Pollution

What you need to know about the gases, toxins, and garbage that make their way into water, air, and land.

Latest in Pollution

Inside the mouth of this anchovy, plankton particles are captured by the gill arch system.

Sardine-inspired washing machine filter removes 99% of microplastics

White LEVOIT air purifiers on a dark blue Amazon 2025 Black Friday background

Editor-approved LEVOIT air purifiers are hundreds off for Black Friday

A shallow depth-of-field close-up of a stainless steel frying pan sitting on a black, glossy induction cooktop, with steam rising from food cooking inside the pan. The kitchen background is blurred, showing a window and a refrigerator.

Are induction stoves better? These chefs think so.

Butter is slowly melting in a frying pan

New recycling method turns Teflon into toothpaste fluoride

Close up of Neanderthal skull

Lead has been poisoning humans for over 2 million years

A photo collage with a vintage illustration of a futuristic, brown and orange sailboat, with a large sail-like structure and a smokestack, positioned on a deep blue sea with white waves. In the background, there's a faint, light-tan newspaper clipping with the headline "A Sailing Ship" and a masthead for "POPULAR SCIENCE" from February 1925.

100 years ago, ‘ghost ship’ sails baffled Einstein—now they’re making a comeback

By Bill Gourgey

White and purple Dyson air purifiers titled and tiled against a white background

Dyson air purifiers are up to $150 off for Labor Day

By Heather Kuldell-Ware

A dramatic, high-contrast shot of the snow-capped summit of Mount Everest, with jagged ridges and a glacier visible below. The peak is set against a deep blue sky and partially surrounded by bright white clouds.

Mount Everest has a poo problem. Are drones the answer?

By Mack DeGeurin

close up of Cuban brown anole

These New Orleans lizards are full of lead

A bunch of white Coway Airmega 100 air purifiers against a blue background

Clean your air and derrière with Coway purifiers and bidets up to 27% off at Amazon

Six Tesla electric cars burn on the trailer of the moving lorry carrying them after one of them catches on fire due to unknown reasons in Istanbul, Turkiye on October 06, 2023. (Photo by Muhammed Gencebay Gur/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

New lithium batteries have built-in fire extinguishers

Blueair purifiers in a row with their companion apps

Clean the air while you clean up on savings with air purifiers up to 45% off for Prime Day

a pot boil on induction stovetop

Why induction stoves are better than gas

Drawer for recycling electronics

Your outdated tech might be a ‘goldmine’

By Mack DeGeurin

a plastic bag and other garbage on a shoreline

Plastic bag bans work, new study shows

By Lauren Leffer

A factory on the edge of a cliff

Certain AI prompts generate 50x more CO₂ than others

By Mack DeGeurin

Darvaza (Derweze) gas crater (Door to Hell or Gates of Hell) in Turkmenistan

Earth’s fiery ‘Door to Hell’ is starting to close

Tools for measuring home air quality on a blue background with a dust cloud

How to measure the air quality in your home by yourself and with a pro

By Terri Williams

Air Purifiers for asthma

The best air purifiers for asthma in 2025, according to experts

By Terri Williams

three researchers padding a canoe on a polluted waterway under a bridge

Pollution-eating microbes are thriving in infamous NYC canal

By Lauren Leffer