Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 186)

Concept art of Neom Stadium in Saudi Arabia
Engineering

Saudi Arabia wants to top its linear city with a sci-fi soccer stadium

The nation's FIFA 2034 World Cup bid book features some extremely wild architecture.

an illustration of a small penguin with light black, yellow, and white feathers on a new zealand beach
Animals

Tiny fossil reveals when penguins evolved their surprisingly useful wings

Pakudyptes hakataramea lived about 24 million years ago in present day New Zealand.

young person standing on scale
Health

Schools launched anti-obesity policies. Experts say they failed.

For years, evidence has grown that school BMI screenings aren’t helpful and can even be harmful. Why do they persist?

Close up of Screaming Woman mummy's face
Archaeology

‘Screaming woman’ may solve a 3,500-year-old mummy mystery

New scans may alter the definition of a 'good' mummification.

An artist’s reconstruction of Shishania aculeata as it would have appeared in life as viewed from the top, side and bottom (left to right). This early mollusk lived about 514 million years ago.
Animals

A ‘rotting little plastic bag’ was actually a 514 million-year-old fossil

This spiny slug may have been one of the first mollusks to crawl around Earth.

Close up view of a Taco Bell fast food bag inside of a car.
AI

AI is coming to a Taco Bell drive-thru near you

The announcement arrives barely a month after McDonald’s scrapped a similar, disastrous attempt.

This is an artist’s impression of a young star surrounded by a protoplanetary disk in which planets are forming.
Space

What happens when you don’t have enough ingredients to make a planet?

NASA scientists observe evidence of a 'metallicity cliff' for the first time.

a fruit fly intestine. it is a long and narrow coiled tube with green coloration from dye
Animals

Swapping genes can help fruit flies regenerate cells

They won't become Wolverine just yet.

A pair of tigers rescued from Joe Exotic’s G.W. Exotic Animal Park, popularized by Netflix’s “Tiger King,” relax at the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Keenesburg, Colorado.
Animals

After ‘Tiger King’: Are 20,000 big cats caged in the U.S.? Highly unlikely.

Statistics on captive lions, tigers, and more helped fundraise and pass new laws. The implications are under dispute.

a hand holding a remote in front of a TV playing a soccer match
Televisions

What is TV Refresh Rate? From 60Hz to 120Hz and beyond.

When it comes to TVs, smoothness is dictated by refresh rate, which can make a huge difference in the image quality of sports, video games, and movies. We’ll make sure that your screen’s image Hertz so good.

A rare visitor, a Mandarin Duck, showed up in Central Park, New York City in 2018.
Birds

Why are there so many birds?

New research finds traces of the dinosaur extinction in avian genomes.

Perceptive robot dental machine working on human patient
AI

Robot dentist can prep a tooth crown in 15 minutes

The makers envision 'fully automated dental healthcare.'

a plugged in smart phone on a table
Tech Hacks

You can (and should) stop charging your phone when it hits 80 percent

How to make sure your Android smartphone battery stays in good shape.

Apple AirPods Pro (2nd generation) earbuds in Times Square
Audio

Save up to 30% on Apple’s entire AirPods line—including our editors’ favorite

AirPods provide great sound and smooth user experience if you're a devout Apple user. They're on sale at Amazon—but not for long.

The best smart fridges of 2024 on a plain white background.
Appliances

The best smart refrigerators

Embrace the smart-home revolution by getting a modern network-friendly fridge that's connected and collected and cool in more ways than one.

Close up of woman in runner's stance on track
Fitness & Exercise

Olympians in super-spike shoes could shatter records

The controversial footwear can shave as much as 25 seconds off of a 10,000 meter race.

a lobster with blue, pink, and purple coloring on a white tray
Animals

One in 100 million cotton candy lobster caught in New Hampshire

The colorful crustacean was saved from the dinner plate.

Wound care and amputation in a Camponotus maculatus ant.
Space

Ants perform teeny tiny operations to save their injured comrades

meat and plant-based meat on a shelf at the grocery store
Environment

The culture war that stands in the way of plant-based meat

Public funding helped electric vehicles go mainstream. Are alternative proteins next—or are they too polarizing?

a meteor shower over tall evergreen trees
Science

August skygazing: First supermoon of 2024 and the Perseids meteor shower

A newly-discovered comet may also be visible with the naked eye soon. Or it could disintegrate.