Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 50)

Neolithic burial pit
Archaeology

Electrical workers uncover 5,000-year-old burial pits in Germany

A 105-mile-long powerline project continues to reveal haunting Neolithic secrets.

a painting with cool pastel colors and with visible snake scales
Wildlife

This painting uses leather from an invasive Burmese python

‘By virtue of collecting my work, you are becoming an activist, whether you like it or not.’

Duluth Trading Co. Buck Naked boxer briefs
Gear

Get $80 worth of Duluth Trading Co. underwear for just $38.91—including big and tall sizes

The clearance price stacks with a buy-3-get-1-free deal to bring the price down to an all-time-low. Plus, grab some T-shirts while they last.

Close up of three wasps
Renewables

Radioactive wasp nest found at former nuclear weapons site

‘I’m mad as a hornet.’

X-ray scan of two pieces of luggage showing densely packed electronics, wires, and personal items in vivid colors.
Aviation

What do TSA bag scanners actually see?

Airport X-ray imaging can detect all sorts of threats, along with the water bottle you forgot to trash.

Long, horizontal streaks of spider lightning below the base of a storm cloud in the Arizona desert in 2008.
Weather

A record-breaking lightning bolt just ‘shocked’ meteorologists

The ultra-rare megaflash traveled 515 miles in October 2017.

Three photos of early hominin and primate skulls
Evolution

Human teeth evolved to fit our diet

Before better teeth, there were tougher snacks.

Illustrations of Ice Age mummy tattoo restorations
Archaeology

Tattoo artists and scientists resurrect a 2,000-year-old mummy’s ink

The Pazyryk people of Siberia's Altai Mountains loved their body art.

red tomatoes on a vine next to some yellow potatoes and peaches
Agriculture

How the tomato created the potato

The starchy staple evolved from the tomato about 9 million years ago.

a truck flying through the air in the desert
Vehicles

These hand-built suspensions are made to fly in the desert

Using special suspension elements made to bolt on to stock vehicles, a California-based company is making off-roaders more comfortable and capable. 

The Perseid meteor shower is seen over the Ulanbum grassland in Chifeng city, Inner Mongolia, China, on August 14, 2023.
Space

August stargazing: The Perseids, a ‘big fish,’ celestial conjunctions, and more

Summer's last meteor shower peaks towards the middle of this month.

Aerial view of the idyllic Fteri Beach by the crystal sea, Kefalonia, Ionian Islands, Greece
Science

The beach wasn’t always a vacation destination. For the ancient Greeks, it was a scary place.

Greek literature emphasizes the intense smell of seaweed and sea brine.

orange and white apple watch ultras on a plain background
Smartwatches

Amazon has a rare deal on the Apple Watch Ultra 2 Titanium for a limited time

The fanciest Apple Watch in the lineup offers the best health and fitness tracking on the market at the moment.

Loch Ness monster sculpture in lake with googly eyes
Biology

The Loch Ness Monster’s body is a ‘zoological impossibility’

But that may be good for Nessie true believers.

The U.S. Space Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Mission Seven successfully landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, March 7, 2025. The X-37B landed at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California, to exercise the service's ability to recover the spaceplane across multiple sites. (U.S. Space Force courtesy photo)
Air Force

Space Force schedules the next mission for its secret robot plane

The X-37B will launch into orbit on August 21.

an suv on a dirt road
Vehicles

How Audi tweaked its turbo geometry

Vented turbo technology has been around in different forms for a long time, but Audi just upped the ante. 

Artist's ilustration of the largest gamma-ray burst every observed
Black Holes

The brightest explosion ever seen is still baffling astronomers

The gamma-ray burst is nicknamed the Brightest of All Time, or BOAT.

a scientist holds a large, reddish-purple sea star with 24 legs
Ocean

Meet the 24-armed sea star, a kelp forest’s bodyguard

More sunflower sea stars could help protect a vital ecosystem from ravenous urchins.

Conceptual mindful black and white portraits
Health

Transhumanism should focus on inequality, not living forever

Instead of trying to extend the lives of a privileged few, we should invest in improving the lives of all people today.

TORONTO, CANADA - 2024/11/23: Dice used for the Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) game. (Photo by Roberto Machado Noa/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week

Research on Dungeons and Dragons is booming—and it seems like it’s great for your brain 

Plus the peeing habits of swimmers and other weird things we learned this week.