Robots can see in wavelengths beyond human eyes. Robots can hear in wavelengths beyond human ears. Robots can even feel with tactility approaching human skin. But when it comes to tasting, robots are laggards. Taste is a sense that may seem basic to any human, including young children licking food from the floor, but not to robots. Tasting technology doesn’t…
Extreme heat is rolling through South Asia as climate change brings summer weather early. Temperatures are already pushing past 120°F in some regions. The current heat waves are severe—this year, India recorded its hottest March and April in more than a century. Some schools have shut down early, hospitals are on alert, and at least 25 people have died from…
Analysis paralysis—being so overwhelmed by options you can’t pick a path—has new meaning thanks to climate change. Making the “right” choice has never been more complicated, but we’re here to help. This is Impact, a new sustainability series from PopSci. In 2020, during her re-election campaign, Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo set out plans to make the French capital a “15-minute” city. The…
This story originally appeared in the Messy issue of Popular Science. Current subscribers can access the whole digital edition here, or click here for a new subscription. THE IDEA THAT you swallow eight arachnids each night is a load of malarkey popularized by a list of random “facts” that went viral in the early days of the internet. Still, there is a reason this stomach-churning urban legend…
Analysis paralysis—being so overwhelmed by options you can’t pick a path—has new meaning thanks to climate change. Making the “right” choice has never been more complicated, but we’re here to help. This is Impact, a new sustainability series from PopSci. Many products often come with expiration dates to indicate a predetermined shelf life, like food and medicine. Once the indicated date has…
To mark our 150th year, we’re revisiting the Popular Science stories (both hits and misses) that helped define scientific progress, understanding, and innovation—with an added hint of modern context. Explore the Notable pages and check out all our anniversary coverage here. Before physicists began to grok the laws of thermodynamics in the mid-1800s, inventors, lured by the idea of perpetual motion, sought to…
North America is home to dozens of turtle species, from the soda can-sized bog turtle to the devastatingly handsome alligator snapping turtle. Each spring, countless turtles emerge from the sleepy winter months ready to nest, find food, and resume their more active warm-weather lifestyles. Unfortunately, these journeys toward favored habitats and ideal nesting spots often involve treacherous trips across roads. …
To mark our 150th year, we’re revisiting the Popular Science stories (both hits and misses) that helped define scientific progress, understanding, and innovation—with an added hint of modern context. Explore the Notable pages and check out all our anniversary coverage here. Until Heinrich Hertz discovered radio waves in 1887, the vast and invisible electromagnetic spectrum was a silent wilderness, punctuated…
This article was originally featured on The Conversation. For many people, accessing abortion care can be a major challenge. Abortion services are usually only available in certain clinics with specialized equipment like ultrasounds, often requiring long-distance travel to get there. When medication abortion, or abortion with pills, was introduced to the U.S. in 2000, it offered a more accessible option to…
The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is nearly doubling its unit dedicated to cyber crimes in an effort to delve more into crypto-related enforcement. The federal agency announced Tuesday it is adding 20 positions, including investigative staff attorneys, trial counsels, fraud analysts, and supervisors, to be “better equipped to police wrongdoing in the crypto markets.” “Crypto markets have exploded in…