Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 308)

pen and quill
AI

Google’s latest AI trick is to make you a custom poem inspired by famous art

All you have to do is pick a style, an inspiration, and a key phrase.

Japanese bullet train leaving station at dawn
Engineering

Texas could get a 205-mph bullet train zipping between Houston and Dallas

The proposed electric railway line could travel 240 miles in under 90 minutes for over 6 million passengers per year.

Keep your pooch warm and safe in one of the best dog houses.
Home

The best dog houses

You can make a sizable difference in your pet’s comfort and security when you pick one of the best houses for man's best friend.

The white Boeing Starliner capsule above a blue Earth.
NASA

Boeing’s struggling Starliner craft won’t fly astronauts until at least 2024

After billions of dollars spent and multiple problems identified, the crew capsule still isn’t ready for people.

Green high density laser array
Technology

Colorado is getting a state-of-the-art laser fusion facility

The $150 million project aims to help advance nuclear fusion energy research alongside other physics goals.

A male peacock displaying his signature blue and green plumage.
Birds

Miami suburb turns to vasectomies to solve its peacock problem

Most residents are hoping for peaceful coexistence with their colorful feathered neighbors.

Virgin Galactic VSS Unity spacecraft orbiting Earth
Technology

Virgin Galactic’s second commercial flight sent three tourists to space’s edge

The 'VSS Unity' carried the first mother-daughter astronaut duo and first former Olympian to suborbital space.

An artist’s impression of the planet Beta Pictoris b orbiting its star.
Exoplanets

Watch 17 years of an exoplanet’s journey in only 10 seconds

Beta Pictoris b is about 12 times the size of gas giant Jupiter.

Maxar satellite imagery on August 9, 2023 showing total destruction of the Lahaina square and outlets after the Lahaina Wildfire, with one building still actively burning.
Climate Change

Hurricane-powered wildfires sweep across Maui

Drought conditions and 85 mph winds fan the flames that have killed at least 36 people.

This communications company is a lifeline for far-flung operators
Engineering

This communications company is a lifeline for far-flung operators

A firm called Everywhere offers a way for workers in extremely remote settings to stay in touch.

A notebook with Spanish verb conjugations, written probably in the process of learning two languages simultaneously
Life Skills

You should learn two languages at once

Deciding between two languages to learn? Why not both?

Hands passing out blue medical masks.
COVID-19

What to know about the newly dominant ‘Eris’ COVID variant

This version of the coronavirus, a descendant of Omicron, may stick around through the winter.

Grilled vegan hamburger
Global Warming

Plant-based meat was supposed to change the world—what happened?

A few years ago, Impossible and Beyond burgers were all the rage. Now, the industry may have to reinvent itself.

a silverado ev pickup with power lines in the background
Electric Vehicles

GM is making more of their EVs into backup power banks

Homeowners who want to keep the lights on during a power failure are getting additional options.

Nvidia's GH200 chip
AI

A new chip can power the billions of calculations the AI age requires

Here's what's coming from Nvidia's upgraded GPUs.

A man is looking in a glass case of coprolites collected in Nong Yakong village, Chaiyaphum Province, Thailand.
Wildlife

Rare parasites found in 200 million-year-old reptile poop

Even ancient aquatic predators can't avoid the occasional pest.

Microscopic image of individual cell tattooed with gold array
Technology

Why medical engineers tattooed a single cell with gold

The tiny tattoos could one day help monitor health at the cellular level.

taxidermied two-headed goat kid
Evolution

Life after death never looked so beautiful

Nature plays tricks on us all the time—taxidermy gives Divya Anantharaman a way to play back.

Zoom app icon of smartphone home screen
AI

Zoom could be using your ‘content’ to train its AI

Though the video conferencing company adjusted its terms of service after public backlash, privacy experts worry it is not enough.

Maya Tilousi, member of the Hopi Tribe, Havasupai Tribe of Grand Canyon, and the Cheyanne and Arapaho Tribes, shakes hands with President Joe Biden at Red Butte Airfield, 25 miles south of Tusayan, Arizona, on August 8, 2023. Biden announced he is putting the brakes on uranium mining around the Grand Canyon and willl give an area of nearly one million acres national monument status.
Land

Nearly 1 million acres of land near the Grand Canyon is now a national monument

'Preserving these lands is good not only for Arizona, but for the planet.'