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Solar Impulse experimental plane flying over pyramids in Egypt
Drones

World’s largest solar-powered aircraft crashes after losing power

‘Solar Impulse 2’ made history by circumnavigating the globe in 2016.

By Andrew Paul

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Gear and Reviews

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The Baffling Cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion

The Baffling Cases of Spontaneous Human Combustion

The Real Reasons Permanent Daylight Savings Time Never Stuck

The Real Reasons Permanent Daylight Savings Time Never Stuck

The Experiment That Tried to Weigh the Human Soul

The Experiment That Tried to Weigh the Human Soul

Latest Articles

Green Plastic Tyrannosaurus Rex On Yellow Background
Dinosaurs

Why did Tyrannosaurus rex have such short arms?

Teeth? Big. Arms? Not so much.

By Sarah Sheffield / The Conversation

Everyday items including playing cards, toy train tracks, and scrap paper can help users learn the principles of coding with less screentime.
Internet

Game teaches kids programming basics without screens

Texico’s analog brain games use playing cards, toy train tracks, and scrap paper.

By Mack DeGeurin

screenshot of iphone
Tech Hacks

How to free up space on your phone and avoid the dreaded ‘storage full’ messages

There are ways to give yourself more room on Android or iPhone.

By David Nield

Graphic showing a thinking woman, a scan of a brain, a rat.
Mental Health

What addiction does to the brain

Changes in neural connections due to substance use and withdrawal are long-lasting, and craving can peak well into abstinence. Understanding this process could inspire drugs to support recovery.

By Emma Yasinski / Knowable Magazine

a leopard cub in a sugarcane field
Wildlife

Leopard moms hide babies in sugarcane fields to go hunting

The big cats can become more aggressive while looking for their babies, so it’s best to steer clear.

By Margherita Bassi

Smart chocolate lab with glasses reading a book on burgundy sofa.
Cats

Test your dog or cat’s IQ using these simple tricks

And no, that viral “dog wall test” isn’t the way to do it.

By Clarissa Brincat

Graphic showing a grey-colored white woman in a white shirt with a fork in her mouth looking at an array of different color comfort food photos.
Food Safety

Why we crave ‘comfort food’

Nostalgia plays a big role in the meals that bring us solace—which means we might be able to recondition ourselves toward healthier foods that still soothe.

By Debbie Koenig / Knowable Magazine

two mayflies mating
Wildlife

Mayflies have crazy, acrobatic sex

Researchers froze mayfly couples in the middle of mating—for science.

By Margherita Bassi

This scene was captured at the Very Large Telescope (VLT) on Cerro Paranal, in Chile’s Atacama Desert, under exceptionally pure observing conditions where the boundary between Earth and sky feels almost seamless. The Milky Way stretches across the sky, with its dense central bulge rising prominently overhead. To the left, the Magellanic Clouds, two neighboring satellite galaxies, are visible to the naked eye from the Southern Hemisphere. Subtle airglow adds another layer to the scene, a natural emission produced by chemical reactions in the upper atmosphere at altitudes of 80 to 100 kilometers. In this image, it reveals a range of colors, with green tones on the left and warmer reddish hues toward the right. In the foreground stands the VLT, operated by the European Southern Observatory. Situated at 2,635 meters above sea level, the site benefits from extremely dry conditions, stable atmospheric layers, and minimal light pollution, resulting in more than 300 clear nights each year. The observatory consists of four primary telescopes, each equipped with 8.2-meter mirrors. One of them, UT4 (Yepun), projects four sodium laser beams into the sky, creating artificial guide stars at an altitude of approximately 90 kilometers. These reference points enable adaptive optics systems to correct for atmospheric distortion in real time, significantly enhancing the clarity and precision of astronomical observations.
Space

19 breathtaking images from the Milky Way Photographer of the Year 2026 awards

‘Milky Way photography goes beyond capturing the stars. It becomes a way to explore remote environments, challenge physical limits, and reconnect with both nature and history.’

By Popular Science Team

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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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