The Army's Drone-Killing Laser Weapon

THE U.S. ARMY FIELDED ITS FIRST LASERweapon-equipped unit in October. Based at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, the unit took possession of four laser-equipped Stryker infantry combat vehicles, each mounting a 50-kilowatt-class laser-weapon system. The combination of Stryker and laser can down both artillery, such as mortars and rockets, and drones in-flight.

Why It's So Hard to Mine the World's Largest Lithium Deposit

A Pass, or Peehee Mu'huh to the local Paiute people has been mined since the 1970s, so the new analysis merely confirms what locals have long known about the area.

WHAT THE WORLD'S MOST POWERFUL X-RAY LASER WILL DO FOR SCIENCE

DEEP UNDER MENLO PARK, California, there is a threemile-long machine operating in a tunnel that scientists are keeping colder than even some of the deepest reaches of space.

POPULAR MECHANICS TOP AWARDS 2024

For more than 120 years, Popular Mechanics has been a heavy-duty brand. We see no reason to change that now.

How Three Amateurs Solved the Zodiac Killer's '340' Cipher

The mysterious code stumped the FBI and NSA for 53 years. What does the key, and the resulting solution, tell us about the infamous murderer?

TAIL AS OLD AS TIME

Was Bobi the world's longest-lived dogor just another casualty of Big Kibble?

LOVE, DEMENTIA AND ROBOTICS

When my parents got sick, I turned to a NEW GENERATION of roboticists and their GLOWING, TALKING, WARMHEARTED creations.

IN DEFENSE OF JAVASCRIPT

Mock it all you want-but it runs the world. Possibly even literally.

THE PROVINCE OF ALL MANKIND

TWO NATIONS. A HORRIBLE ACCIDENT. AND THE URGENT NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE LAWS OF SPACE RIGHT NOW.

DEATH OF A PRESIDENT

Three decades after a devastating nuclear war between the US and China, a divided America faces a new threat to its very DNA. An excerpt from 2054: A Novel.

THE Algorithmic Authenticity OF Shou Zi Chew

The CEO of the world's most influential social media company likes tacos, Sheryl Crow, and Diablo IV. Is he for real-ora really good politician?

EVERY WOMAN IS AN ISLAND

Matriarchy, money, and a modern mariner named Marina.

Arsenic: The "King of Poisons"

Few things are saddled with darker connotations than arsenic. Used throughout much of history as a human poison, arsenic has become inexorably linked with death.

Why IQ Tests Are Bad Math

Some experts who study intelligence quotient (IQ) tests say these models are mathematically imperfect and can even lead to race and class discrimination.

Giving New Life to a Vintage Toolbox

Rust stripper plus spray paint overhaul a box that launched a business.

The Safest Table Saw Tech Comes to Home Workshops

Big Important Product

CAPTAIN AI

IN 2022, A VESSEL WITH NO HUMANS ABOARD SET SAIL ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. WOULD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE .BE ENOUGH TO KEEP IT AFLOAT?

The First Roads We'll Build on the Moon

PLANS FOR A FUTURE LUNAR MINING base and the 2025 Artemis III landing on the moon are about to launch a new era of human presence on the moon.

How to Break in Leather Boots

WHEN PERFECTLY SHAPED TO your foot, a well-worn leather boot can skyrocket to the top of your most comfortable boot list. Now, a leather boot that has not been properly broken in that's a different story, and one without as comfortable an ending.

Gadget AWARD'S

Life's good, but having the right tools can make it a hell of a lot better. The tech on the following pages can make knocking out work, gaming with friends, and controlling your home easier. Our editors spent the past year testing dozens of electronics ranging from smartphones to televisions. They used a mix of software benchmarks (where applicable), measurements, and extensive hands-on evaluation to find the devices that offer the most value and best performance-all to identify quality products best poised to serve you for years to come.

The Silver Bridge Was a Marvel of Engineering - THEN IT CAME CRASHING DOWN.

How a risky design, cost-cutting, and strange supernatural warnings changed a small town forever

POWER STATIONS

For some folks, the advantages of portable power stations make them an ideal choice.

The Perfect Whiskey-toWater Ratio

NEAT OR ON THE ROCKS? OR MAYBE just a touch of water? It's a question long debated by whiskey lovers and one largely left to personal preference until now.

A. I. Goes to War

Ships without crews. Autonomous drone swarms. A small U.S. Navy task force is using off-the-shelf robotics and Artificial Intelligence to prepare for the next great conflict at sea

The Fractal Immortality of Grimes

I thought my interview with Grimes-the mysterious techno artist, fan of all nerddom, and the deepest of insiders in Elon Musk's world-would be one-on-one. Instead it wound up as a roundtable discussion. Turns out there are multiple personas embedded in the surprisingly haimish human who sat under a tree with me and spent the waning hours of an afternoon in conversation. There was Claire Boucher, the given name of a Vancouver kid obsessed with video games and devoted to provoking adults with misbehavior and the embrace of taboo subjects. There was Grimes, the self-invented, scrappy DIY musician and provocateur who weaves sci-fi into her work and released what Pitchfork judged to be the second-best song of the 2010s. And there was her preferred nomenclature, "c," invoking the speed of light

THE GREAT DIVIDE

There are two ways to compute, and two ways to see the world. It's batch vs. loopand we really need them to reconcile

THE DEFECTOR

Doug Rushkoff was one of tech's founding optimists. Now he's renouncing the digital revolution. He says it's the only human option.

SAFETY FIRST

Fears that artificial intelligence might wipe us out have fueled the rise of protest groups like Pause Al. Their warnings are far-fetched, but not that far-fetched

FRAUD TRACKER

With her blog Web3 Is Going Just Great, software engineer Molly White rains on the crypto parade. She doesn't feel great about it

MIND WIDE OPEN

Kids soak up new skills, adults not so much. But neuroscientist Gül Dölen might have found a way to help grownups learn like littles and heal from stroke and trauma. Step one: Take psychedelics.