Chief among the many wonders encountered by Renaissance explorers were the novel plants never before seen in Europe. In Spanish geographer Martín Fernández de Enciso’s 1519 account of his experiences in the Americas, “La Suma de Geografía,” he described a delectable new fruit, writing, “when it is ready for eating it turns yellowish; that which […]
Before Dug the Dog—the lovable talking canine from Disney’s 2009 blockbuster animation Up—there was Zoe, the Alsatian police dog. While Dug’s goofy gaffes and brainwave-reading, voice-box collar endeared him to audiences, Zoe’s ability to follow her master’s commands from afar–performing tricks like climbing a ladder, turning a faucet on and off, and even removing her […]
At about the time when coffee gained ground across the Near East in the 16th century—giving rise to coffee houses which quickly became important cultural centers—optical inventions like the compound microscope and telescope were also making their debut. Among these, the camera obscura became an essential tool for artisans to capture relatively detailed real-world images. […]
The ambitious Popular Science DIY tutorial required the use of a soldering iron and some technical know-how.
More than a billion of Americans come down with the cold every year, but scientists continue to wrestle with developing a universal vaccine.
Leaps in quantum computing is inching physicists closer to teleportation systems, but we’re still a long ways off from ‘Star Trek.’
The US is home to more than 150,000 miles of railroad tracks—the most in the world—but expanding into high-speed trains has been slow.
The Artemis mission is NASA’s initial step to create a lunar outpost—but are we really ready to establish long-term bases beyond Earth?
Ocean explorers have long tried to chart the contours of the seafloor, but today’s maps still pale in comparison to those of distant planets.
These wheelless air cars were all the rage of 1950s and 1960s automotive design—and they might be making a comeback.
