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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.

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.

Our New Moon Epoch

WHEN HUMANS GET INVOLVED IN places they weren't invited, things start to change. The Moon is no different.

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.

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.

SHARPENING YOUR TOOLS

TOOLS LOSE THEIR EDGE AND BECOME DULL. That's a fact of their existence.

CATALYTIC CONVERTER

THERE'S AN ARMY OF THIEVES COMING FOR YOUR

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,

Cutting the Cord

THE HANDHELD CIRCULAR SAW IS PERHAPS THE MOST VERSAtile power tool for cutting wood.

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?

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.

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?

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Giving New Life to a Vintage Toolbox

Rust stripper plus spray paint overhaul a box that launched a business.

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.

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)

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.

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.

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.

The Safest Table Saw Tech Comes to Home Workshops

Big Important Product

POWER STATIONS

For some folks, the advantages of portable power stations make them an ideal choice.

The Silver Bridge Was a Marvel of Engineering - THEN IT CAME CRASHING DOWN.

How a risky design, cost-cutting, and strange supernatural warnings changed a small town forever

Gadget AWARD'S

Life's good, but having the right tools can make it a hell of a lot better. The tech on the following pages can make knocking out work, gaming with friends, and controlling your home easier. Our editors spent the past year testing dozens of electronics ranging from smartphones to televisions. They used a mix of software benchmarks (where applicable), measurements, and extensive hands-on evaluation to find the devices that offer the most value and best performance-all to identify quality products best poised to serve you for years to come.

CAPTAIN AI

IN 2022, A VESSEL WITH NO HUMANS ABOARD SET SAIL ACROSS THE ATLANTIC. WOULD ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE .BE ENOUGH TO KEEP IT AFLOAT?

Can AI Really Teach a Novice Wood-worker How to Complete Their First Project?

What began as a "simple" thought experiment quickly morphed into a complicated and potentially dangerous hands-on experience in the real world of woodworking

A Living History of the Humble Paper Airplane

For centuries, paper airplanes have unlocked the science of flight—now they could inspire drone designs