Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 532)

the Mars Ascent Vehicle
Mars

This miniature rocket could be the first NASA craft launched from Mars

Lockheed Martin will build the vehicle, which should only be about 10 feet tall. Eventually, NASA wants to literally throw it into the Martian atmosphere.

phone on desk charging wirelessly
Tech Hacks

Is a wireless charger better? Here’s how to decide.

Charge your gadgets up the right way.

A black bear in the woods.
Bears

A 500-pound black bear keeps breaking into California homes. What’s next?

The large bear associates neighborhoods with easy access to food.

Orange Jelly Belly beans arranged in rows for molding at the factory in Fairfield, California
Technology

Inside the technicolor factory where Jelly Belly makes its beans

Jelly Belly has mastered making flavors so real they can confound the senses.

US vaccine card with Johnson & Johnson dose written in
Vaccines

Will the world run out of COVID vaccines?

A Johnson & Johnson plant has temporarily halted vaccine production, but alternatives are piling up.

Department of Energy employee with long brown hair, green sweater, and lab goggles holding a pipette over a white basin full of algae
Climate Change

The cost of algae-based biofuel is still too high

How far can a few drops of algae oil go?

duolingo haitian course promo ad miami
Technology

How Duolingo added Haitian Creole to its language library

Peek inside how the app designs new language experiences.

E.O. Wilson in his Harvard evolutionary biology office in a black and white photo
Evolution

A closer look at E.O. Wilson’s archives reveals support for racist research

Wilson’s papers at the Library of Congress include correspondence with a psychologist who exalted racial stereotypes.

Man in blue shirt writing math onto a black chalk board.
Science

Your brain uses different neurons to add and subtract

Researchers in Germany used electrodes to observe peoples' brain activity while solving math problems.

Merging white dwarf stars can create a new kind of star.
Physics

Rare ‘upside-down stars’ are shrouded in the remains of cannibalized suns

A rare type of star probably forms when two stars spiral around each other and smash together.

A park with tree canopy and benches in the fall.
Sustainability

Urban green spaces can’t beat climate change on their own

It takes more than a patch of green to make a city sustainable.

Why Volvo will start ‘mega-casting’ its new electric vehicles
Electric Vehicles

Why Volvo will start ‘mega-casting’ its new electric vehicles

It could be an important way to simplify the process of building future EVs in Sweden.

a nascar tire
Vehicles

Everything new on Nascar’s ‘Next Gen’ vehicles

Bigger wheels, a new modular chassis, and more. The Next Gen cars pack in a lot of changes.

Perseverance Mars rover with a camera lens takes a picture of itself on a red dusty planet
Mars

Happy Mars-iversary, Perseverance

A look back on some of the rover’s best moments over this last Earth year.

A child standing in front of a TV, watching a show or a movie.
Tech Hacks

How to stream your personal video collection to any device

It’s like your own DIY streaming service.

How electronic warfare could factor into the Russia-Ukraine crisis
Weapons

How electronic warfare could factor into the Russia-Ukraine crisis

Russia could carry out electronic warfare as part of an invasion. Here's what to know about this invisible kind of military technology.

An atomic clock at the National Institute of Standards and Technology's JILA.
Physics

The most precise atomic clocks ever are proving Einstein right—again

One of the atomic clocks can track time to within one second over 300 billion years.

Spotify Car Thing review
Audio

Spotify Car Thing review: Touch and go

Spotify wants to take over all screens, just like every other app on your phone. Maybe it doesn't need to?

A polymer sheet is suspended on a holey grid. The super strong material can be used in buildings, cars, and cell phone devices.
Technology

This new material is as strong as steel—but lighter

A new polymer synthesis mechanism opens doors to transform common plastics into membrane form.

a bald eagle perched on a branch
Pollution

Eagles face another major threat in the US: lead poisoning

A survey of more than 1,000 bald and golden eagles highlights a drastic increase in poisoning linked to lead-based ammunition.