Popular Science

Popular Science has been demystifying the worlds of science and technology since 1872. Our digital subscription delivers deeply reported stories that explain the inner workings of the phone in your pocket, explore world-changing innovations, and examine everything from the marvels of deep space to the secret lives of staples like bread.

Gimme the dirt

Popular Science • Vol. 294, No. 1

The messes we can’t resist cleaning up

Should I worry about my child being dirty?

Did I really just eat a spider?

How do blunders turn to wonders?

Could the power grid run on garbage?

Am I really that stinky?

What do tangled cables have to do with DNA?

Can we clean the internet?

Dust in the wind • A team of scientists takes on the big threats posed by tiny particles.

A mess of cosmic proportions • Earth’s orbit is packed with human garbage. Can these six innovations help make it a little more, well, spacious?

Tuff luck • The unlikely story of a kitchen scrubber and the marine biologists who can’t live without it

Science’s dirtiest jobs • 10 of the slimiest, stickiest, stinkiest, squickiest, and most essential jobs in the field

Cave of wonders • The wriggling residents of the darkest, wettest, and most toxic places may hold secrets to a better life for us all.

Street smarts • To realize a vision of bustling city streets shared safely and equitably among cars, bikes, buses, and pedestrians, one Pittsburgh company is focused on reinventing the humble traffic light.

Stuck in the past • Like archival animation cels, the most rarefied amber specimens reveal stories frozen in time.

The rise of the rodents • How science came to rely on the humble lab rat

Genuine lather • Every mess presents a unique cleaning challenge. Grab a bar that specifically targets whatever filth is on your hands.

Super soakers • Pressure washers blast grime with a jet of water. Choose the right power level to destroy dirt—and not your property.

Pile driver