Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 537)

Screenshot of Walmart Land metaverse setting in Roblox video game
Internet

Welcome to Walmart Land, the retail giant’s attempt at entering the metaverse

This week, Walmart announced two Roblox regions to explore.

meta's AI text to video generator
AI

Meta is pivoting to video with its new AI generator

Make-A-Video takes its best shot at making a short clip around prompts like "a dog wearing a superhero outfit with red cape flying through the sky.”

New cars sold in New York state must be zero-emissions by 2035
Electric Vehicles

New cars sold in New York state must be zero-emissions by 2035

The decision comes about a month after a similar mandate was announced by California.

Hurricane Ian Category 1 Carolina coast satellite image
Ocean

Hurricane Ian surges back and heads for the Carolinas

Florida and Cuba are still reeling from the hurricane's damages; South Carolina is in a state of emergency.

An AI called Dragonfly is helping design faster-charging batteries
Electric Vehicles

An AI called Dragonfly is helping design faster-charging batteries

A robotics system called Clio is key, too.

The moon rises above NASA's space center in Florida.
Moons

The moon’s microscopic glass beads tell the story of asteroids hitting Earth

Some spheres of lunar glass may have formed at the same time an asteroid killed Earth's dinos.

Bitcoin is so energy-intensive some companies are locating mining sites on oil wells.
Climate Change

Bitcoin’s steep environmental costs go beyond its hunger for energy

Bitcoin's climate impact rivals that of beef or crude oil, according to a new analysis.

Melting sea ice is acidifying the Arctic Ocean
Ocean

Melting sea ice is acidifying the Arctic Ocean

More carbon in the air means more acid in the seas.

Plastic trash on a beach.
Science

Recycling one of the planet’s trickiest plastics just got a little easier

The commonly used plastic, polyethylene, can take hundreds of years to decompose.

Amazon associate on laptop in breakroom
Internet

Amazon to offer instant pay to workers and more loans to sellers

Amazon joins Walmart in a retailer race to enter the personal banking market.

Category 4 Hurricane Ian hits Florida, bringing historic storm surge
Global Warming

Category 4 Hurricane Ian hits Florida, bringing historic storm surge

Dangerous conditions will continue as the storm moves north.

depiction of dna as library bookshelves
DARPA

Can these government efforts crack the code for DNA storage?

The intelligence community is funding research into storing our ever-expanding troves of data in DNA. Their efforts could change how everything from our photos to Google searches get saved.

Hurricane Ian flooding in Fort Myers, Forida, seen from above
Weather

What hurricane categories mean, and why we use them

Does the Saffir-Simpson scale hold up to the intense hurricanes we see today?

In the depths of this Idaho lake, the US Navy is testing out its submarine tech
Navy

In the depths of this Idaho lake, the US Navy is testing out its submarine tech

Lake Pend Oreille is 1,158 feet deep and has long provided the military a freshwater spot for research on submersible design.

Ring Nation television show promotional logo
Internet

Amazon’s Ring Nation quietly premieres on cable TV in 35 states

'Ring Nation' is finally here, and you probably missed the big unveil.

See a spiral galaxy’s haunting ‘skeleton’ in a chilly new space telescope image
Space Telescope

See a spiral galaxy’s haunting ‘skeleton’ in a chilly new space telescope image

Spiral galaxy IC 5332 is more than 29 million light years away from Earth.

Potentially harmful respiratory disease may be on the rise in children, warns CDC
Diseases

Potentially harmful respiratory disease may be on the rise in children, warns CDC

Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) can cause paralysis, similarly to polio.

The asteroid that created Earth’s largest crater may have been way bigger than we thought
Space

The asteroid that created Earth’s largest crater may have been way bigger than we thought

It was possibly twice the size of the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs.

A white camper van with curtains parked on a flat, open expanse of snow under blue skies, near some low mountains or hills.
Life Skills

Now’s the time to get your van-life ride ready for winter

Whether your camper is cruising or sitting, you won't want any cold air getting in.

What an ancient Maya city excavation taught scientists about the origins of reef fishes
Ocean

What an ancient Maya city excavation taught scientists about the origins of reef fishes

Fossils pulled from the quarry of an ancient Maya city reveal the dawn of reef fishes.