Popular Science. Demystifying the worlds of science and technology since 1872.
The CIA once trained cats to be Cold War spies
Project Acoustic Kitty went about as well as you’d expect.
Having to pee makes you scientifically better at video games
Plus what space smells like and other weird things we learned this week.
Rachel Feltman
At Popular Science, we report and write dozens of stories every week. And while a lot of the fun facts we stumble across make it into our articles, there are lots of other weird facts that we just keep around the office. So we figured, why not share those with you? Welcome to The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week.
Latest Articles
‘Pokémon Go’ players have been unknowingly training delivery robots
The massive crowdsourcing effort could use real-world to help robots deliver pizza.
World’s largest steam locomotive heads out on tour
Union Pacific’s Big Boy No. 4014 will travel coast-to-coast in commemoration of the semiquincentennial.
Scammers use AI-generated images of lost dogs to target pet owners
‘In our new reality, you can no longer trust your eyes or ears.’
11 wild photos show the Amazon River in its glory
New photography book takes readers on a journey down the world’s longest river.
Alpine glacier holds history dating back to the Romans. And it’s melting—fast.
Scientists are racing to document 6,000 years of history stored inside the Weißseespitze ice cap.
NASA shows how Sahara desert dust spread all over Europe
The dust coated the Alps and caused ‘blood rain’ in England.
Why do mountaintops stay snowy?
The answer has to do with the air we breathe and that bright white snowpack, as an atmospheric scientist in Colorado explains.
Yellowstone’s ravens may memorize wolf hunting hotspots—to feast
The birds will fly over 90 miles to dine where wolves have drawn blood.
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Popular Science has been demystifying the worlds of science and technology since 1872. We explain the inner workings of the phone in your pocket, explore world-changing innovations, and examine everything from the marvels of deep space to the secret lives of staples like bread. We deliver an engaging, approachable, and inclusive look at emerging technologies and scientific advances.
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