Popsci

In my recent Darknet series, I attempted to connect the dots on the Deep Web. I covered the two largest anonymity networks on the Internet today, Tor and I2P. While my initial four articles were meant as an introduction, I ended up receiving a lot of interesting comments and m ...more

Got an upset stomach or a little heartburn? America's favorite pink pill will cure it right up. But did you know that there's actually metal hiding in those chewable Pepto-Bismol tablets? Yes, metal. Technically, it's a poor metal, but metal's metal, right? Well, we do tend to ...more

Apparently submerging a hand in liquid nitrogen isn't as painful as one might suspect (if you trust the Leidenfrost effect as much as Theodore of Gray Matter): I hadn't realized that my hand was quite so deep into the liquid. Amazingly, I barely felt the cold at all. My skin ...more

As Popsci says, these DIY snow vehicles show winter who's boss. The Snow Chopper Two government employed mechanics in Antarctica built a "snow chopper" with junkyard parts and trash. The engine and track are from a totaled 1981 Ski-Doo Elan, and everything else from "savvy d ...more

45-year-old French medical technician, François Knorreck, has spent ten years and $22,000 building the ultimate luxury sidecar: a motorcycle seamlessly attached to a Lamborghini body. The 877 pound vehicle can go up to 125 mph and took 63 handmade bodywork molds to build. “Th ...more

Sure, you've folded paper airplanes before. But I bet they don't stay airborne for very long. But they will, thanks to this clever little hack. PopSci designed their eAT-6 "Texan" paper airplane specifically to meet the requirements of their secret ingredient: a motor. Equip ...more

I loved the Gold Rush unit back in third grade. We went up to the American River and panned for gold, and my panning skills balled above all. I got like three tiny pellets. Of course, it was all fool's gold, aka pyrite, but it was still pretty legit. And this was before wearin ...more

We've seen compressed air power a homemade rocket, shoot erasers across the room, and even remove dents from a vehicle, but how about breaking a bike lock? As Theodore Gray of PopSci explains, no matter how tough your lock is, there's one thing that will defeat it every time— ...more

You may think of sugar as purely a sweet ingredient meant for baking, but it can actually be a deadly explosive, according to PopSci's Gray Matter: "In 2008 the sweetener killed 14 people in Georgia -- not from diabetes or heart disease, but in a violent explosion. Absence of ...more

PopSci breaks down how basic functions of R/C work. Once you've mastered it, the sky is the limit. You can remote control anything. Well, almost anything. "The basic R/C setup consists of a transmitter, a receiver, and several actuators on the receiving end—either servos (ele ...more

25-year-old Anthony Le, of Colorado is THE ultimate Iron Man fan. A cosplay fan, Anthony decided to try his hand at building a super realistic Iron Man suit, just in time for the release of Iron Man 2. The incredibly talented fitness consultant did above and beyond what you mi ...more

WonderHowTo has seen its fair share of dragon-related projects, from dragon wings, to dragon kites, to less-complicated origami dragons, but we've yet to see anything quite like this. Radio-control plane builder Richard Hamel built this incredible seven-foot-long, fire-breathi ...more

After 3,000 man hours and $100 grand spent, 49-year-old Randy Grubb of rural Oregon turned this old junker long-haul truck... ...into this truly breathtaking beauty (who goes by the name of Piss’d Off Pete): Here are the specs, via PopSci: DESIGN "Grubb opted for thinner t ...more

Winter is coming... and if you don't get that Game of Thrones reference, it's okay, you're still cool in my book. Winter (or the zombie apocalypse) officially starts on December 21st, and if it isn't already cold where you are, it's going to be. That means bundling up in warm ...more

You knew that the food you eat gives you energy, but did you know it can actually power a thermal lance with enough heat to burn through steel? A thermal lance, as in, the tool used to demolish buildings and bridges. Theodore Gray set out to create one entirely out of bacon, ...more

It took him a year to build and about $30,000 in parts, but Steve Hassenplug has created a truly magnificent robotic chess set, inspired by the magical chessboard in the first Harry Potter movie. Quite a task, but Hassenplug did an incredible job! Via PopSci: "Hassenplug and ...more

