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Latest in books

This map shows the oldest light in our universe, as detected with the greatest precision yet by the Planck mission.

What was the first color in the universe?

By Tyler Thrasher and Terry Mudge

a reddish moon in the sky

How the blood moon gets its ghoulish hue

By Tyler Thrasher and Terry Mudge

surprised Jack Russell terrier portrait on yellow background.

Animals only see in black and white and 5 other color myths

By Tyler Thrasher and Terry Mudge

a circle and pi = 3.14 written on a chalkboard

Math teacher argues Pi Day should be July 22

a pile of books on a wooden table

Why you should buy physical copies of your favorite books

two photos of little libraries. one is shaped like a cactus, the other is a simple blue box with glass windows

How to set up a Little Free Library

audio book concept with stack of books and headphones

5 places to listen to free audiobooks

Newborn stars peek out from beneath their natal blanket of dust in this dynamic image of the Rho Ophiuchi dark cloud from NASA's Spitzer Space Telescope.

How scientific wonder brings comfort to life and death

By Keith Wagstaff

an orange and pink work

Why we die: Lessons on genes from a lowly worm

By Venki Ramakrishnan

Science Fiction

Vernor Vinge, influential sci-fi author who warned of AI ‘Singularity,’ has died

The gold mirrors of JSWT sit in front of an extremely large, circular door in a vast room with scientists working.

This NASA photographer documented the 30-year journey to build the James Webb Space Telescope

By Abby Ferguson

Copy of Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale' behind glass case

School district uses ChatGPT to help remove library books

Pair of bluefin tuna strung up on a fishing crane on the coast of Spain

Who caught the first bluefin tuna?

By Karen Pinchin

A green adult L. heckscheri frog sits amid some rocks and fungus.

Check out some of the weirdest warty frogs in North America

By Popular Science Team

NASA Perseverance rover being readied indoors for launch for the Mars 2020 mission

A spacecraft engineer’s wisdom from Mars 2020 and a disaster-stricken island

By Elio Morillo

Silver Y moth feeding on long fuschia flowers

How migration makes life more resilient

By Tim Blackburn

CDC zombie preparedness guide comic panel from 2011

That time the CDC got people hyped for a zombie apocalypse

By Matt Hongoltz-Hetling

Kindle e-reader on store home screen.

ChatGPT is quietly co-authoring books on Amazon

British navy boarding a ship where many sailors are sickened by scurvy from vitamin deficiency. Black and white illustration.

It took centuries (and vitamins) for doctors to finally stop scurvy

Apple introduces AI audiobook narrators, but the literary world is not too pleased

Apple introduces AI audiobook narrators, but the literary world is not too pleased

Apple MacBook turning on on a wooden desk with a white desk chair

The real reason that familiar Apple Mac chime is off key

By Richard Mainwaring

People taking photos of glowing lava on Cape Verde

These islanders live and thrive alongside lava

By Cris Toala Olivares

Close up of library books on shelf

In school districts that ban books, e-readers offer a workaround

Husky dogs pulling a sled in a snowy landscape

How the logic of ‘winter selection’ shaped centuries of bad science

By Joseph L. Graves Jr.

Woman in black shirt and green plants standing in a grassy marsh in front of white clouds by the Formosa plant in Point Comfort, Texas

When an environmental activist needed allies to fight a polluting petrochemical plant, she turned to Vietnamese shrimpers

By Kirk Wallace Johnson

library full of books

A copyright lawsuit threatens to kill free access to Internet Archive’s library of books

By Charlotte Hu

Bearded dad holding a newborn baby in a blue onesie and reading a picture book

The best way to choose a parenting book

By Denise Bodman and Bethany Bustamante Van Vleet

Colorful mantis shrimp with giant eyes that have color vision on black background

Do animals feel pain? Science author Ed Yong says that’s the wrong question.

By Philip Kiefer

In 'The Wine-Dark Sea Within,' a cardiologist describes the history of how we understand blood flow.

