Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 39)

woman wiht '21 grams'
Health

One man’s obsessive quest to weigh the human soul

The 21 grams experiment continues to fascinate us a century later.

messages app
Tech Hacks

There’s a helpful translation tool hidden in your iPhone Messages

Brush up your language skills while texting.

Several leaf cutter ants carrying leaves on wooden log.
Insects

The crazy nests built by leaf-cutter ants

Turrets and tunnels and carbon dioxide—oh my! These ants farm, but they are also master builders.

a man dries a gray playstation console with a blue towel
Engineering

Tinkerer transforms a filthy 1990s PlayStation into the ‘ultimate PS1’

USB-C charging, 1080p resolution, SD card game loading, and a wireless controller brings the throwback console into the 21st century.

a bright red bird with a long beak
Birds

Hawaiian forest birds are stealing each other’s twigs

Kleptoparasitism is a risky crime sweeping the islands' forests.

Text message chat speech bubbles covering the face of woman with eyeglasses
Mental Health

Stop asking AI for life advice

Recent studies confirm that you're better off finding a human therapist.

REI bags on sale header
Outdoor Gear

REI has more than 50 hiking bags, backpacks, and travel bags on sale for clearance prices right now

Save up to 50% off of bags from The North Face, Gregory, Osprey, NEMO, Herschel, and more. They're all trail-tested and ready to hold your GORP.

Hand holds vintage photograph of young boy riding a plastic toy horse with pile of old photos in background.
Ask Us Anything

Why don’t we remember being babies?

Yet we never forget how to ride a bike.

Close up of woman holding EpiPen Launcher
Engineering

Woman builds EpiPen cannon, because why not?

It’s not the most efficient way to deliver the life-saving medicine, but it’s definitely the most entertaining.

Aerial view of Perge stadium from ancient Rome
Archaeology

‘Doors to Death’ reveal how Romans upgraded a stadium for bloodsport

The ruins in present-day Turkey tell a grisly tale of wild animals eating prisoners.

The Artemis II crew—(clockwise from left) Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover—pause for a group photo with their zero gravity indicator “Rise,” inside the Orion spacecraft on their way home on April 7, 2026.
NASA

From crying to dentistry: 6 odd skills astronauts need to go to space

Everything is more complicated in space, from toilet vacuums to tech support.

a flower with red petals and a large pole-like center growing in a tropical forest
Biology

Rare rotting-flesh smelling flower blooming at a Massachusetts college

Are corpse flowers like ‘Pangy’ dangerous? Are they endangered? We have answers.

car parked on street
Vehicles

How Audi’s electromechanical progressive steering works

The new A6 sedan is fast, so stable handling is critical. 

A wide-angle landscape photograph shows a lone hiker standing on the extreme edge of a sheer granite cliff, overlooking a vast mountain valley. The hiker is dwarfed by the massive, rugged rock formations and the deep, evergreen-covered canyon below. The distant mountains are shrouded in a light blue haze under a clear, bright sky, emphasizing the immense scale and potential danger of the high-altitude wilderness.
Ask Us Anything

Someone dies in a national park. Now what?

From “hasty searches” to helicopter extractions, rangers often face a difficult mission to recover remains.

Kindness makes the world a better place
Mental Health

The grief myth: It doesn’t come in stages or follow a checklist

Like love, it endures.

A stack of torture-tested Velociti stacks, well, stacked on a table in the Under Armour innovations lab
Outdoor Gear

I did a speedrun through Under Armour’s innovation labs to learn how a marathon supershoe crosses the finish line

a black bear cub up in a tree and looking directly at the camera
Bears

Litter of 5 bear cubs spotted in Connecticut for the first time

About 1,000 to 1,200 black bears call the Nutmeg State home.

Video screenshot of simulated hydrocarbon ocean on Titan. The waves are very pronounced
Moons

Saturn’s largest moon could see 10-foot waves from a tiny breeze

Surf's up, Titan.

Lagunitas Teams Up with Pinter to Bring Iconic Beers to Home Brewers’ Hands
Home

The Pinter countertop home brewing machine can now automatically make super popular Lagunitas beer at home

Pinter's brew-and-tap appliance cuts out most of what makes home brewing hard. The company's new Lagunitas collaboration puts a real craft recipe into that simplified system.

a guide dog helps a woman with a cane navigate a train
AI

Robots can’t replace guide dogs

Man’s best friend shares an ‘invisible care world’ with humans that AI can’t beat—yet.