Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 553)

Black person with long natural hair using a VR headset to enter the metaverse
Social Media

Could the metaverse amplify online harassment?

Here’s how to make the next iteration of the internet more inclusive.

robot fish that mimics mosquitofish predator
Robots

Need to fight invasive fish? Just introduce a scary robot

If it looks like a bass and is terrorizing mosquitofish, it might actually be a robot designed to protect native tadpoles.

Tornado destruction in Chattanooga, Tennesee
Climate Change

‘Tornado alley’ looks far different than it did a century ago

Warming weather and a shifting tornado zone could lead to more disastrous tornado events.

This eyeless millipede shattered the record for most legs
Insects

This eyeless millipede shattered the record for most legs

Meet Eumillipes persephone, the millipede with 1,300 legs.

This material uses a physics trick to keep roofs cool in summer and warm in winter
Environment

This material uses a physics trick to keep roofs cool in summer and warm in winter

To build a better roof coating, try vanadium oxide.

person listening to phone standing in front of neon lights looking displeased
Tech Hacks

WhatsApp now lets you preview voice messages before you send them

Is this thing on?

Faint red plutonium core for nuclear weapons on black
Weapons

Why Los Alamos lab is working on the tricky task of creating new plutonium cores

Plutonium cores, or pits, are the triggers for thermonuclear weapons.

Aging walls of an old Alcoa aluminum plant on concrete polluted ground
Cancer

A North Carolina town struggles under the toxic shadow of the company that built it

Residents of Badin are confronting the fallout from decades of racism, mismanagement, and pollution.

A series of brightly colored lines indicating a human genome.
Health

The benchmark for human diversity is based on one man’s genome. A new tool could change that.

Instead of looking at one single genome, researchers are mapping out "a network of possibilities.”

a color illustration of a brown and white bird in a lush forest
Evolution

This 120-million-year-old bird could stick out its tongue

Birds aren't mocking you when they stick out their tongue. A new fossil discovery gives clues to what the ancient behavior might mean.

robot fingers grabbing egg
Robots

Engineers created a robotic hand with a gecko-like grip

Watch this robotic hand grab hold of an egg, fruits, a large plastic container, and a jug of orange juice.

A giant tornado moves fast along a highway towards a town miles ahead
Climate Change

Hurricane-force winds broke a single-day record while smashing the Midwest’s power grid

Climate change-induced heat waves in the Great Plains might be at play.

laptop screen showing gmail
Tech Hacks

Google integrated its other apps into Gmail. Here’s how to best use them.

Go beyond email.

Northern pike underwater
Pollution

Fish can bounce back quickly from mercury pollution

A Canadian experiment is good news for efforts to make seafood safer.

The CDC is urging pregnant people to get COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s how we know it’s safe.
Vaccines

The CDC is urging pregnant people to get COVID-19 vaccines. Here’s how we know it’s safe.

Months of evidence show the shots are safe for those who are pregnant or considering pregnancy.

phone screen with social media icons in it
Tech Hacks

The simplest way to post to all your social media accounts at once

Stay on message.

Honda will soon start patrolling Ohio highways to improve the roads
Self Driving

Honda will soon start patrolling Ohio highways to improve the roads

The focus for now is on lane lines, which are a key part of the future of transportation.

MANTAS T-38 in the Arabian Gulf
Navy

The US Navy is testing autonomous seafaring robots that patrol the ocean

Unmanned vessels like Saildrone and MANTAS can expand the Navy’s understanding of the oceans as potential battlefields.

hands scrolling through photo reel on phone
Tech Hacks

How to stop your ex from popping up in your photo memories

Sometimes you don't want to be reminded.

The Parker Space Probe flies toward the Sun
Sun

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe survived its closest encounter yet with the sun

The Parker Solar Probe passed within 6.5 million miles of the sun's surface—and NASA wants to fly it even closer.