No one knew how our blood moved—until this doctor realized the heart is a pump

Faafafine individual at Auckland, New Zealand pride parade

Sex and gender binaries don’t tell the entire story of life

By Rachel Feltman

Caribbean flamingo chick tucked into the pink feathers on the back of its parent

Before they grow into splendor, flamingos are just awkward floofs

By Claudio Contreras Koob and Martha A. Salazar

a t rex skeleton on a black isolated bakchround

The fiery end of the dinosaurs kicked off the golden age of mammals

Black bride and white groom in the back seat of a wedding car holding hands and looking in love

The ‘Love Machine’ really exists. Here’s what it’s taught us about our romantic choices.

By Stephanie Cacioppo

close up of a small Antarctic krill near the stone floats in the aquarium

When krill host social gatherings, other ocean animals thrive

Northern fulmar seabird sitting on a grassy hill with small pink flowers

Can birds smell? This ornithologist is debunking a long-standing myth.

By Danielle J. Whittaker

Three people in multicolored Lycra spandex exercise outfits in front of a light pink backdrop

If you love your workout gear, thank the girdles and Flexatards of the past

By Danielle Friedman

Red and purple berries on a thorny green invasive shrub

Many Indigenous languages lack a word for ‘conservation.’ Here’s why.

By Jessica Hernandez

Turkey and chicken poop have untapped energy potential

By Lina Zeldovich

Classroom with textbooks, backpacks, whiteboard

Many US students won’t find accurate climate science in their textbooks

Three women in helmets leaning down on turf with a foam heart-shaped football in black and white

These ‘experts’ once said women couldn’t play football. Boy were they wrong.

By Britni de la Cretaz and Lyndsey D’Arcangelo

Two gray pigeons in a spotlight in a Rosemary Mosco cartoon

How to speak city pigeon

By Rosemary Mosco

Will supply chain issues affect the books you want? Depends on what you’re reading.

Will supply chain issues affect the books you want? Depends on what you’re reading.

By Jenna Schnuer

Plastic production is a fossil fuel problem

Plastic production is a fossil fuel problem

By Erica Cirino

Hot chilli Carolina Reaper peppers on person's palm in summer garden.

What would possess someone to eat a Carolina Reaper pepper? This writer tried to find out.

By Leigh Cowart

Parent in pink tank top pushing baby in a futuristic green and white stroller

Travel through time on history’s most ridiculous rides

By Michael Hearst

Crumpled up paper waste

Modern paper use is wildly unsustainable. Here’s what you can do about it.

By Laurie David and Heather Reisman

The sun over Maunakea volcano and research observatories in Hawaii

In Hawaii, an ancient observatory offers lessons for modern stargazers

By Chanda Prescod-Weinstein

A person wearing glasses and laying on a bed while reading a book.

Keep your brain in shape by reading more books

The best books about the moon

The best books about the moon

By Eleanor Cummins

NYC climate protest

It’s about time adults start rising up against climate change

By Alexandria Villaseñor

A yellow fever mosquito discretely sinks its labrum into its prey

Evolution made mosquitos into stealthy, sensitive vampires

By Erica McAlister

A Blakiston's fish owl hunting for masu salmon in a river

The quest to snare—and save—the world’s largest owl

By Jonathan Slaght

Two parents holding a newborn

People are stockpiling umbilical cord blood without really knowing what it does

By Mikkael A. Sekeres/MIT Press Reader

A night in the life of a professional stargazer

By Emily Levesque

Humans owe our evolutionary success to friendship

By Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods

Smoke during sunset.

It’s time to grieve the world we’ve lost to climate change—and start to move on

By Eric Holthaus

A current view of the South Colwater Ridge Trail at Mount Saint Helens in Washington.

After Mount St. Helens erupted, scientists fought to preserve its devastation

Hand holding books

Keep track of all the things you want to watch, read, and listen to

man eating fast food hamburger

Reverse your bad habits with just a handful of tiny changes

7 science fiction inventions that became reality

Science Fiction

7 science fiction inventions that became reality

By Tom McNamara

The best apps for reading books on your phone

The best apps for reading books on your phone

A few small goofs nearly threw the world into nuclear war

A few small goofs nearly threw the world into nuclear war

Icebergs Greenland

Saving Greenland could save the world

Before there was a periodic table, there was chaos

Before there was a periodic table, there was chaos

By Paul Strathern