Science

Science spans our understanding of how Earth and the cosmos work. Get the biggest news on biology, physics, space, dinosaurs, and more—along with the latest episodes of the Ask Us Anything and Weirdest Thing podcasts.

Latest in Science

NASA evolved structure spacecraft part
Technology

NASA is using AI to help design lighter parts

By Andrew Paul

The bow of the RMS Titanic, almost 12,500 feet under the ocean.
Science

Watch never-before-seen footage of the Titanic shipwreck from the 1980s

By Laura Baisas

A large group of red and orange jellyfish floating in blue water.
Health

A jellyfish sting treatment that actually works

By Sara Chodosh

A European hedgehog on a road with a yellow flower.
Environment

Why Danish citizen scientists were on a quest to find the oldest European hedgehog

By Laura Baisas

A mother chimpanzee with her offspring, which she may teach her style of handclasping.
Environment

Popular chimpanzees set hand-holding trends for the whole group

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

screenshot of the monty python silly walk
Science

The Monty Python ‘silly walk’ could replace your gym workout

By Popular Science Team

Studying fighter pilot physiology could help us understand astronaut brains
Health

Studying fighter pilot physiology could help us understand astronaut brains

By Laura Baisas

Singapore’s new plan to fight mosquito-borne diseases: bug-infecting bacteria
Science

Singapore’s new plan to fight mosquito-borne diseases: bug-infecting bacteria

By Marta Zaraska / Undark

A woma pythron, a large, nocturnal species of snake on the ground by a piece of wood.
Environment

Snakes can actually hear really well

By Laura Baisas

An airplane taking off toward the camera at dusk, with lights along the runway and on the front of the plane, against a cloudy reddish sunset.
Technology

Let’s talk about how planes fly

By Rob Verger

An artist’s impression of two theropod species discovered by scientists at the University of Southampton in 2021, Ceratosuchops inferodios and Riparovenator milnerae.
Science

What was going on inside of this spinosaur’s brain?

By Laura Baisas

A Eurasian lynch perches in a fallen tree in a forest.
Environment

The endangered Eurasian lynx might never recover fully in France

By Laura Baisas

An image captured by the James Webb Space Telescope of stars and galaxies surrounding spiral galaxy LEDA 2046648.
Science

JWST’s latest new galaxy discoveries mirror the Milky Way

By Laura Baisas

Lion's mane mushrooms on a table.
Science

Lion’s mane mushroom shows promise in boosting brain cell growth

By Laura Baisas

Silhouette of bird in front of full moon
Science

Volunteer astronomers bring wonders of the universe into prisons

By Briley Lewis

Fossil hippo skeleton and associated Oldowan artifacts at the Nyayanga site in July 2016.
Science

2.9 million-year-old tools found in Kenya stir up a ‘fascinating whodunnit’

By Laura Baisas

The planet Saturn on a dark background. Two smudgy spokes are seen in the B ring (left). The shape and shading of spokes can appear light or dark, depending on the viewing angle, and sometimes appear more like blobs than classic radial spoke shapes, as seen here.
Science

Hubble telescope spies Saturn’s rings in ‘spoke season’

By Laura Baisas

An open-celled cloud formation west of Chile.
Science

IBM’s AI has a new job: sorting through NASA’s giant stream of Earth and weather images

By Briley Lewis

Antarctic fieldwork may finally reckon with sexual harassment claims
Science

Antarctic fieldwork may finally reckon with sexual harassment claims

By Christian Elliott / Undark

The ring system around dwarf planet Quaoar.
Science

Distant dwarf planet Quaoar shouldn’t have a ring, but it does

By Jon Kelvey

A woman in a field observes a plant.
Environment

Citizen science is another great form of nature therapy

By Laura Baisas

Two giraffes on a sunny day with one looking directly at the viewer.
Environment

Why giraffe sex is a tall order and hinges on pee

By Laura Baisas

Light reflecting sky into sand as water
Science

The secret to mirages has surprisingly little to do with your brain

By Julia Craven

Moondust could chill out our overheated Earth, some scientists predict
Science

Moondust could chill out our overheated Earth, some scientists predict

By Rahul Rao

Two orca whales swim in the ocean with mountains in the distance.
Environment

Raising male offspring comes at a high price for orca mothers

By Laura Baisas

In the latest State of the Union, Biden highlights infrastructure, chips, and healthcare
Science

In the latest State of the Union, Biden highlights infrastructure, chips, and healthcare

By Laura Baisas

Ruins of Linlithgow Castle, near Edinburgh, Scotland, the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots.
Science

Codebreakers have finally deciphered the lost letters of Mary, Queen of Scots

By Laura Baisas

The secrets to fighting the next pandemic could be in fruit bats
Environment

The secrets to fighting the next pandemic could be in fruit bats

By Jim Robbins / KHN

A beefsteak fungus growing in a forest.
Environment

Bacteria and fungi are the first to start rebuilding charred forests

By Laura Baisas

Kansas City Chiefs celebrating their Super Bowl LIV victory by pouring Gatorade on head coach Andy Reid
Science

How much sweat will come out of the Super Bowl? We did the math.

By Erin Blakemore

An uncooked brown crab sitting among among seaweed and water.
Science

Neanderthals caught and cooked crabs 90,000 years ago

By Laura Baisas

The ISS as imaged by astronauts in the Soyuz capsule.
Science

The ISS is the best place for an astronaut to get stuck in space

By Briley Lewis

Human population on Mars depicted in a SpaceX Mars colony rendition.
Science

Would Earth laws apply to Mars colonists?

By Sarah Fecht

Jupiter and its four planet-size moons, called the Galilean satellites, were first photographed in early March 1979 by Voyager 1 and assembled into this collage. They are not to scale but are in their relative positions.
Science

Astronomers find 12 more moons orbiting Jupiter

By Laura Baisas

Super Bowl-qualifying Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts throws a perfect football spiral
Science

Throwing the perfect football spiral is a feat in science

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A wolf-like puppy surrounded by other puppies tries howling.
Environment

Do domesticated dogs howl back at wolves?

By Laura Baisas

This aerial view shows residents helped by bulldozers, searching for victims and survivors in the rubble of collapsed buildings, following an earthquake in the town of Sarmada in the countryside of the northwestern Syrian Idlib province, early on February 6, 2023.
Science

Rescue underway after deadly earthquake hits Turkey and Syria

By Laura Baisas

A blonde person leaning over to water a potted houseplant near a window.
DIY

How to water your plants less but still keep them happy

By Ellen Airhart

The Venturi Antarctica electric vehicle pulls a sledge through the snow
Technology

This Antarctic EV goes where other electric vehicles can’t tread

By Jack Izzo

A scan of a mastodon skeleton with an arrow pointing to the trajectory of the spear.
Environment

Ancient humans used mastodon bones to hunt the giant beasts

By Laura Baisas

Marcoule Nuclear Power Plant in France. Workers in protective gear heating glowing nuclear reactor.
Science

Why shooting cosmic rays at nuclear reactors is actually a good idea

By Rahul Rao

A debris shield floats in space outside the International Space Station.
Science

Say hello to the Commerce Department’s new space traffic-cop program

By Jon Kelvey

The Earth's atmosphere from the ISS, with the moon in the background, showing clearly defined layers between the planet and space, where the Karman line separates the two.
Science

Where does Earth end and space begin? The Karman line is only one answer.

By Eva Botkin-Kowacki

A fossilized fish brain alongside of a penny for size comparison.
Science

Scientists find 319-million-year-old fossilized fish brain

By Laura Baisas

a colorful illustration of ancient egyptians wearing robes embalming a dead body with wrappings and chemicals
Science

This is the best look yet into ancient Egyptians’ mummy-making chemicals

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

tube sponges in a coral reef
Science

A sea sponge’s sneeze lasts a very, very long time

By Popular Science Team

Two giant, circular ground telescopes with an overlay of a starry night sky.
Science

Cosmic cartographers release a more accurate map of the universe’s matter

By Laura Baisas

DARPA wants to push the boundaries of where satellites can fly
Technology

DARPA wants to push the boundaries of where satellites can fly

By Kelsey D. Atherton

OTC NASA Satellite Earth Station Carnarvon Western Australia
Technology

A college student built an AI to help look for alien radio signals

By Andrew Paul

ancient-style illustration of poseidon and workers building seawall
Science

Inside the project to bring ‘self-healing’ Roman concrete to American shorelines

By Ben Guarino

It’s in the rules to play dirty in this new soil-themed board game
Environment

It’s in the rules to play dirty in this new soil-themed board game

By Zayna Syed

A dolphin breaching near a fisherman standing in the water in Laguna, Brazil.
Environment

When humans and dolphins fish together, they both win

By Laura Baisas

A pink wave curs in the Pacific Ocean.
Environment

Gnarly pink waves crash near San Diego

By Laura Baisas

A green tailed comet streaks across the night sky.
Science

Here’s what to look for in the night sky this February

By Laura Baisas

Hale Telescope at Palomar Observatory in California at night was the first to discover the C/2022 E3 (ZTF) comet
Science

A green comet is visiting us from the edge of the solar system, and astronomers are thrilled

By Jon Kelvey

The racist history behind using biology in criminology
Science

The racist history behind using biology in criminology

By Michael Schulson/Undark

Chilis in a bowl against a black background, perfect for a spicy hot sauce recipe.
DIY

Experiment with spice by making this homemade hot sauce

By Jack Izzo

Two small prairie voles.
Environment

These fuzzy burrowers don’t need oxytocin to fall in love

By Laura Baisas

Earth’s natural air-scrubbing system works better when it’s wetter
Science

Earth’s natural air-scrubbing system works better when it’s wetter

By Rahul Rao

Am ancient Egyptian statue of a person with short hair from a recently discovered burial site.
Science

A gold-laced mummy could be the ‘oldest and most complete’ specimen found in Egypt

By Laura Baisas

Brown cat and white cat fighting and playing in a sunny room
Environment

Fun or feud? These are the tell-tail signs that a catfight has gone sour.

By Jocelyn Solis-Moreira

A seaweed farm underwater near an island in Indonesia.
Environment

Why seaweed farming could be the next big thing in sustainability

By Laura Baisas

Two T. rex dinosaurs cuddling in bed after sex. Illustration in pink, purple, and gray.
Science

Scientists are still banging out theories about how dinosaurs had sex

By Riley Black

NASA aims to fly its experimental electric plane this year
Technology

NASA aims to fly its experimental electric plane this year

By Rob Verger

Explore Science