Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 14)

observatory under milky way
Aviation

5 incredible aerospace breakthroughs in 2025

Kirkjufellsfoss, Iceland
Environment

22 breathtaking images from the 2025 Landscape Photographer of the Year awards

The vibrant magnificence of Earth.

E-scooter on fire in safety demonstration video from CPSC
Engineering

Cozy up (safely) to an e-scooter’s lithium battery yule log

The Consumer Product Safety Commission spreads holiday advice with unique PSAs.

Ace Hardware Craftsman tool deal
Home

Ace Hardware has Craftsman power tools for clearance prices right now

Don't rely on Santa to get the power tools you want. Grab them from Ace Hardware for deep discounts and get that to-do list done.

Cropped shot of an unrecognizable man washing his hands in the kitchen sink at home
Health

Ditch the antibacterial soap this cold and flu season

You still need to wash your hands with soap and warm water though.

An overhead view shows a group of diverse hands, with varying skin tones, arranged in a circle against a plain white background. The palms are open and facing upward, with some hands overlapping, creating a sense of unity and community. Some individuals wear rings or a beaded bracelet, and the sleeves of various shirts—plaid, denim, and solid colors—are visible at the edges of the frame.
Evolution

Why do we have five fingers and toes?

It all goes back to our fishy ancestors.

Bokksu snack box subscription
Gear

Ultimate procrastinator’s gift guide: 62 digital and subscription gifts you can buy instantly from your phone

It's too late to get a gift shipped and shopping in-store is a nightmare. Grab one of these thoughtful digital or subscription gifts instead.

Two women stocking up on sunscreen with their remaining 2025 FSA funds
Fitness Gear

How to spend your remaining FSA balance before it expires

The money you put in a Flexible Spending Account is yours, but it’s not yours to keep. Here are some practical and surprising ways to spend it before it’s gone.

An uncut glasses lens held up by a lab technician
Wearables

Inside the labs where glasses are redesigned for a hyper-visual world

I went to EssilorLuxottica’s Paris facilities to learn how the digital age is reshaping eyes and redefining eyewear.

three Lamborghinis driving
Hybrid Cars

Lamborghini’s new hybrid supercar includes a three-level drift mode and three axial flux motors

The supercar pulls out the stops with a screaming 10,000 revolutions per minute at the redline.

Pair of African penguin chicks
Birds

Newborn African penguin named after a hot dog

The critically endangered chicks, Oscar and Duffy, were born at a New Jersey aquarium.

A cluster of stars inside a large nebula. The clouds of gas and dust are predominantly bright red in colour and wispy, akin to flames. They are clumped in the bottom-left corner. Other clouds, deeper in the cluster behind many of the stars, appear pale pink. The stars are concentrated in the top half of the image and are mostly small, bright white and six-pointed. They cast blue light over the nebula. Other stars with very long spikes surrounding them lie in the foreground.
Space Telescope

James Webb and Hubble Space Telescopes snap images of same nebula, 10 years apart

The two images of Westerlund 2 show just how far the technology has come.

two astronauts share a holiday meal on the ISS
International Space Station

9 festive ISS holiday celebrations through the years

Crews living 250 miles above the Earth still keep the holiday spirit alive.

a firefly glowing on a black background
Cancer

‘Hope in a bottle’ for a deadly cancer and the firefly gene that lit the way

The first FDA-approved treatment for an incurable brain cancer gives the gift of time.

a butterfly with blue wings with black spots
Endangered Species

9 new butterflies discovered in old museum archives

The team even extracted DNA from a tiny 100-year-old butterfly leg.

a close up of a turtle with its head in its shell
Wildlife

Butt breathing and 5 other ways animals stay warm in winter

Blue crabs burrow, wood frogs freeze, and other cold weather survival strategies.

The book "Raising AI" by De Kai serves as an essential guide for parenting our future, exploring the profound responsibilities of nurturing artificial intelligence. The cover features a minimalist, metallic silver aesthetic that mirrors the clinical yet evolving nature of technology. In contrast to this futuristic outlook, the image of a weathered vintage tin robot—with its wide-eyed, staring expression and rusted edges—highlights the human-centric "mirage" of ethical AI, reminding us of the mechanical origins and imperfect projections we cast upon our digital creations.
AI

Chasing the Mirage of “Ethical” AI

Isaac Asimov’s “Handbook of Robotics” imagined simple rules for machine morality. But reality is a maze of contradictions, biases, and blind spots.

a robot floating
International Space Station

Lost in space: How ’digital twins’ saved NASA’s robots 

Navigation algorithms designed for Earth fail in orbit. A new approach fixes the drift.

files
Tech Hacks

How to recover your deleted files

Background of close up lettuce leaves. Top view
Food Safety

Why does lettuce go bad so quickly?

Our new study has the answer.