Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 814)

A stack of cut-out knife blanks waiting to be finished.
Technology

A deep dive into how knife blades are made

It’s worth knowing what you’re buying when it comes to sharpened steel.

a woman in a sun hat sitting in a chair by a pool at a tropical resort hotel
Life Skills

Hotel star ratings are useless. Here’s how to read reviews the right way.

Two stars to someone else might be four stars for you.

egg nebula
NASA

Researchers trace galactic history in ancient grains of alien sand

They’re the oldest things you could possibly touch.

8K TV
Technology

How long will you have to wait before these CES technologies become real?

Amish couple riding on a horse-drawn wagon
Diseases

A mysterious cluster of deaths amongst Amish children has finally been solved

After 15 years of tragedy, these families have some answers.

Windows keyboard
Tech Hacks

What to do when your OS becomes obsolete—and how to save money in the process

All software goes to heaven.

A screenshot from "the goop lab with Gwyneth Paltrow"
Health

Scientific backlash only makes Goop stronger

Gwyneth Paltrow’s forthcoming show suggests that facts and studies don’t always bring an end to harmful wellness trends.

a hand holding a thermometer
Medicine

Our average body temperatures seem to be dropping

Talk about historical hotties.

Hand in leather bag with Chromebook laptop
Tech Hacks

The best Android apps for your Chromebook

Our top picks for music, TV, art, and games.

hot chocolate
Physics

A food scientist breaks down the thermodynamics between marshmallows and hot chocolate

The most important question: Do marshmallows cool down or heat up the drink?

The Sims language
Gaming

The Sims’ language has surprisingly scientific origins

Robi Kauker helped improvise a nonsense vocabulary for the popular game. The process was ‘stupid hard.’

bushfire smoke
Cancer

We know wildfire smoke affects our health, but the long-term consequences are hazy

The dose of exposure is important—the worse the pollution, the greater the health effects.

African grey parrot.
Evolution

For some African grey parrots, sharing is caring

Birds were willing to sacrifice so their pals could get a snack.

a drawer made out of scrap wood
Projects

How to build a drawer out of scrap wood

A drawer doesn’t have to be fancy to be functional.

ferret captures a prairie dog
Animals

The race to save the most elusive ferret in the U.S.

Despite some conservation success, the species remains threatened out West. Biologists are trying to understand why.

satellite image of smoke over amazon rainforest
Climate Change

The Amazon stores tons of carbon. Climate change-fueled wildfires could ruin that.

Deforestation makes drought-stressed forests even more vulnerable.

illustration of bubbles of clear space around stars
NASA

Young galaxies transformed the early universe by blowing bubbles

The universe was filled with fog until three galaxies started clearing it out.

a tailor man sewing cloth on a sewing machine
Projects

Five simple fixes to keep your clothing around longer

More wear, less tear.

a hummingbird on a tree
Birds

Hummingbirds get their wild coloring from ‘air-filled pancakes’ in their feathers

If you’ve got it, flaunt it.

violin
Technology

Inside the extraordinary experiment to save the Stradivarius sound

An entire town went quiet so the world’s most iconic violin could be immortalized.