Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 387)

Solar flare shooting out from left side of the sun seen in ultraviolet blue through NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory
Sun

Hold onto your satellites: The sun is about to get a lot stormier

Solar activity could increase as the sun reaches its maximum electromagnetic phase in 2025.

Camels and sharks have small, sneaky antibodies that can help fight human diseases
Cancer

Camels and sharks have small, sneaky antibodies that can help fight human diseases

Scientists hope to harness them as treatments for ills from cancer to COVID.

Bird control pills, IUD, ring, and other hormonal birth control options illustrated in pink, purple, blue.
Medicine

Where is all the hormone-free birth control?

As male birth control continues to be tested, people are asking for more female-focused research, too.

A person using Shapr3D to design a nightstand on an iPad.
Tech Hacks

Shapr3D can make woodworking easier—here are 5 tips to get started

Computer-aided design (CAD) programs like Shapr3D can really level up your DIY.

A pine tree in Clark County, Washington damaged by the 2021 heat wave. The trees in the background are scorched Douglas-fir.
Land

Even the cool forests of the Pacific Northwest face the danger of extreme heat

Drought can stress trees to death, but heat’s effects are less known. New research could hold the keys to protecting conifer forests.

A man wearing sunglasses and a blue plaid shirt sitting in a dark room using an Apple Macbook laptop.
Tech Hacks

How to check if your computer has been tampered with

There are some easy ways to tell if someone has been using your computer.

the FTC
Social Media

The FTC is trying to get more tech-savvy

The agency is beefing up its tech team and forming an Office of Technology. Here's what the new department will do.

Light pollution is erasing the stars in the sky—here’s why we should care
Space

Light pollution is erasing the stars in the sky—here’s why we should care

The loss of dark skies affects both scientists and everyday people.

A vocal amplification patch could help stroke patients and first responders
Engineering

A vocal amplification patch could help stroke patients and first responders

The device is only 25 micrometers thick and painless.

Traffic jam on city highway
Vehicles

Here are the world’s worst and best car commutes, ranked

If you love driving, Oklahoma City may be the place for you.

Two University of Colorado Boulder scientists in jackets carrying a log with a tumpstrap and their heads
Environment

Scientists may have solved an old Puebloan mystery by strapping giant logs to their foreheads

A simple head strap could explain how the ancient people of Chaco Canyon moved hundreds of pounds of timber down mountains.

The best pressure cookers will help you get dinner on the table fast.
Appliances

The best pressure cookers

Pull together a nourishing meal in minutes.

A scientist holds up a tooth recovered from an archaeological dig in Denmark.
Diseases

Scientists tracked the plague’s journey through Denmark using really old teeth

Hundreds of samples of teeth can tell scientists about disease spread in medieval Scandinavia.

Close up to a screen showing the home page of ChatGPT
Tech Hacks

6 ways ChatGPT is actually useful right now

Cheating on your essays isn't one of them.

A commercial airplane at taxxing at an airport in soft sunlight.
COVID-19

Airplane toilets are a surprisingly good place to track COVID outbreaks

CDC researchers found the virus in 81 percent of wastewater samples from long haul flights last year.

google's quantum processor
Engineering

How Google plans to fix quantum computing’s accuracy problem

Although the accuracy rate only improved by a small percent, the company claims it's a "big step forward."

Purple sea urchins clumped together in an urchin barren.
Ocean

These urchin-eating sea stars might be helping us reduce carbon levels

The 24-armed sunflower sea star is not a picky eater, which may makes it crucial to restoring kelp forests.

A solar canopy installed above parked cars, as seen from the air.
Energy

Why your community’s next solar panel project should be above a parking lot

They paved paradise? Then put up a solar canopy.

What ancient tsunamis can teach us about future disasters
Weather

What ancient tsunamis can teach us about future disasters

Gigantic tsunamis have been decimating coastlines since time immemorial. We ignore these prehistoric warnings at our own peril.

U-2 spy plane balloon selfie
Air Force

The real star of this aerial selfie isn’t the balloon—it’s the U-2 spy plane

Let's take a close look at the U-2, a high-flying spy plane whose pilot wears a space suit.