

How to find music and videos with zero plays—and discover the next big thing

Out of focus magnifying glass lens hovering over DuckDuckGo search engine homepage

Anyone can now sign up for DuckDuckGo’s private email service

openemu showing nintendo game

Macs are better at video gaming (emulators) than PCs. Here’s how to set up yours.

Hand under a go pro camera hanging in the air

Get better video with these 7 GoPro tips and tricks

A person wearing a jean jacket and posting multiple photos to their Instagram story at once on an iPhon.

The fastest way to post multiple Instagram story pics at once

By John Kennedy

How to engineer the best sandcastle

How to engineer the best sandcastle

By Joseph Scalia / The Conversation

hands holding phone showing google maps in spanish

Android 13 lets you change the language in individual apps. Here’s how.

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A phone screen with the Kiwi Browser, Ecosia browser, Brave browser, and Firefox browser icons on the screen.

7 alternatives to your phone’s built-in web browser

What to know about polio boosters, oral vaccines, and your medical history records

What to know about polio boosters, oral vaccines, and your medical history records

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira