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A new three-year study shows students learn mathematics faster and more effectively when their real desktops are more like multi-user virtual desktops.

A new report takes an in-depth dive into citizen science. Enlisting non-scientists, the researchers say, could revolutionize how we collect data.

Or maybe an aerial drone. The LA Auto Show's annual Design Challenge suggests the patrol car of the future is optionally manned, self-driving, and armed with autonomous robots.

How do we know the sun is moving into the most active part of its 11-year cycle? For starters, we can plainly see it.

A so-called "bed bug pill" has been in the news. Is it for real?

The PopSci staff will be out of the office the rest of this week so we can spend some time with our families. (We'll miss you, too.) In the meantime, enjoy our favorite posts from this week.

Tips on making Turkey Beer and other highly questionable holiday brews

A mixture of plain water, nanoparticles, and sunlight can convert water into steam without ever even bringing it to a boil

Kappa And b could be a super-Jupiter, or it could be a brown dwarf--the exoplanet orbiting a nearby star is so big scientists aren't quite sure what to call it.

"One for the history books," says Curiosity's chief investigator

The Great Twinkie Panic of 2012 seems to be over, but we were worried. Is it possible, in case of need, to craft scientifically authentic Twinkies at home?

Infrasonic sound can have very unusual non-auditory effects on the body. But does it kill?

Remotely operated excavators for mining in the abyss

A cross-species approach to studying well-being shows that these crises may be biologically built in.

Scientists in the UK injected dogs with cells grown from the lining of their noses, which continually regenerates.

It’s tough to hit a moving rocket with a moving rocket. Here’s how Israel’s new domestic missile defense system is doing it with unprecedented accuracy.

A Stanford geneticist says humans have so many genetic mutations that we're less intelligent than our ancestors, and it's getting worse. Eugenicists 100 years ago had similar hypotheses.

Envisat captures a beautiful palette (and not much else) in North Africa's 'Mountains of Hunger.'

Astronauts can only travel so far in existing space suits. What will it take to see the universe?