Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 551)

Apple's iMessage messaging system within the iPhone Messages app, showing off some mini apps you can add to your conversations.
Tech Hacks

12 mini apps that will supercharge your iMessage experience

Apps within apps.

Person sitting under a light in a dark room to store holiday decorations, surrounded by Christmas lights
Life Skills

The best ways to store holiday decorations so your future self doesn’t hate you

Give yourself the gift of foresight.

Guiana Space Center mission control during the James Webb Space Telescope launch on Christmas Day
Space Telescope

After years of delays, the James Webb telescope is finally in space

The launch was a success, but mission control’s work is just beginning.

Biofuels are having a government-funding moment
Climate Change

Biofuels are having a government-funding moment

The USDA and DOE both recently invested in the sometimes controversial energy source.

Scientists finally solve the mystery of why comets glow green
Space

Scientists finally solve the mystery of why comets glow green

Chemists put a 90-year-old explanation of comet glow to the test—and confirmed it was mostly correct.

three sets of arms holding clay pots with plants
Life Skills

7 key plant care tips we learned this year

(Not so) new plant parents, unite!

Artist’s impression of a rogue planet in Rho Ophiuchi
Exoplanets

Space probably has way more ‘rogue planets’ than we thought

Astronomers have just doubled the catalogue of potential rogue exoplanets.

A US Navy shit carries out a laser test
Navy

The US Navy is testing out drone-zapping laser weapons

A demonstration from the USS Portland is the most recent example of how using a laser could be a cost-effective way to fight threats.

Hand holding a piece of coal.
Fossil Fuels

Even coal miners want Build Back Better to pass

Manchin’s refusal to support the plan will hurt those he vows to protect.

James Webb Space Telescope in flight with mirrors and sunshield unfurled in an artist's rendering
Space Telescope

17 images to count down to the James Webb Space Telescope launch

It’s been a long journey, and the telescope hasn’t even left Earth yet.

Air Force B-2 Spirit stealth bomber silhouetted next to a full moon
Air Force

Google Earth caught a $2 billion stealth bomber on candid camera

"Stealth."

The planet Venus
Solar System

Something is making Venus’s clouds less acidic

Could living things explain unusual atmospheric chemistry on Venus?

a large fossil of a segmented bug in gray rock
Insects

How big did ancient millipedes get? Bigger than you’d like.

The accidental discovery is surprising in more ways than one.

DIY wooden coat hooks by the door
Projects

Custom coat hooks you can build in just a few hours

All you need is some lumber, coat hooks, and time.

an interior video of a parked Tesla
Electric Vehicles

The government is investigating why Tesla drivers can play solitaire at the wheel

Here's why the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration is looking into the issue of video games and Teslas.

Pile of holiday cards that can be recycled to reduce waste
Life Skills

4 simple ways to reduce holiday waste

It’s the trashiest time of the year—but it doesn’t have to be.

a spotted lanternfly with green illustrated background
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week

Spotted lanternfly goo is surprisingly tasty

Plus other fun facts from The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week.

One of the best-preserved dinosaur embryos ever found.
Dinosaurs

This fossilized dinosaur embryo is curled up just like a baby bird

The fossil hints that modern birds prepare for hatching similarly to their dinosaur relatives.

A woman with pigtails wearing sunglasses, holding a phone, and laughing under a blue sky.
Tech Hacks

Find your ‘Spotify Wrapped’ on more of your favorite apps

How did you spend the last 12 months?

computer servers
Security

Recent AWS glitches illustrate the power, and fragility, of cloud computing

Amazon Web Services and other major cloud providers underpin much of the internet. Here's what to know about them—and why they can fail.