Choose your location
Popular Science
The world’s oldest mechanical computer used a lunar calendar to study the stars
Researchers may have solved one lingering mystery behind the world’s oldest known mechanical computer using a combination of statistical analysis, techniques used to examine spacetime ripples, and a little bit of holiday season downtime. The Antikythera mechanism is the world’s oldest known, hand-operated mechanical computer—and still a bit of...
Evidence of 12,000-year-old cultural ritual unearthed in Australia
A team in Australia has found archeological evidence for what could be the oldest known culturally transmitted human ritual. Sticks found preserved in fireplaces in a cave southeastern Australia that date back to about to the end of the Last Ice Age, indicate that the ritual intended to cure or hurt has been passed down for roughly 500 generations. The findings are described in a study published July 1 in the journal Nature Human Behaviour.
Borderlands 2 with expansions is now 73 percent off
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›. There’s only one month until the Borderlands movie comes out, and you can bask in the nostalgia. But why only live vicariously when you could start playing the actual game again, right on your PC?
Save up to 50% on Ring doorbell cameras with this early Prime Day deal
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›. Amazon’s Prime Day 2024 doesn’t officially kick off until July 16, but the company has already discounted some of its own hardware, including several Ring security gadgets. For a limited time, you can get a Ring Doorbell Camera for $50. Remember, this deal is only available for Amazon Prime members, so if you don’t have a subscription be sure to sign up for a 30-day free trial to take advantage of it.
How NASA and SpaceX get spacecraft safely back on Earth
This article was originally featured on The Conversation. For about 15 minutes on July 21, 1961, American astronaut Gus Grissom felt at the top of the world – and indeed he was. Grissom crewed the Liberty Bell 7 mission, a ballistic test flight that launched him through the atmosphere...
If dinosaurs hadn’t gone extinct, we may not have delicious grapes
A lack of dinosaurs traipsing around following the K-T mass extinction may have allowed the grape we know and love to spread and thrive. A team of researchers found fossilized grape seeds dating back 60 to 19 million years old in Colombia, Panama, and Peru. The find includes the oldest known example of plants from the grape family in the Western Hemisphere and tells some parts of the grape’s evolutionary story for the first time. The grapes-for-dinosaurs exchange is detailed in a study published July 1 in the journal Nature Plants.
When West Nile virus turns deadly
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. James Parravani came down with flu-like symptoms the day before his daughter’s wedding reception. He had a fever, a headache, and chills. It was Labor Day weekend 2021, and his family thought he might have COVID-19. But a test at an emergency room near his home in Westchester, New York, came back negative.
July’s skies sizzle with the Buck Moon and a meteor shower
July 1 Crescent Moon Above Mars July 5Earth at Aphelion July 10Lāhainā Noon Begins July 21 Full Buck Moon July 29 and 30Delta Aquarid Meteor Shower Predicted Peak. July’s heat can sometimes make it feel like Earth is sitting in the sun, but our planet is honing in on its furthest point from the sun for the whole year. The short summer nights are also gradually growing a bit longer, but there is still time for skygazing in some more comfortable temperatures for those in the Northern Hemisphere. Here are some events to look out for this month.
How GoFundMe perpetuates the myth that only some people deserve help
This article was originally featured on MIT Press Reader. This article is adapted from Nora Kenworthy’s book “Crowded Out: The Trust Costs of Crowdfunding Healthcare.“. It all started when Hannah’s friend from church, Allison, posted a frantic note on Facebook that her young son Beckett had been hit and run over by a car while playing outside. (The names used in this article are pseudonyms to protect the individuals’ privacy.) Beckett was life-flighted to a nearby trauma center with multiple organ failure. Hannah kept checking in, asking what she could do, and after a few days she asked if anyone had offered to set up a GoFundMe. “No, no one’s even thought of that,” Allison replied. She was grateful for the help, exhausted by constantly providing updates and answering questions about Beckett’s status and of course worried about the medical bills.
