Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 153)

a glacier hiker climbs in the foreground with a headlamp as a rainbow colored aurora dances above
Space

11 sensational images from the Northern Lights Photographer of the Year awards

The celestial light show dazzled in 2024.

Image from the “Flows” series, by the visual poet Andrew Topel, 2021. This poem was made by fitting a text to undulating computer-generated geometries.
AI

The living history and surprising diversity of computer-generated text

Selections from "Output," an anthology showcasing seven decades of English-language machine-generated texts, long predating ChatGPT.

Modern eco home illustration. Building modern design. Energy conservation and wind turbine. Flat vector linear illustration. Tree and bushes. Trendy line style vector.
Home

6 easy ways to make your home more sustainable

You don’t have to tear it all down and start again to make your home more environmentally-friendly.

Stonehenge in Wiltshire of the Great Britain. It is a prehistoric monument, in Wiltshire in South West England. It is under protection of UNESCO.
Archaeology

Archeologists think they solved a 4,500-year-old Stonehenge mystery

Stonehenge may have served as a community-building DIY project.

PC top view. Hands of user. Modern desktop computer with keyboard and mouse. Personal computer screen top view. Wireless input devices. Vector illustration in flat style
Tech Hacks

How to add Google Drive to your computer (and why you should)

Get to your cloud storage files more quickly on Windows or macOS.

A participant in the Volvo x Bowers & Wilkins Abbey Road Studio Mode launch experiments with the interface in an EX90 EV SUV.
Speakers

How Volvo, Bowers & Wilkins, and Abbey Road are widening the lanes of in-car audio

I went to London to learn about digitizing Abbey Road Studios' iconic sonic legacy and translating that atmosphere to a flagship EV SUV.

Close up of phone screen showing Telegram, Signal, and WhatsApp icons
Internet

Dept. of Homeland Security urges Americans to use encrypted apps for texting

China’s Salt Typhoon operation may be the ‘worst telecom hack in our nation’s history.’

a strange fish with a blob on its head sits on a rock
Land

27 new, exciting, and blobby species discovered in the Peruvian rainforest

Scientists are still not sure exactly what this fish’s blob does.

Snowcat car in a snow ski resort.
Weather

The science of ski grooming

The corduroy pattern isn't decorative.

health insurance claims form
Health

5 of the most frustrating health insurer tactics and why they exist

Many patients face significant upfront costs to getting health care.

Furbo dog cameras arranged in a pattern
Gear

The Furbo pet camera and pet dispenser is 55% off and still arrives before Christmas if you order now

This rotating camera provides a 360-degree view of your space and can dispense treats to keep your dog happy when you're not home.

A drone, bluetooth speaker, rumpl blanket, kindle arranged in a pattern
Gift Guides

The Popular Science Holiday Gift Guide

Two mastodon teeth found in Orange County, New York
Science

Man discovers giant mastodon jaw in his backyard

It's the first one found in New York state in 11 years.

An artistic representation of an active centaur like Chiron. The different colors in the coma indicate varying compositions of gas, ice, and dust.
Solar System

An ‘oddball’ asteroid-comet hybrid dates back 4.6 billion years

New JWST data helps explain these celestial centaurs.

google street view of possible crime
Technology

Google Street View helps catch suspect of a grisly crime

The image captured the moment a suspect loaded a large, lumpy, white bag into the trunk of a car.

Hands typing on keyboard
AI

Charter school is replacing teachers with AI

‘Imagine starting a school and declaring, ‘We won’t have any academic teachers.’ We did exactly that!’

The first image depicts star cluster NGC 602 in vibrant and festive colors. The cluster includes a giant dust cloud ring, shown in greens, yellows, blues, and oranges. The green hues and feathery edges of the ring cloud create the appearance of a wreath made of evergreen boughs. Hints of red representing X-rays provide shading, highlighting layers within the wreath-like ring cloud. The image is aglow with specks and dots of colorful, festive light, in blues, golds, whites, oranges, and reds. These lights represent stars within the cluster. Some of the lights gleam with diffraction spikes, while others emit a warm, diffuse glow. Upon closer inspection, many of the glowing specks have spiraling arms, indicating that they are, in fact, distant galaxies.
Mars

Happy holidays from space!

A cosmic wreath, astronauts in Santa hats, and Martian snow.

The long finger sticking out of the Sun at the bottom left of this image is a coronal mass ejection. It was captured by NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory on August 31, 2012.
Sun

Does the Sun make noise?

In space, no one can hear you beam.

Thomas Worth’s 1872 illustration for the Household Edition of The Old Curiosity Shop highlights her grandfather’s grief at losing Little Nell.
Health

How infectious diseases killed Victorian children at alarming rates

Their novels highlight the fragility of public health today.

A Sombrero ground lizard (Pholidoscelis corvinus) photographed on Sombrero Island in June 2021. This species is endemic to the Carribbean island.
Land

Population of nearly extinct lizard grows 16X in only six years

'This is a remarkable turnaround for this cheeky and charismatic lizard.’