Science
Popular Mechanics US
The Next Generation of RAM
YOUR COMPUTER WOULDN'T BE VERY useful without RAM, which is short for random access memory.
2 min |
September - October 2024
Popular Mechanics US
HOW TO FIX A DEAD WALL OUTLET
An outlet can lose power for any number of reasons. Here are a few of them-plus solutions.
1 min |
September - October 2024
Popular Mechanics US
The End of the Maya Kingdom
A TEAM OF ARCHAEOLOGISTS DISCOVERED clues from between A.D. 733 and 881 that they say represent a key turning point in Maya rule-and a very public one at that.
1 min |
September - October 2024
Popular Mechanics US
The Existence of Wigner Crystals
PHYSICISTS FROM PRINCETON UNIVERSITY have confirmed that electrons don't even need atoms in order to party together.
2 min |
September - October 2024
Popular Mechanics US
The First AntiShip Ballistic Missile Attack- Since the outbreak of conflict between Hamas and Israel in October 2023, the Houthis have launched dozens of missiles and kamikaze drones at Israeli and U.S. targets in a show of support for Palestine.
The U.S. Navy Destroyer Mason (DDG87) was wrapping up a mission rescuing a tanker from pirates in the Gulf of Aden when the situation sharply escalated. The ship's radar detected at least one-or possibly two-missiles moving toward its position at supersonic speeds, each loaded with well over a half ton of explosives.
3 min |
July - August 2024
Popular Mechanics US
The Surprising Drama Behind the Decimal Point - When german mathematician Christopher Clavius introduced the world to the humble decimal point in 1593, he used it in one table, and never mentioned it or used it again.
When german mathematician Christopher Clavius introduced the world to the humble decimal point in 1593, he used it in one table, and never mentioned it or used it again.
2 min |
July - August 2024
Popular Mechanics US
The Obelisk– Lifeforms hiding in humans
Scientists have just discovered new "lifeforms" inside our bodies. Tiny bits of RNA, smaller than a virus, colonize bacteria inside our mouths and guts and have the power to transfer information that can be read by a cell.
1 min |
July - August 2024
Popular Mechanics US
After You Die, a Universe Eats Your Body
Scientists are unraveling the secrets of the necrobiome the ecosystem that takes over our corpses after death.
10+ min |
July - August 2024
Popular Mechanics US
A Blistering Inferno. A Whirling Tornado. A Shocking Crash
Aerial firefighters have always been a critical line of defense against raging wildfires. But increasingly extreme blazes and a horrific accident have many wondering how we'll adapt to fires of the future.
10+ min |
July - August 2024
Popular Mechanics US
Our New Moon Epoch
WHEN HUMANS GET INVOLVED IN places they weren't invited, things start to change. The Moon is no different.
1 min |
July - August 2024
Popular Mechanics US
Rapid Evolution
ON APRIL 26, 1986, THE No. 4 reactor at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in northern Ukrainethen part of the Soviet Union-exploded, sending a massive plume of radiation into the sky. Nearly four decades later, the facility and much of the surrounding area remain uninhabited-by humans, at least.
2 min |
July - August 2024
Popular Mechanics US
HOW TO GET STARTED SOLDERING
Soldering is rapidly becoming the skill of a bygone era. Much like the ability to drive a car with a manual transmission, read a map, or write a check, younger generations are learning less about how to work with their hands-and it's time for that to change.
5 min |
July - August 2024
Popular Mechanics US
SHARPENING YOUR TOOLS
TOOLS LOSE THEIR EDGE AND BECOME DULL. That's a fact of their existence.
4 min |
July - August 2024
Popular Mechanics US
CATALYTIC CONVERTER
THERE'S AN ARMY OF THIEVES COMING FOR YOUR
10+ min |
July - August 2024
Popular Mechanics US
The Cascading Failures Behind One of the Worst Building Collapses in U.S. History
Engineers are still investigating the collapse of Champlain Towers South in Surfside Florida, but early findings shed light on a risk facing poorly constructed residential and office buildings,
8 min |
March - April 2024
Popular Mechanics US
Cutting the Cord
THE HANDHELD CIRCULAR SAW IS PERHAPS THE MOST VERSAtile power tool for cutting wood.
2 min |
March - April 2024
Popular Mechanics US
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?
10+ min |
March - April 2024
Popular Mechanics US
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.
6 min |
March - April 2024
Popular Mechanics US
How This Particle Could Break Our Understanding of Reality
EINSTEIN'S SPECIAL THEORY OF relativity teaches us that nothing can accelerate past the speed of light. But what if, when you were born, you were already moving faster than light? What would that look like?
3 min |
March - April 2024
Popular Mechanics US
The Right Way to Use a Fire Extinguisher
A FIRE EXTINGUISHER IS MORE THAN A of one 5-gallon bucket becomes the size of 64 burning buckets. Just 180 seconds after it begins, a fire can be transformed from a nuisance to a room-size, life-threatening inferno.
2 min |
March - April 2024
Popular Mechanics US
How the World's Largest Spherical Structure Was Built
THE SHINY, NEW LAS VEGAS SPHERE IS more than just a 17,600-seat amphitheaterstyle venue hosting a U2 residency. Since its opening in September 2023, it's become the world's largest spherical structure, at 516 feet wide and 366 feet tall.
2 min |
March - April 2024
Popular Mechanics US
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.
3 min |
March - April 2024
Popular Mechanics US
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.
2 min |
March - April 2024
Popular Mechanics US
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.
3 min |
March - April 2024
Popular Mechanics US
Giving New Life to a Vintage Toolbox
Rust stripper plus spray paint overhaul a box that launched a business.
4 min |
September - October 2023
Popular Mechanics US
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.
2 min |
September - October 2023
Popular Mechanics US
The Ways to Travel the Multiverse
For nearly 100 years, physicists have been trying to reconcile the physics of the smallest building blocks of the universe (quantum physics) with the physics of the galactically large (Einstein's theory of general relativity)
2 min |
July - August 2023
Popular Mechanics US
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.
1 min |
September - October 2023
Popular Mechanics US
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.
2 min |
September - October 2023
Popular Mechanics US
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.
2 min |