Even if you're not a hipster with your own self-sufficient garden, making your own edibles at home can be pretty cool. And while it's obviously easier to pick up a bottle of 7-Up at the store, there's something undoubtedly fun about making your own. For those addicted to their ...more

PopSci's Gray Matter demonstrates again and again what the layman should absolutely Not Try at Home. Which is precisely what makes Gray's experiments so fun. Remember when the mad scientist fully submerged his hand in liquid nitrogen? Today's demonstration also plays with what ...more

R/C car manufacturer Losi just recently released the LOSI 1/10 TEN-T TRUGGY RTR, which is apparently the world's most advanced radio controlled car. The Ten-T is 18 inches long and 6.2 pounds, and operates like a real race car (but at 1/10 of the size). Check out these specs ...more

PopSci's Gray Matter explains how to "hack light", a simple project that calls for glow sticks, diagonal cutters and Drano. Here's the science behind it: "When you bend a light stick, you break open a glass ampule inside. Diphenyl oxalate in the ampule reacts with hydrogen pe ...more

PopSci has compiled an amazing list of 30 college labs that would tempt anybody to re-enroll. If you know any high school juniors or prospective grad students, pass this along. They just might reconsider their initial choices. 30 courses are pictured below, click through to P ...more

A recent Japanese study proposes a simpler, softer, more natural-feeling alternative to silicone breast implants: fat-derived stem cells. The cells are extracted from liposuctioned fat, and then injected into the patient to increase breast circumference. San Diego-based biotec ...more

Popsci has posted 2009's most amazing scientific images, and there's quite a few great ones in there. A few of our favorites below, click through for all 62. In short, Cow Farts. "Scientists measure methane at the source: In a lush pasture near Buenos Aires, this cow and its ...more

Incredible. A company called Berry Plastics (in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers) has developed a working bomb proof wallpaper. The technology has the ability to protect against both natural disasters and warfare. From Popsci: "X-Flex...is designed for use a ...more

Using a combination of technology and animation techniques, two students at the Oslo School of Architecture and Design have created a visual model of RFID fields. From PopSci: "The video was created using a custom-created LED wand that lights up whenever it is in the presenc ...more

One word. Awesome. Wish your Honda had army tank capabilities? Luckily, Russian DIYers have come up with a totally badass conversion kit that uses tank treads to turn your car into a monster. Says PopSci, "As shown in the video below, the system can convert any car, from an ...more

Arcade gaming just got about a million times cooler. VirtuSphere offers an interface that captures the players movements in 360 degrees, and then translates these movements into a video game. Rumors of the technology first emerged back in 2006, but the real life application ha ...more

Coming soon! Popsci reports that a multitouch skin that can make any surface a touchscreen will be released this summer. Portuguese company Displax will "market a multitouch capable, super-thin polymer "skin" that can be applied to any material -- flat, curved, opaque, transp ...more

Shot with a Nokia N8 cell phone equipped with a 50x CellScope microscope, Dot is the world’s smallest stop motion animated film. Created by the makers of the Wallace & Gromit series, the figures were made with a 3D printer, each hand-painted with the aid of a microscope. Watch ...more

Innovative or downright frightening? Popsci examines five of the world's scariest science experiments-in-progress. Suitcase Nukes "Scientists are trying to develop pure-fusion reactions—bursts that don’t require uranium or plutonium to ignite—for clean energy. But they could ...more

There's a HowTo behind everything, including the astounding, just released 3-D Avatar. Reviews across the board agree with one thing: the film is visually breathtaking. PopSci explains the technology behind the filmmaking. "...James Cameron decided nearly a decade ago to film ...more

Dr. Anthony Atala landed a place in PopSci's Best of 2006 with his homegrown bladders. Now Atala returns to the spotlight at a recent TED talk, discussing his current project of "printing" organs. Via TED, "Anthony Atala's state-of-the-art lab grows human organs -- from musc ...more

There is little design artifice to this device. This EMILY (Emergency Integrated Lifesaving LanYard is a $3500 robot-lifeguard purchased for Malibu lifeguards. Remote-controlled and capable of 28 mph, product testing confirms that EMILY just might be smarter than David Hasselh ...more