Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 157)

Microwave Oven close up shot. microwave is open with 57 seconds on clock
Life Skills

You need to clean your microwave more often. Here’s how.

Seriously, wipe off last week's microwaved soup.

By Debbie Wolfe

Sensors spread throughout the garden will measure the garden soil for changes in temperature, moisture, and other environmental factors.
AI

AI helps plants tell you when they are thirsty

England’s Royal Horticultural Society will use Microsoft-powered AI to help create an 'intelligent garden' visitors can speak with.

By Mack DeGeurin

A tiny home made using the nacelle casing from a wind turbine
Renewables

Recycled wind turbines may one day become tiny homes and floating playgrounds

Futuristic concepts give new life to retired nacelle casings and turbine blades.

By Andrew Paul

a 900 year old skeleton
Archaeology

Tooth powder unlocks clues to an 800-year-old mystery of man thrown into well

New genetic analysis of Norway's 'Well-man' sheds light on an important Norse saga.

By Laura Baisas

a rider in a headless horseman costume rides by yellow fall leaves
Animals

The Headless Horseman shares her secrets

To ride like the famous ghost, it takes confidence, some help from evolution, and 'bomb proofing.'

By Laura Baisas

There is an economic argument for building out America’s public EV charging infrastructure.
Electric Vehicles

Public EV chargers are good for the planet. They’re also good for business.

Research shows that businesses with charging stations nearby see an economic boost.

By Tik Root/Grist

Jumping carp disrupt recreational boating and other water-based activities.
Pollution

Chicago’s dirty water may be keeping invasive species at bay

New experimental evidence suggests destructive, ‘jumping’ silver carp are deterred by Chicago-area water pollution.

By Lauren Leffer

The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) says the first illness linked to the contaminated Quarter Pounders was reported in September.
Food Safety

Why McDonald’s E. coli outbreak could be a sign of more to come

2024 has been a rough year for food safety.

By Mack DeGeurin

Tardigrades were exposed to heavy doses of gamma rays—high-energy photons that are one form of ionizing radiation—and researchers then studied how their systems responded.
Biology

Researchers start to unravel the secrets of tardigrade radiation resilience

They can survive doses 1,000 times higher than we can.

By Tom Hawking

A nearly 15-foot-long Burmese python devours a 77-pound deer in Florida.
Wildlife

Burmese pythons stretch their mouths even wider than we thought possible

‘Watching an invasive apex predator swallow a full-sized deer in front of you is something that you will never forget.'

By Andrew Paul

a man wearing a NASA hat aboard the International Space Station squirts ketchup into his mouth. the ketchup comes out in one long stream
NASA

See (and never unsee) a NASA astronaut eating ketchup in space

It includes a 'ketchup castle' on his chin.

By Laura Baisas

The first few hundred digits of the prime number M136279841
Science

Man spent $2 million to find new largest prime number

M136279841 is over 41 million digits.

By Andrew Paul

two pink flamingoes. both are standing on one leg
Health

How long can you stand on one leg? What it says about your health.

Our ability to balance decreases as we age.

By Laura Baisas

Neither candidate has talked much about space policy on the campaign trail, but both have records to consider.
Space

How Harris and Trump differ on space policy

An international affairs expert examines where the presidential candidates' records differ when it comes to the final frontier.

By Thomas G. Roberts / The Conversation

FastRig wing-sail deployed on cargo ship at dock
Engineering

A nuclear waste tanker ship is testing a 65-foot-tall wing-sail

'FastRig' could help dirty cargo vessels cut shipping emissions by as much as one-third

By Andrew Paul

dark woods with fog
Health

Corrupt government officials, illness among the biggest fears of 2024

'This year, all of our Top 10 fears were expressed by more than half of Americans.’

By Laura Baisas

'Electro-agriculture' prototype.
Agriculture

‘Electro-agriculture’ may help plants grow in the dark

The process is more efficient than photosynthesis, but it requires electricity.

By Tom Hawking

a black hole with orange and blue light swirling around it. two other objects, a large orange circle and a smaller bright orange star orbit around it
Black Holes

First ‘black hole triple’ may have formed in a surprisingly gentle way

New discovery questions if all black holes come from violent explosions.

By Laura Baisas

Jeff VanderMeer next to book cover for Absolution
Science Fiction

Jeff VanderMeer talks about his new novel and ‘deranged court jester’ Elon Musk

'Absolution' takes us back to Area X.

By Andrew Paul

Mattoon Daily Journal-Gazette headlines as they appeared on the front-page.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week

The ‘Mad Gasser of Mattoon’ is one of history’s most bizarre unsolved mysteries

Plus other weird things we learned this week.

By Popular Science Staff