DIY (Page 25)

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

Latest in DIY

A bear sleeping, maybe after eating its fill of trash.

How to keep fat bears (and other bears) out of your trash

By Natalie Wallington

A person using their iPhone to take a photo of some food on a table.

Use your phone to identify plants, landmarks, and other mysterious objects

A bald man wearing headphones and a backpack in a crowded area, maybe a train station.

The easiest way to cue up calming sounds on your iPhone

By John Kennedy

A tablet with a stylus next to it, and the Netflix app on the screen.

How to keep track of what’s new on Netflix and what’s leaving

A person in a green shirt sitting in front of a computer while a person in a black shirt leans close over their shoulder.

How to use Apple’s new Mail Privacy Protection to fight email tracking

By John Kennedy

A large home in California being threatened by a wildfire on a distant mountain at night.

Can you really use foil to fireproof your house?

By Natalie Wallington

A person holding an iPhone in front of a window while having a FaceTime call with someone in a red sweatshirt.

How to share a FaceTime link with anyone, even an Android user

By John Kennedy

A room with white walls and a hardwood floor with a small lamp in the corner that's lighting the area around a blue armchair.

Lighting tricks that will make small rooms feel gigantic

Tortoise on the ground surrounded by plants

How to turn your garden into a tortoise sanctuary

By Natalie Wallington

Four-iPhone-with-iOS15

The 5 best new features in the iOS 15 update

iPhone with a lithium-ion battery charging on a cord on a Dr. Seuss book

Charge your lithium-ion battery devices for maximum longevity

A person wearing a denim jacket using a very full Google Calendar on an Apple desktop computer.

5 Google Calendar tricks to ensure you never miss a date

A woman sitting at the edge of an ornate park fountain, looking at a phone.

Everything you need to cure your smartphone addiction

North american porcupine sitting on the ground among wild flower

How to not get pricked by a North American porcupine

By Natalie Wallington

Hand holding a phone with Twitter open

Transform your Twitter timeline with these 11 features and add-ons

A person using a neck gaiter as a face mask.

All the ways a neck gaiter is a multifunctional wonder

By Harry Guinness

A person pouring a bunch of salt into a metal cooking pot on a gas stove.

Quick fixes for common cooking mistakes

By John Kennedy

A person with glasses and curly, shoulder-length hair holding a flower and smelling it with their eyes closed.

How to enhance your senses of smell and taste

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Person watching TV and eating popcorn in bed

How to create and curate your watchlists on any streaming platform

Person chopping vegetables and putting them in lunch boxes

A guide to easy, healthy school lunches that kids will eat

By Jean Levasseur

art illustration with vintage painting/sculpture

A complete guide on how to safely take, send, and store nudes

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Homemade marshmallows sprinkled with powdered sugar on a cutting board, next to a mug of hot chocolate with a marshmallow in it.

Can you handle these fat, fluffy DIY marshmallows? Let’s find out.

By Natalie Wallington

Person working on a Windows laptop

How to try Windows 11 without getting a new PC

Panis quadratus on a marble plate on a wooden table

Eat like an ancient Roman by recreating bread from Pompeii

By Alisha McDarris

Person turning off smartphone alarm as they wake up

Ditch your alarm and wake up to podcasts and relaxing sounds instead

A small, white one-story house with a blooming garden, under some large green trees.

Is your house safe? Use this checklist to find out.

By Jean Feingold

Bowl of chapulines

You should start eating bugs. Here’s how.

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

laptop on white desk with google chrome on display

You should add more search engines to Google Chrome

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

Three mason jars with homemade fabric dye and some dyed shirts inside them. From left to right: purple, orange, and pink.

Make natural fabric dye with vegetable scraps

By Natalie Wallington

A tiger swallowtail butterfly puddling and drinking water in a muddy area.

Butterflies drink more than nectar—here’s how to turn your yard into an oasis

By Kristine Nemec

Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo

Google vs. DuckDuckGo vs. Bing—is it time to switch your search engine?

hand holding iphone with duckduckgo app

Ditch Google for good with these apps and gadgets

Google Chrome Actions displayed on Apple Safari

Chrome Actions are the most useful browsing tool you’ve never heard of

A woman using an Apple Macbook laptop while another woman watches from nearby.

How to cover your tracks while you’re browsing the web

A refinished wooden side table with black iron legs, on a hardwood floor next to a pink armchair.

Upgrade your stooping game by learning how to refinish a table

By Shawn Shinneman

A carnivorous Mexican butterwort plant next to a non-carnivorous plant.

What killed my carnivorous plants?

By Ellen Airhart

Pot of melted chocolate

How to temper chocolate—even in hot weather

By Natalie Wallington

A person standing in a glass shower, washing their hair, with soap suds on the glass shower door.

How often should I shower?

By John Kennedy

Young child sitting at a table looking at a tablet

When to have the online-security talk with your kids

By Jean Levasseur

Person putting cloth face mask on a small child

How to sanitize a face mask safely and easily

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A bar cart with lined-up bottles of infused syrup.

Craft herbaceous homemade drinks with simple syrup infusions

By LaVonne Roberts

Person holding iPhone

Stop your streaming apps from eating all your data

An Android phone and an iPhone next to each other on a gray tile floor.

Make your Android and Apple devices work together

a man using an Apple Watch outside to use his smartphone less

Trying to use your smartphone less? Get a smartwatch.

By Harry Guinness

Did your hard drive crash? Here’s how to know if it’s safe to use again.

By Whitson Gordon

Person-working-on-desktop-computer

How to edit screenshots on any device

A person wearing a wide-brimmed hat sitting on some rocks high above a bright blue glacial lake in the mountians.

How to avoid camping with snakes, and other valuable outdoor lessons

By Noah Lederman

Make a custom rubber stamp to leave your mark on everything

By Natalie Wallington

An Apple Find My map displaying the location of David's iPhone.

How to find a lost phone

A person holding an iPhone and looking through the camera app at some tall buildings.

Your phone’s camera does so much more than take pictures

A blue recycling bin with a recycling symbol on it.

What do the numbers on plastic mean? And 3 other trashy questions, answered.

By Natalie Wallington

Hand holding iphone with facebook messenger on the screen

Learn to use Facebook Messenger’s new encryption option for group chats and calls

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

outdoors compositing pile with veggies

How to keep food, plastic, and fabric out of the landfill

By Jennifer Ball

View from inside a catio with white cat on a swing

Tips to build the safest, most purr-fect catio for your feline overlord

Screenshot of the home screen of an iPhone showing the messages app with one unread message.

How to save your text messages from disappearing when you get a new phone

A man snoring in a white bed, while a woman angrily holds a pillow over her ears next to him.

How to stop snoring and spread the gift of better sleep

By Whitson Gordon

A person speaking to a group of people who are sitting at a wooden table with laptops in front of them.

Exude power and confidence with better body language

By Natalie Wallington

A person looking through messages on their phone, maybe trying to find their group chats.

10 tips for making your group chats less terrible

Hands polishing fancy leather shoes on a fancy wooden table.

A complete guide to shining your fancy leather shoes

Hands holding phone using WhatsApp

How to get rid of the ‘forwarded’ label on WhatsApp

By Sandra Gutierrez G.

A person typing on a laptop.

How to unsubscribe from all your newsletters at once

A small child wearing floaties on their arms and waist while playing in the surf of a tropical beach.

How to help kids feel confident in the ocean

By Noah Lederman

The Château de Chambord in Chambord, France, which may not make a great memory palace.

A ‘memory palace’ is your secret tool for remembering information

By Natalie Wallington

Person using laptop running Windows 11

How to download and test Windows 11 before its official launch