Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 272)

There's a new way to control your Apple Watch.
Tech Hacks

How to use Double Tap to control your Apple Watch without touching it

The Apple Watch 9 and Apple Watch Ultra 2 have a cool new trick.

Birds flying past wind turbines at sunrise
Energy

How wind turbines could coexist peacefully with bats and birds

As wind power grows around the world, so does the threat the turbines pose to wildlife. From simple fixes to high-tech solutions, new approaches can help.

Four of the best wired security systems are sliced together against a white background.
Cameras

The best wired security cameras

Today’s wired security cameras are capable, versatile, convenient, and comprehensive.

Side by side of 3D printed robot hand gripping pen and bottle
Engineering

This 3D-printed soft robotic hand has ‘bones,’ ‘ligaments,’ and ‘tendons’

3D-printed designs are usually limited to fast-drying polymers, but a new method enables wild, soft robotic possibilities.

A bioluminescent sea cucumber called Scotoplanes or the “sea pig.”
Ocean

Surprise! These sea cucumbers glow

Scientists found that 10 species of these deep-sea dwelling invertebrates are actually bioluminescent.

Four of the best spark plugs are sliced together against a white background.
Gear

The best spark plugs

Switch out a set of old, worn spark plugs to improve your engine's efficiency.

Research paper examples of AI and human faces against blurry crowd background
AI

Some people think white AI-generated faces look more real than photographs

At least to other white people, thanks to what researchers are dubbing ‘AI hyperealism.’

A piping plover walks along L Street Beach in South Boston. The bird is small, with white and grey plummage.
Birds

Piping plovers are in trouble, but there’s some good news

In Massachusetts, breeding pairs have increased 500 percent since the mid-1980's, but the threatened, tiny shore birds still have a long way to go.

The best clip-on guitar tuners
Gear

The best clip-on guitar tuners

Need to keep your acoustic and electric instruments performance-ready at a steady clip? One of these guitar tuner can prove instrumental.

Storm coming in over farm field
Global Warming

Google DeepMind’s AI forecasting is outperforming the ‘gold standard’ model

GraphCast's 10-day weather predictions reveal how meteorology may benefit from AI and machine learning.

Four of the best flashlights on a plain background
Home

The best flashlights

Don’t get caught out in the dark without a flashlight that illuminates the way.

UNCOVER z-13 and UNCOVER z-12 are the second and fourth most distant galaxy ever observed. The James Webb Space Telescope’s Near-Infrared Camera (NIRCam) helped confirm their existence within Pandora’s Cluster (Abell 2744). They are shown here as near-infrared wavelengths of light that have been translated to visible-light colors.
Space Telescope

JWST spots two of the most distant galaxies astronomers have ever seen

The data on UNCOVER z-13 and UNCOVER z-12 helps support the Big Bang theory.

NASA ISS toolbag floating away above Earth
Technology

This tool bag is floating in space

ISS astronauts lost the crew lock bag during a seven-hour spacewalk. Thankfully, it only contained tethers and tool sockets.

A top row of red Craftman cordless drills, a second row of screwdrivers by Klein Tools, a third row of circular saws by DeWalt, and a fourth row of the Ryobi Multi Tool.
Gift Guides

The best gifts for DIYers

Treat the person in your life who has a way with tools.

Attenborough's long-beaked echidna, photographed by a camera trap.
Land

Elusive egg-laying mammal caught on camera for the first time

Rediscovered after 60 years, the funky critter is named for Sir David Attenborough and is one of only five species of monotreme remaining on Earth.

Space Telescope with visible-light data from NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. The resulting wavelength coverage, from 0.4 to 5 microns, reveals a vivid landscape of galaxies whose colors give clues to galaxy distances: The bluest galaxies are relatively nearby and often show intense star formation, as best detected by Hubble, while the redder galaxies tend to be more distant, or else contain copious amount of dust, as detected by JWST.
Space Telescope

‘Christmas tree’ galaxy shines in new image from Hubble and JWST

The colorful galaxy clusters are about 4.3 billion light-years away.

Three rows of the best gifts for cyclists, with the Wahoo indoor trainer on top, followed by a Garmin bike light, and a Kryptonite bike lock.
Fitness Gear

The best gifts for cyclists from Garmin, Wahoo, Peloton, and more

Switching gears to holiday shopping and not sure what to get the cyclist in your life? Cruise through our spin on the best bike-centric gifts.

A lateral view of Loncovilius carlsbergi. It is a six-limbed beetle less than an inch long, with two antennae protruding from its head.
Insects

These newfound beetles have male genitals shaped like a bottle opener

Loncovilius carlsbergi is found living on flowers in South America and not on the floor of a bar.

Ozempic weight loss drug injectable on red background
Diabetes

The unintended side effects of popular weight loss drugs

Know what you're in for before taking the risk.

It’s time to start counting spiders
Insects

It’s time to start counting spiders

Arachnophobia is pretty bad, but disappearing spiders are much scarier.