Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 494)

How old is Earth? The age depends on the formation of the moon.
Moons

How old is Earth? It’s a surprisingly tough question to answer.

To figure out our planet's age, scientists are looking to the moon.

Four people hiking through a snowy landscape, all very bundled up to prevent frostbite.
Life Skills

How to prevent, identify, and treat frostbite

Icy temperatures increase the risk of frostbite, so you'd better know what it looks like and how to handle it.

Stowaway mice carry DNA evidence of an ancient black market fur trade
Wildlife

Stowaway mice carry DNA evidence of an ancient black market fur trade

Historians have long suspected an illegal sealskin trade in the South Pacific, but few records exist.

A woman in a white long-sleeved shirt sitting in front of a Macbook laptop at a white table, looking at her Facebook News Feed, maybe thinking about cleaning it up.
Tech Hacks

7 ways to clean up your Facebook News Feed

More of what you want to see, less of what you don't.

movie set
Engineering

From film to forensics, here’s how lidar laser systems are helping us visualize the world

The technology is being applied in wacky and unexpected ways.

Plastic, pollution, and prescription drugs are making fish act erratically
Ocean

Plastic, pollution, and prescription drugs are making fish act erratically

Human waste may change how fish socialize or take risks, although the specifics are difficult to pinpoint.

Scenic orange sunset sky background
Technology

Mexico bans solar geoengineering tests after US startup’s unsanctioned ‘science project’

Cooling the planet with the controversial technology has been a hot topic for years.

SpaceX Falcon Heavy rocket launch with Space Force payload
Space X

SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy launches have been a slow burn—for an interesting reason

The massive rocket could rake in cash for even bigger SpaceX projects.

A glacier in Antarctica with water under it.
Environment

Meteorite hunters lug a 16.7-pound space rock from Antarctic ice

Turns out, a frozen desert is a great place to hunt for meteoric debris.

Screen-showing-winamp-media-player
Tech Hacks

3 ways to recreate the Winamp look and feel on your favorite devices

Three alternatives to go back to the golden days of the early internet.

Nuclear shelter basement sign on brick building to represent survival tips for a nuclear blast
Physics

The best—and worst—places to shelter after a nuclear blast

Avoid windows, doors, and long hallways at all costs.

Silhouette of three business executives in high rise conference room
AI

CEOs are already using ChatGPT to write their emails

Attendees of the World Economic Forum's Davos summit openly admit to using the AI for speeches and emails.

A starry night sky over a populated area with lights.
Space

‘Skyglow’ is rapidly diminishing our nightly views of the stars

Citizen scientists from around the world show the rapid growth of light pollution in only 11 years.

A juvenile North American red squirrel in a tree in the Yukon, Canada
Wildlife

Squirrels gamble, too—but with their genes

Betting on babies can have short term losses, but long term gains.

Websites selling abortion pills are sharing sensitive data with Google
Medicine

Websites selling abortion pills are sharing sensitive data with Google

Some sites selling abortion pills use technology that shares information with third parties like Google. Law enforcement can potentially use this data to prosecute people.

A laptop computer with Wikipedia on its screen.
Internet

For the first time in a decade, Wikipedia is getting a makeover

Here's what's changing.

Rows of desktop computers in computer lab
AI

Building ChatGPT’s AI content filters devastated workers’ mental health, according to new report

Ensuring the popular chatbot remained inoffensive came at a cost.

A group of oyster mushrooms growing.
Biology

Oyster mushrooms release nerve gas to kill worms before eviscerating them

We eat this fungus. But first, it eats nematodes.

two people holding hands
Mental Health

Gender-affirming hormones can improve teens’ mental health and life satisfaction

The research is one of the longest studies to study the psychological effects of gender-affirming care.

Boston Dynamics Atlas bipedal robot tossing toolbag up to human on construction scaffolding in warehouse
Robots

Boston Dynamics’s bipedal robots can throw heavy objects now

Atlas is one step closer to being a real world Transformer.