Science
Popular Mechanics US
Mythic Golden Armor
THE ANCIENT CHINESE LEGEND THAT Tang dynasty rulers donned gold-plated armor in battle has long been mere myth—until now.
1 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
The Great Green Wall
IT'S NO SECRET THAT CHINA IS PARTICUlarly adept at building things.
1 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
DOES AVI LOEB KNOW SOMETHING THE REST OF US DON'T?
The Harvard astrophysicist has devoted yearsand thousands of interviews-to the idea that mysterious objects streaking through space could be alien technology. What if he's right?
10+ min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
Treasure in the Great Wall
CHINA’S FAMED GREAT WALL continues to reveal secrets of the past.
1 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
Inside the Top Secret Project That Led to One of the World’s Greatest Counterespionage Feats
THESE FEMALE CODEBREAKERS UNRAVELED A SOVIET SPY NETWORK—AND KEPT IT TO THEMSELVES FOR HALF A CENTURY.
10+ min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
OUR BACKWARD MAGNETOSPHERE
DUE TO THE MOVEMENT OF IRON AND nickel in our planet’s outer core, Earth is continuously creating a magnetic field that forms the magnetosphere—a protective bubble that shields life from the radiative dangers of space.
2 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
Rapid Evolution
THE FAMOUS ANALOGY GOES THAT IF all of Earth’s geologic history were compressed into a single calendar year, modern humans wouldn’t make an appearance until around 11:50 p.m. on New Year’s Eve.
2 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
AVOID THIS COMMON PRESSURE WASHER MISTAKE
Improper startup and sloppy technique can destroy a pressure washer’s pump, damage surfaces, and cost you more than the actual machine itself.
1 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
Unsinkable Material
THE NATURAL WORLD IS HUMANITY’S greatest inspiration, and its influence can be seen all throughout our modern society.
1 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
The Stewards of Chernobyl
ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF PAST midnight on April 26, 1986, an unexpected power surge coursed through a reactor at Ukraine’s Chernobyl power plant.
1 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
The Father of Architecture
AN ANCIENT BASILICA DISCOVERED beneath the Italian city of Fano has been labeled “a sensational finding” by Italian Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli, “something that our grandchildren will be talking about.\"
2 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
Predicting the Future
A TEAM OF MATHEMATICIANS has recently taken steps to improve our ability to predict future data.
2 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
MEASURE HOW LOUD YOUR GENERATOR IS
BE A GOOD NEIGHBOR.
1 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
6 TIPS TO KEEP YOUR CONTRACTOR HAPPY
In my experience as a contractor, I’ve always looked at the opportunity to work in someone else’s home as a huge honor.
1 min |
July/August 2026
Popular Mechanics US
HOW TO UNCLOG A SINK
IF YOUR SINK IS CLOGGED AND PLUNGING fails to clear the blockage, look to your P-trap (or simply, “trap”) before calling a plumber.
1 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
A WEIRD (AND FREE!) SOUND SYSTEM HACK
THERE ARE SO MANY VARIABLES TO how a room's dimensions, a building's construction, the placement of furniture, and the materials of that furniture affect the sound of speakers and subwoofers that there's no way to offer a one-size-fits-all, \"put it here\" maxim for the absolute best subwoofer sound quality.
1 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
The Fringes of Life
AT FIRST GLANCE, CREATING A DEFINItion of \"life\" seems simple.
2 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
THE SAND THIEVES
Sand is the hidden architecture of our modern world—but it's running out. Global mafias are stealing this precious resource from right beneath our feet, and they're willing to kill for it.
10+ min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
OPERATION PLUTO
THE ALLIES’ SECRET UNDERWATER WEAPON THAT HELPED DEFEAT THE NAZIS
10+ min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
5 WAYS TO KEEP YOUR GENERATOR IN WORKING ORDER
IF YOU HAVE A GAS GENERAtor, use ethanol-free gas treated with fuel stabilizer, and maintain a full tank when not in use; keep a gas can full of stabilized fuel on hand during peak disaster season.
1 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
Minivans
MINIVANS ARE MAKING A COMEBACK, and that's kind of surprising, as they're some of the most polarizing vehicles on the road and have always been built with a function-over-form ethos.
1 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
3 WAYS TO FIND A STUD WITHOUT A STUD FINDER
There is a noticeably hollow sound when you knock on the space between the studs versus when you knock on drywall that has a stud behind it.
1 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
A Cell-Sized Elephant
EVER SINCE THE POPULARITY OF 3D printing skyrocketed in the midaughts, people have been manufacturing everything from chocolate to rocket fuel-and that list now includes a microscopic elephant inside of a living cell. Technology has really leveled up since 2005.
1 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
WHO SETS THE DOOMSDAY CLOCK?
In the shadow of my family's atomic legacy, I set out to understand the increasingly urgent debate about humanity's capacity to end itself and what it can teach us about living.
10+ min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
THE BEST HEIGHT TO HANG YOUR TV
MOUNTING YOUR TV UP HIGH, LIKE over the fireplace, can be tempting—but it’s impractical at best and a literal pain in the neck at worst.
1 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
The DIYer's Guide to Ladders
WHILE WE DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHEN HUMAN beings made a conscious effort to leave the ground, one possible clue about that timeline comes from cave paintings discovered in Spain in the 20th century.
9 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
The Hot Blob Headed for New York City
GERMAN METEOROLOGIST ALFRED Wegener proposed the theory of continental drift more than a century ago, in 1912.
2 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
Our Shifting Poles
EVER SINCE WE STARTED constructing them, man-made dams have come with unintended consequences.
2 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
Tomb 38
TUCKED AWAY MORE THAN SIX FEET underground, down a stone staircase in Egypt's Aga Khan Mausoleum in Aswan, archaeologists discovered what they call \"one of the most architecturally impressive and well-preserved tombs unearthed to date.\"
1 min |
January / February 2026
Popular Mechanics US
A STONE VIKING FACE
Graduate student Katie Joss from the University of the Highlands and Islands Archaeology Institute dug up a piece of limestone from a former Viking settlement and found a face carved into the stone.
1 min |