Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 276)

Eating spicy food probably won’t hurt you in the long run
Nutrition

Eating spicy food probably won’t hurt you in the long run

More people than ever are consuming spicy foods, including extreme pepper varieties.

Red fall foliage on three-leaf sumac in Great Sand Dunes National Park
Environment

11 fiery shots of fall foliage around the US

Peep these photos and start planning your next road trip.

The metal capsule containing asteroid samples of Bennu.
NASA

NASA’s first asteroid-return sample is a goldmine of life-sustaining materials

Early analysis of space rock Bennu reveals the stuff is an 'astrobiologist's dream.'

monitor displaying a traffic intersection
AI

A new Google AI project wants to improve the timing of traffic lights

Data from Maps can show where drivers are getting stuck.

Sweet potato, brown eggs, and corn in a husk on a stove. Traces of sweet potato, peanut, chili peppers, papaya, and more were found in coprolite samples from Puerto Rico.
Archaeology

Mummified poop reveals a diverse ancient Caribbean diet

Sweet potatoes, papayas, and maize were all on the menu.

Parker Solar Probe in front of sun concept art
Engineering

The fastest ever human-made object keeps breaking its own speed record

At top speed, NASA's Parker Solar Probe could zoom from NYC to LA in just 20 seconds.

This new infrared image of NGC 346 from NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope’s Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) traces emission from cool gas and dust. In this image blue represents silicates and sooty chemical molecules known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs. More diffuse red emission shines from warm dust heated by the brightest and most massive stars in the heart of the region. Bright patches and filaments mark areas with abundant numbers of protostars.
Space Telescope

Star-making hot spot looks like a glowing raven in new JWST image

This new infrared image of NGC 346 traces emissions from cool gas and dust.

A person tweezing their own armpit hair.
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week

Ancient Romans tweezed their armpits until they screamed

Plus other weird things we learned this week.

Two US Coast Guard officials handling remains of OceanGate Titan submersible
Engineering

What the US Coast Guard found on their last OceanGate Titan salvage mission

The 22-foot-long vessel suffered an implosion en route to the Titanic in June.

A WiFi router on a table against a gray wall, behind a plant.
Tech Hacks

How to give more WiFi to the devices that need it the most

When you need top WiFi speeds, you can give some gadgets a VIP pass.

Grazer looking chunky and getting ready for winter on September 14, 2023. The bear is in the river intensely staring for salmon.
Bears

Fierce mama Grazer takes 2023’s Fat Bear Week crown

'It was the year of the sow.'

Centenarian blood tests give hints of the secrets to longevity
Diseases

Centenarian blood tests give hints of the secrets to longevity

Those who made it to their hundredth birthday tended to have lower levels of glucose, creatinine and uric acid.

Person cooking whole pumpkin and roasting pumpkin seeds to get pumpkin health benefits
Nutrition

Why you should be eating more pumpkin this fall

Don't miss out on the healthy benefits of this gourd-geous season.

This compact robotic tank is designed to shoot down drones
Weapons

This compact robotic tank is designed to shoot down drones

It weighs 10 tons and its purpose is to provide short-range air defense.

This image shows many looping and overlapping orbits encircling the Sun, all of different colors (to differentiate between asteroids). The center of the image – representing an area within the orbit of Jupiter – is very densely packed with orbits, while the outer edges remain clearer, showing the background plane of the Milky Way.
Solar System

A mission to map the universe unveils star clusters, asteroids, and tricks of gravity

The ESA's Gaia star surveyor marks its 10th birthday this December.

Disney’s new bipedal robot could have waddled out of a cartoon
Robots

Disney’s new bipedal robot could have waddled out of a cartoon

Its only job (for now) is to be absolutely adorable.

Human hand bones during an archaeological dig.
Evolution

Sensitive to pain? It could be your Neanderthal gene variants.

Studying them could lead to a greater understanding of chronic pain.

An orange ring around the dark moon eclipsing the sun.
Moons

We can predict solar eclipses to the second. Here’s how.

Astronomers have made maps for eclipses hundreds of years into the future.

An Apple TV 4K box with a remote next to it, both on a black reflective surface.
Tech Hacks

Your Apple TV 4K is secretly good for video games

Get your favorite iPhone and iPad games on the big screen.

An underwater closeup of Cayo margarita (a new species) in the coral reef of the Florida Keys. Note the two long tentacles, used by the snail to spread the mucus net for feeding.
Ocean

New neon-yellow snail from the Florida Keys gets a happy hour-ready name

Wastin’ away again with a margarita snail.