Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 1366)

Back when the U.S. and its allies fought enemies who had technological parity, or even superiority, an airplane engine was almost the undoing of England.

This test plane for ultra-stealthy technology flew many times in total "black project" secrecy. Bill Sweetman analyzes the machine -- and the unveiling.

To an insect, air is as thick as oil. Michael Dickinson pursues the sticky question of how these creatures maneuver so flawlessly. The answers could spawn tiny new flying machines.

It's huge, it's green--and it may even happen.

Old tech & new materials intricately combined for insane speed: the ingenuity of the top fuel dragster.

New databases and digital techniques are broadening the kinds of evidence available to the crime scene investigator.

Lives often hang on Palenik's precise identification of a fiber or fleck of metal. In his workday, there's no room for error.

If you cheat on your spouse, you can't yet plead biochemistry in divorce court. But rodent-brain research sheds light on why some lovers stay, some stray.

Visionaries insist we'll soon be hailing small jets and zipping directly to our destinations. Will the plan fly?

The answer is probably not what you want to hear.

It's an ultrafast killing machine with bleeding-edge aerodynamics. Not a pet.

The White House backs a remarkable boost in space-based war technology. Here's the blueprint.

Genetics: The moistness of your earwax is controlled by a single gene—and that may be more important than you think.

The polygraph, though used in hiring, marital disputes, and possibly even anti-terror investigations, is flawed. Now scientists are looking deep within the brain to devise ways to detect deception at its source.

Inventors long promised that a cheap, easy-to-fly helicopter was nigh. Can Woody Norris finally bring one to market?

Attention: Hollywood, Wall Street & Washington. Here's the real Power List, and you're not on it.

To maintain accuracy and realism, producers of the film sought out military and government officials to advise them.

You can buy a MiG if you have the jack, but a Czech trainer is the jet to love.

The Goal: Computers millions of times faster. The research into single-molecule transistors, DNA strands, and quantum effects provides tantalizing clues.

Players love the tech, but pro and amateur organizations can hardly keep up with the new materials and radical designs that have rewired and sometimes hot-wired sports.