Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 491)

These drones can avoid midair collisions by listening for other aircraft
Drones

These drones can avoid midair collisions by listening for other aircraft

Microphones and software will allow Zipline's flying machines to make quick decisions in the sky, if regulators give the system a green light.

Fabric carbon filter
Fossil Fuels

A protein-filled cotton sheet can filter carbon emissions

The same stuff in your favorite shirt could fight climate change.

person opening faucet with water flowing
Life Skills

PFAS are toxic and they’re everywhere. Here’s how to stay away from them.

It might be impossible to eliminate them completely, but you can certainly reduce your exposure.

A Butte, Montana resident worried about his town.
Pollution

Inside a Montana town’s fight against copper mine dust

Residents of a Butte neighborhood are concerned about what’s wafting from a nearby open-pit mine that can coat their homes and vehicles.

Russia’s mine-clearing robot has its safety limitations
Military

Russia’s mine-clearing robot has its safety limitations

Buried explosives pose a deadly threat to humans both during and after a conflict.

A black vacuum cleaner set against blue carpet, with its path a slightly darker, cleaner color than the rest of the floor.
Life Skills

The germiest places you might not be cleaning

What to scrub now that spring cleaning is done.

Resigella bilocularis is a single-celled foraminifera discovered in the Mariana Trench that contains magnetite, a material used by many species to sense magnetic fields.
Science

Meet the mysterious, magnetic microbes dwelling in the Mariana Trench

Closely studying these magnetic foraminifera could lead to new insights about the evolution of magnetic life.

A line of firefighters dig with hand tools to construct fireline in a forest.
Environment

What it really means for a wildfire to be ‘contained’

It's not about putting out all the flames.

air pollution over a city
Technology

You can now use Google Maps to find fresh air

Here’s how to use the new feature before heading out this summer.

Gold and green champagne bottle with cork popped and bubbles rushing out on a black background
Physics

Popping a champagne cork creates supersonic shockwaves

How fluid dynamics explain bubbly ballistics.

This new electric motorcycle is built for long-range adventures
Electric Vehicles

This new electric motorcycle is built for long-range adventures

Meet the Energica Experia, a 'green tourer' designed to cover impressive distances.

The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope will look for dark energy and matter.
Space Telescope

In NASA’s new video game, you are a telescope hunting for dark matter

Zip around the cosmos catching space objects in 'Roman Space Observer.'

A giant Hyundai cargo ship’s long haul in the Pacific was at least partly autonomous
Self Driving

A giant Hyundai cargo ship’s long haul in the Pacific was at least partly autonomous

Prism Courage travelled about half of its 20,000-kilometer journey with the autonomous system active.

a key on a black background
Internet

Apple’s passkeys could be better than passwords. Here’s how they’ll work.

Can a new system improve the way we sign into websites and apps?

FAST, a giant radio observatory, sensed an fast radio burst.
Space

Astronomers caught a potent radio burst blasting at us from a dwarf galaxy 3 billion light-years away

The origin of brief and super-energetic radio waves remains unknown.

Iceland topography from above
AI

Google Earth Engine is taking its closest look yet at how landscapes are changing

The Dynamic World project can provide details on how land use is affected by climate change and human activity.

Vaccination is one of the best ways to protect against COVID.
Science

Moderna is testing an Omicron-specific COVID vaccine. Here’s how it’s faring.

The vaccine maker is seeking to make the booster available later this summer.

NASA James Webb Space Telescope's primary mirror segments, shaped as hexagons and coated in gold, being inspected by an engineer prior to launch
Space Telescope

The James Webb Space Telescope survived its first collision

It definitely won't be its last.

Tidal turbine against cloudy sky.
Renewables

Tidal turbines put a new spin on the power of the ocean

This tech uses the changing tides to create reliable, renewable energy.

A person sitting at a light wooden desk in front of an Apple desktop computer, scrolling through Instagram on their iPhone.
Tech Hacks

How to craft an exquisite Instagram story collage

Make your stories stand out.