Read the latest articles from Popular Science (Page 874)

stack of green books
Science

How we discovered three poisonous books in our university library

Arsenic and old manuscripts.

Immigrant children in U.S. detention camps could face yet another health hazard: contaminated water
Military

Immigrant children in U.S. detention camps could face yet another health hazard: contaminated water

Toxic chemicals common on military bases are especially dangerous for children.

Koji strip steak
Projects

This Japanese fungus can dry-age a steak in 48 hours. Here’s how.

This barbecue season, try cooking with koji.

These apps give you the best features of iOS 12 before the update rolls out
Tech Hacks

These apps give you the best features of iOS 12 before the update rolls out

Don't wait until September.

Labeling GMOs might not actually make them seem scarier
Science

Labeling GMOs might not actually make them seem scarier

Vermonters seem less averse to bioengineered food once it's identified.

a pattern of colorful lego blocks
Technology

Lego blocks could be the key to detecting nerve gases in the field

The worst toys to step on may yet be redeemed.

Blame loose screws and ‘excessive optimism’ for the latest delay of NASA’s new space telescope
Space Telescope

Blame loose screws and ‘excessive optimism’ for the latest delay of NASA’s new space telescope

James Webb is now slated for a 2021 launch—only a bajillion years late.

a medieval illustration of people cooking
The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week

The weirdest things we learned this week: scientists doing sex magick, ancient mac and cheese, and contagious writer’s block

Our editors scrounged up some truly bizarre facts.

We’re really bad at making babies
Evolution

We’re really bad at making babies

Anatomical compromises from millions of years ago have made birth hard for humans.

Run, don’t walk, to see New York City’s latest corpse flower bloom
Environment

Run, don’t walk, to see New York City’s latest corpse flower bloom

The Bronx's stinkiest resident will only blossom for a day or so.

This is what it’s like to speak with Google’s reservation-making AI service
AI

This is what it’s like to speak with Google’s reservation-making AI service

Google Duplex is slowly rolling out.

tired runner man
Fitness & Exercise

That beer after your workout probably isn’t helping you

It might even ruin your gains.

A Japanese spacecraft is zooming towards an asteroid shaped like a gemstone
NASA

A Japanese spacecraft is zooming towards an asteroid shaped like a gemstone

It’s getting closer all the time.

people holding up phones in crowd to take photographs
Social Media

Social media’s political role got its start in the Middle East

We're only beginning to feel the full effects.

We haven’t been giving Neanderthals enough credit
Evolution

We haven’t been giving Neanderthals enough credit

New evidence suggests they were skilled hunters.

manta ray swims through Flower Garden Banks
Ocean

Why biologists are so excited to find a bunch of puny manta rays

Young manta rays have a sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico.

CRISPR could use gold nanoparticles to edit your brain
Gene Editing

CRISPR could use gold nanoparticles to edit your brain

Researchers were able to turn down behavioral problems in mice.

Meet the designer who wants to make fruit labels out of soap and save the world from swizzle sticks
Environment

Meet the designer who wants to make fruit labels out of soap and save the world from swizzle sticks

Inside the mind of Scott Amron.

The White House is calling for Space Traffic Control
NASA

The White House is calling for Space Traffic Control

It's time to stop sending up so much garbage.

A Tyrannosaurus rex
Evolution

Why it would have been impossible for a T. rex to stick out its tongue

Everything we thought we knew about dinosaur tongues is wrong.