Save more than $500 on this CompTIA training bundle for a limited time during Deal Days
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›. Ready to make a proactive career move in the ever-growing IT industry? Ensure you have the appropriate knowledge to impress potential employers and make a key step toward CompTIA certification by taking advantage of limited-time pricing.
Get a telescope that’s also a smartphone lens for $40 during Deal Days
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›. Ever wish you could get just a little bit closer to your favorite band’s stage, the batter’s box at the game, or a bird perched high above? This monocular telescope can get you 50 times closer without your feet ever leaving the ground and works as a camera lens for your phone.
7 wild concepts from the 2024 Skyscraper Competition
Since 2006, the architectural design magazine, eVolo, has hosted an annual competition dedicated to highlighting some of the year’s most creative, ambitious, and downright fantastical skyscraper concepts. The publication’s editors announced 2024’s top three winning entries along with 15 honorable mentions picked from a pool of 206 submissions.
Comb jellies won’t give into the extreme pressures of deep-sea life
The bottom of Earth’s oceans may as well be another planet. The temperatures are incredibly cold, there is almost zero sunlight, and all of that pressure from the water above could crush a person like a soda can. Some species including some octopus, squid, and ctenophores–aka comb jellies–still manage to live in this real-life twilight zone. A study published June 27 in the journal Science found that comb jellies have developed a unique structure to their cell membranes that allow them to live under such intense pressure.
Get Microsoft Windows 11 Pro for only $22.97 during our version of Prime Day
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›. Microsoft Windows 11 Pro, an advanced operating system edition, was designed for professional and business users. However, it can help anyone enhance productivity with top tools such as its latest Microsoft Copilot AI Assistant. Take advantage of a limited-time discount, available through July 21 for Deal Days—our version of Prime Day!
Actor Anthony Mackie and marine biologist Jasmin Graham talk sharks
What’s an avid fisherman, actor, and New Orleans native do after he and the other Avengers defeat Thanos in one of the biggest blockbusters of all time? He grabs a boat, assembles some scientists, and learns more about his hometown sharks. In the documentary Shark Beach with Anthony Mackie,...
Pollution from Ohio train derailment reached 110 million Americans
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here. This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist and WBEZ, a public radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan region. On February 3, 2023, a freight train owned by Norfolk Southern carrying thousands of...
Secure lifetime access to Curiosity Stream for just $159.97 to enjoy award-winning documentaries
We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more ›. Ready for your next documentary obsession? Curiosity Stream, founded by John Hendricks, the visionary behind Discovery Communications, has made a name for itself in the streaming world. It’s like Netflix but exclusively for documentaries. This rising star among streaming services now presents the best pricing on the market through July 21.
Ancient Egyptian scribes suffered bone damage from working long hours in hunched positions
Building ancient Egypt’s famed pyramids was an enormous physical undertaking, but there was also a great deal of clerical and administrative work to be done by scribes. The repetitive tasks carried out by these high-status men and the positions that they sat in while working potentially led to degenerative changes in their skeletons. The bony findings are described in a study published June 27 in the journal Scientific Reports and provide a window into the lives of scribes during the third millennium BCE.
Ethereal Pillars of Creation come to life in new 3D visualization
What’s better than one space telescope? Two space telescopes. NASA has released a new 3D visualization of the ethereal Pillars of Creation using data from the Hubble and James Webb space telescopes. According to NASA, it is the most comprehensive and detailed multiwavelength movie yet of these star-birthing clouds that were first made famous in 1995 by the Hubble Space Telescope’s stellar imaging.
Popular Science
11K+
Posts
191M+
Views
Awe-inspiring science reporting, technology news, and DIY projects. Skunks to space robots, primates to climates. That's Popular Science, 150 years strong.
The leading platform for local news and information.
By using cutting-edge technology that learns users’ preferences to curate tailored content for them, NewsBreak gathers community-focused news and information from over 10,000 sources in a timely, accessible, and easy-to-use way at no cost to users.
NewsBreak does not allow any content that expresses hate or promotes false information. Instead, we strive to give businesses, communities, and users accurate and reliable local news and information. Join us in shaping the news narrative together.
For more information, please see our Terms of Use and Community Standards.