Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 673)

Woman applying lotion in mirror
Health

Are ‘clean’ cosmetics better for us than other beauty products?

A new chapter in the hunt for truly non-toxic, ethical cosmetic ingredients.

A person holding an iPhone while sitting in front of a laptop, possibly setting up a burner phone number.
Tech Hacks

You should get a burner phone number (even if you are not a spy)

No, you don’t need to buy a new phone.

Tourist in surgical mask in front of the Eiffel Tower
Vaccines

COVID-19 ‘vaccine passports’ could set a troubling precedent

It’s a matter of privacy and privilege.

Airplane wing in flight with clouds
Fossil Fuels

Plane rides of the future could be fueled by table scraps

One person’s trash is another’s jet fuel.

A person using a laptop and viewing the Popular Science website in inverted colors, which helps people with vision impairments.
Tech Hacks

Built-in tools and extensions to make web browsing easier for people with vision impairments

It’s not easy, but you can do it.

mosquito on skin
Insects

Catnip and grapefruit are ushering in a new era of insect repellants

Soon you may not need DEET at all.

Hand inserting SD card into DSLR camera
Tech Hacks

How to recover deleted photos from a memory card

Zombie files are real.

Chick sitting on woodchips in a wire pen
Agriculture

US egg producers could save billions of chicks a year. So why aren’t they?

The industry continues to hatch and kill scores of male chicks, despite promises to adopt new technology and optimize breeding practices.

survival garden
Projects

Start planning now for a healthy crop of homegrown food

Scout your site, research plants, and buy supplies to avoid the spring gardening rush.

Male blue ghost fireflies in a forest in North Carolina
Animals

Firefly tourism has a surprising dark side

Lightning bugs draw tourists in with their glow, but that could be bad news for the beetles.

Code
Tech Hacks

How to open broken computer files

Don’t trash them right away.

A Raytheon drone on display.
Navy

The Coyote swarming drone can deploy for aerial warfare—or hurricanes

The Navy wants them to be able to launch out of robotic vessels and then become a weapon if needed.

A coyote in the snow.
Wildlife

Eastern coyotes are increasingly common—here are 5 facts to know about them

They’re mysterious to biologists and misunderstood by the public.

Music apps for your smartphone.
Tech Hacks

These music-recording apps are your first step to winning a Grammy

From taking voice notes to finding the right chords, we’ve got 10 rocking options for you.

Three paratroopers walk across a snowy field.
Army

The Army put fitness trackers on paratroopers in Alaska to fine-tune its training

Jumping out of planes and operating up north can be stressful, so the Army is studying resiliency.

cranes building a skyscraper
Pollution

Making buildings energy efficient just got harder

A new rule will make it harder for local governments to ensure building codes are sufficiently climate-friendly.

A calendar with the page for March 2021 displayed and a red circle around Thursday the 11th sits next to an N95 mask on a blue background surrounded by red illustrations of the coronavirus.
COVID-19

What the first year of COVID tells us about the next

Now is not the time to let our guard down.

a person wearing a backpack and holding textbooks against a blue background with several red coronavirus illustrations
COVID-19

Where are we most likely to catch COVID-19?

We know a lot more about transmission risk than we did a year ago.

Two Black women with curly hair hug against a blue background featuring red coronavirus illustrations
COVID-19

Can we ever hug again?

A year of pandemic life has made this question more important than ever.

illustration of hatchling lamprey
Evolution

These fossilized lamprey hatchlings disprove an age-old evolutionary theory

Lampreys were thought of as models of early vertebrate evolution, but new evidence suggests otherwise.