Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 441)

Seemingly happy person listening to music on earbuds
Tech Hacks

Social media posts are better with music. Here’s how to add your favorite tunes.

Spread some tunes out to your friends and family.

El Nino 2023 signs on NASA weather satellite data on higher Pacific Ocean temperatures and water levels, marked by red around the equator
Ocean

El Niño is back—here’s what that means

Are you prepared for a wet, hot El Niño summer?

NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover captured this mosaic of an isolated hill nicknamed “Pinestand.” Scientists think sedimentary layers stacked on top of one another here could have been formed by a deep, fast-moving river
Mars

Mars rover snaps pics of dusty craters that may have once roared with water

NASA’s ‘six-wheeled scientist’ is chugging along.

A newly hatched California condor.
Birds

Thriving baby California condor is a ray of hope for the unique species

The happy, healthy hatchling is great news for an already vulnerable population facing a deadly bird flu pandemic.

The Kraken
Air Force

A new NASA study will put people through a brain-shaking ride in the Kraken

Test subjects will spend an hour in a giant machine called the Disorientation Research Device. Here's why.

AI therapists might not actually help your mental health
AI

AI therapists might not actually help your mental health

There are good reasons to be cautious in the face of this marketing juggernaut.

Close-up of children's diapers stacked in a piles
Engineering

Dirty diapers could be recycled into cheap, sturdy concrete

Diapers are a scourge on landfills. Mixing them into buildings' concrete frames could dramatically reduce that problem.

Sun setting behind an high voltage power line transformer
Engineering

This summer could push US energy grids to their limits

A new assessment shows that most of the US may not possess enough energy reserves to handle seasonal heatwaves, severe storms, and hurricanes.

An older couple shares a kiss against a backdrop of fall trees.
Archaeology

Ancient Mesopotamian texts show when and why humans first kissed

Clay tablets from Mesopotamia depict two kinds of smooches: kisses of respect and more intimate locked lips.

A rendering of the newly discovered Protathlitis cinctorrensis near coastal areas where it lived during the Cretaceous Period.
Dinosaurs

A giant new spinosaur species has been unearthed in Spain

Meet Protathlitis cinctorrensis, a 32- to 36-foot-long Cretaceous 'champion.'

Wendy's chain restaurant at night.
Engineering

Wendy’s wants underground robots to deliver food to your car

The concept is similar to a pneumatic tube system.

A kitchen counter with a tray of drying seed bombs, a bowl with a mixture of powdered clay and potting mix, and two seed packets for rosemary and lavender.
Projects

Make your own seed bombs to garden on the go

Spread precious greenery and biodiversity throughout your community.

A supermassive black hole with a mass many times that of our sun.
Black Holes

A gassy black hole might have burped out the largest cosmic explosion ever

This fault in the stars lit up the universe with extraordinary brightness.

Ryobi power tools on a white background
Home

Get two Ryobi batteries and a free power tool for $99 right now at Home Depot

Get anything from an impact driver to a $189 belt sander completely free.

TikTok brand logo on the screen of Apple iPhone on top of laptop keyboard
Social Media

Montana is the first state to ‘ban’ TikTok, but it’s complicated

The law is scheduled to go into effect next year, although it remains unclear how it could actually be enforced.

An aerial view of a desert kite in the Jebel az-Zilliyat region of Saudi Arabia. The kite dates back to the Stone Age and was a kind of hunting trap.
Archaeology

Blueprints engraved in stone from Saudi Arabia and Jordan could be the world’s oldest

The nearly 8,000-year-old plans helped ancient people build massive places to herd and slaughter animals.

Siler collingwoodi is a colorful, ant-mimicking spider found in China and Japan.
Spiders

This spider pretends to be an ant, but not well enough to avoid being eaten

Not all predators are so easily fooled.

A MacBook sitting next to an iPad used as a second screen.
Tech Hacks

You should use your iPad as a second screen

Take your an extra display everywhere you go.

Glowing outline of a fictitious dinosaur in Arches National Park to symbolize missing fossils in deserts. Illustration.
Dinosaurs

The ghosts of the dinosaurs we may never discover

We've barely scratched the surface of the fossil record. What are paleontologists still missing?

Steel production electric furnace
Renewables

Steel built the Rust Belt. Green steel could help rebuild it.

Steel manufactured using hydrogen and powered by renewable energy could drastically reduce carbon emissions and employ a well-paid, industrial workforce.