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Psychologists made people look at spiders. They didn't like it.

Popular Science

Environment Animals Wildlife Spiders Psychologists made people look at spiders. Humans will try to focus on almost anything else. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. There are plenty of studies examining why humans are so hardwired to detest spiders . However, fewer researchers have spent time investigating just far we'll go to avoid even looking at them.At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, psychologists decided to find out for themselves.


Yosemite's glowing, golden waterfall is flowing again

Popular Science

Environment Yosemite's glowing, golden waterfall is flowing again The annual natural phenomenon event is expected to last until February 26. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. As if California's Yosemite National Park wasn't magical enough, its famous El Capitan rock formation is graced with an exhilarating phenomenon every February. The Horsetail Fall--a waterfall that falls across the formation's eastern side--can take on an otherworldly gleam during the latter part of the month. During those gorgeous moments, the water flow looks like a stream of gold hurtling down the rock face, and it's hard to believe that it's just nature doing its thing.


Teen brothers build a Disney-inspired ride in family basement

Popular Science

Nico (right) and Matteo Mucchetti pose with their homemade dark ride vehicle. We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. When 12-year-old Matteo Mucchetti mapped out an amusement-style attraction that he wanted to create in his family's basement and then showed it to his older brother Nico, the high-school sophomore was immediately sold. "This is amazing," said Nico. "Let's make it!" Matteo had sketched on paper a top-down view of the multi-room space in Bear, Delaware, where they live.


Humans really don't need chins

Popular Science

Science Biology Evolution Humans really don't need chins Homo sapiens are the only primates that have them, but they don't make us special. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Auguste Rodin's is one of the art world's most recognizable images. The monumental depiction of a man hunched forward, right hand resting against his chin, is synonymous with humanity's capacity for deep contemplation, abstract thinking, and self-reflection. But while Rodin crafted his work of art in hopes of highlighting our unique cognitive abilities, the sculpture inadvertently highlights another facet that sets us apart from all other species: are the only primates to boast chins.


Elephants are smart. So are their whiskers.

Popular Science

Environment Animals Wildlife Elephants are smart. Their 1,000 whiskers make them dextrous enough to pick up a tortilla chip. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. An elephant's trunk is a wonder of evolution. Gentle, yet dextrous, it can pick up solid items, help them communicate, and be a helpful showering too l.


The oldest-known humpback whale recording was hiding in an archive

Popular Science

The audio, etched onto a plastic disc in 1949, predates the era when researchers could even recognize whale calls. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. In 1970, a single record would change history.


Comet 3I/ATLAS is leaving the solar system with a dramatic light show

Popular Science

The interstellar space rock shows off the illuminating effects of its brush with the sun. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. After months of unprecedented observations, astronomers are bidding goodbye to the beloved comet 3I/ATLAS . First spotted in July 2025, the frigid, dusty space rock is only the third known interstellar object to pass through the solar system, offering researchers the rare opportunity to examine a visitor from deep space. Among other discoveries, scientists have since confirmed that the interstellar comet is the fastest ever recorded as well as covered in ice volcanoes --and definitely not extraterrestrial tourists .

  Country: North America > United States (0.17)
  Genre: Research Report > New Finding (0.36)

The U.S. Olympic bobsled team borrowed Honda's wind tunnel for test runs

Popular Science

The U.S. Olympic bobsled team borrowed Honda's wind tunnel for test runs In West Liberty, Ohio, Team USA athletes boarded their bobsleds to gather data on aerodynamics. Honda's Ohio wind tunnel is 110,000 square feet and is typically used to measure vehicle aerodynamics. Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. In the daredevil sport of bobsledding, intrepid athletes crammed into a narrow sleigh offer their fates to gravity as they hurl down a banked, twisty ice track. Races can be won or lost in one hundredth of a second. The sleds reach speeds of 90+ miles per hour and the athletes withstand forces up to 5g.


Human head transplants' gory, Frankenstein-esque history

Popular Science

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. In Mary Shelley's, a mad scientist creates a monstrous creature with severed body parts. In certain film adaptations, a dismembered head is tacked onto the malformed body. Then, with the help of a lightning storm, a new life is born. From the first successful kidney transplant in 1954, modern organ transplantation has often been linked to the horrors of Frankenstein .


Medieval elite still received fancy burials despite disease stigma

Popular Science

Breakthroughs, discoveries, and DIY tips sent six days a week. Wealth confers privilege, and for many people during the Middle Ages, this privilege extended into the afterlife . The trend often mirrored their relationship with religion before their deaths, too--nobility and knights frequently ensured they sat in the front pews of services. Money is only one facet of social relations, however. Communities have long discriminated against and ostracized residents with debilitating illnesses--especially those with outward physical effects.