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A side-profile silhouette of a pregnant woman standing against a vibrant pink and orange gradient background.
Diabetes

7 wild ways pregnancy changes your body forever

From bigger feet to separated ab muscles.

By Jennifer Byrne

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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

Rachel Feltman

Host

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

trees and shrubs are surrounded by a bright yellow weed
Agriculture

Weed that smells like paint thinner takes over Arizona

Stinknet is an invasive weed that can disperse thousands of seeds at a time.

By Laura Baisas

Astronaut Loren J. Shriver, Mission Commander of STS-46, attempts to eat floating sweets on the flight deck of the shuttle Atlantis during its orbit of the earth, August 1992. (Photo by Space Frontiers/Getty Images)
NASA

Artemis II astronauts will eat a lot of tortillas on their trip to the moon

NASA offers a look at the menu for this historic 10-day mission.

By Andrew Paul

purple crystals
Wildlife

Our love of crystals goes back at least 6 million years

Experiments with chimpanzees show a shared love of shiny things.

By Laura Baisas

Illustration showing Tanyka amnicola in life, eating underwater plants.
Evolution

Bizarro salamander ancestor was an evolutionary oddball

Paleontologists say ‘Tanyka amnicola’ had a jawbone that’s a real head-scratcher.

By Andrew Paul

Man pointing with stick at chalkboard diagram of AM radio setup
Military

Watch a classified FM radio training video from WW2

That crisp signal was once a really big deal.

By Andrew Paul

Aerial photograph of the excavation area for the new fire station building on Lohagenweg in Hüllhorst. The tree cover marks the course of the source stream, which formed the basis for the construction of the former farmstead. Photo: LWL-AfW / A. Koch
Archaeology

2,500-year-old settlement found during fire station construction

The Iron Age settlement pre-dates the Roman invasion of Germany.

By Andrew Paul

a pink flamingo standing in water (left). a blue songbird sitting on a tree branch (right)
Birds

Florida finally makes the flamingo its state bird

Bye bye mockingbird.

By Margherita Bassi

a large pool of water with smoke rising from it
Conservation

World’s largest acidic geyser erupts for first time since 2020

Yellowstone’s Echinus Geyser spews out hot water that’s as acidic as vinegar.

By Laura Baisas

students watch professor in lecture hall
AI

The greatest risk of AI in higher education isn’t cheating

It’s the erosion of learning itself.

By Nir Eisikovits, Jacob Burley / The Conversation

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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.
Daily, Popular Science unpacks the science behind the top current new stories, dissects the latest technology and digital trends, and helps readers live smarter, safer, and happier through clever DIY projects.

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