Popular Science

Few cultures exist in a vacuum, even those separated from others by hundreds of miles of open sea like the island nation of Japan. Nearly 70 years ago, archaeologists discovered an ancient suit of armor beneath one of the island nation’s most prominent historical sites. Now, researchers can finally trace the 1,400-year-old armor’s telltale artisanry back to Korea. Specifically, to the Baejke Kingdom—one of Korea’s three major empires dating back to the 18th century BCE.

Buddhism truly began to flourish in Japan beginning in the sixth century CE after monks arrived from mainland China and Korea. Few places represent this monumental cultural shift more than the Asuka-dera Temple complex, located about 23 miles southeast of Osaka. 

Asuka-Dera’s establishment near the start of the seventh century marked the first full-scale Buddhist temple on the island archipelago.

According to ancient documents including the second-oldest history of Japan, Nihon Shoki, craftsmen and monks from the Baekje Kingdom helped build the temple complex. Baekje was one of the “Three Kingdoms of Korea” that flourished between the 18th century BCE and 660 CE.

Archaeologists from the Nara National Research Institute for Cultural Properties originally located the armor fragments beneath a pagoda’s foundation during 1957 excavation work. While its construction resembled armor previously linked to Baekje royal sites in Korea, technology at the time wasn’t advanced enough to supply a definitive answer.

In 2015, however, equipment like X-ray and 3D imaging finally allowed researchers to further examine the Asuka-dera armor. They discovered that, like Baekje armor, the Japanese monastery finds were crafted by interlacing small iron plates with cords into what’s known as a lamellar structure. This approach provided wearers with solid protection without sacrificing flexibility, especially because the torso, upper arm, and shoulder segments were all connected into a single shirt-like piece of armor.

Similar armor excavated between 2011 and 2014 at Gongsanseong Fortress, a historic Baekje compound located about 50 miles southeast of Seoul, also supports this. At the fortress, researchers identified inscriptions on the plating that date to 645 CE—around the exact same era as Asuka-Dera’s construction. In 2024, archaeologist Takehiro Hasumura confirmed the overlaps after examining the Gongsanseong specimens firsthand.

By the 7th century, elite Japanese warriors began to adopt keiko-style armor. Like the Baejke design, keiko armor consists of interwoven and flexible lamellar iron scales. Keiko’s adoption—along with its design—now makes it clearer than ever that Baekje artisans, specifically armorers, traveled alongside mainland Buddhist monks and emissaries. 

With additional excavation projects, archaeologists hope to further contextualize other pivotal cultural exchanges between these and other East Asian kingdoms.

The post Armor buried under Japanese temple linked to ancient Korean kingdom appeared first on Popular Science.

Spring is here, and that can only mean one thing: the return of robot birds. In Wyoming’s Grand Teton National Park, rangers and conservationists are once again deploying specially designed robotic decoys of the greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in a bid to encourage breeding. Although they may not exactly look like the real thing to human park visitors, ecologists hope the robo-birds can convince the region’s dwindling grouse population to start reproducing. .

The greater sage-grouse is a prime example of the consequences of habitat loss. Around 16 million of the chicken-sized birds lived across North America at the beginning of the 20th century. Ecological surveys now indicate that by the late 1960s, grouse populations in the West began to decline an average of 2.3 percent every year. While the species as a whole isn’t endangered, populations in areas like Grand Teton National Park are at serious risk of completely disappearing. At one of the park’s breeding sites—known as leks—conservationists only tallied three male grouses last year.

A major reason for Grand Teton’s declining population is owed to years of grazing cows destroying their typical food supplies and hiding spots. Although it’s been decades since the last cattle herds trampled over the region, grouse numbers have yet to improve. Part of this is also due to the nearby Jackson Hole Airport. As the only airport inside the national park, plane traffic has further disrupted the birds’ lives. In some cases, aircraft have even struck and killed unlucky grouse.

Over the last eight years, Grand Teton staff have partnered with various community organizations and local schools to restore around 100 acres of pasture near the airport. They have particularly focused on reintroducing native plants and maintaining leks for grouse breeding. But building up the space is only one part of the battle.

“One of the challenges with restoration is that even when you create great habitat, wildlife doesn’t always show up right away,” Grand Teton Park spokesperson Emily Davis explained in a recent SFGATE profile.

Like a similar project last year, rangers tasked local high schoolers to help bring back the grouse. For 2026, they enlisted the RoboBroncs—Jackson Hole High School’s robotics team—to design and build mechanical grouse decoys. While the bodies are largely composed of repurposed materials like blankets and packing foam, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department supplied actual pointy tail feathers.

There are two types of robo-grouse installed at Grand Teton Park—stationary mounts, as well as automated models built to move and dance like the actual birds during mating rituals. Some of them are even capable of puffing their chests like a male grouse. To boost the realism, recorded breeding calls are also played every day beginning at 5 a.m. on nearby concealed speakers.

“The idea is to encourage birds to begin displaying and mating at the restored site,” Davis explained. “Because brood-rearing happens near the lek, this can help draw more sage-grouse to the area over time.”

With any luck, the robotic assistants will help steer sage-grouse away from the airport towards restored habitats, where they will meet mates and breed. The standard courtship season lasts through mid-May, and rangers will be monitoring each step of the way using a trail camera.

The post Robot birds deployed in Grand Teton National Park for sexy time appeared first on Popular Science.

Many of the animals we know and love today have tails, from the littlest kitten to the largest whale. These tails vary widely by anatomy and purpose—from the grippy tails of opossums to the balancing tails of kangaroos to the swimming tails of fish. Others tell us how an animal is feeling, like a happy puppy with a wiggly butt. 

Having a tail that extends beyond the anal opening is a requirement of membership in the phylum Chordata, where humans and all other vertebrates reside. But us humans don’t really have a “tail” in the same way most creatures do, at least past eight weeks in the womb. Neither do our closest primate relatives. 

For humans, the story of losing our tails goes way back in the evolutionary timeline. “The reason that humans don’t have tails is that our ancestors didn’t have tails,” says Carol Ward, a distinguished professor in the integrative anatomy program at the University of Missouri. But how we lost tails is a story that goes back at least 20 million years into human—and ape—geneological history. 

One tail of a mystery

In the heart of the Miocene, land-dwelling animals were starting to look more and more like the fauna of today. During this era, which lasted from around 23 million years ago to five million years ago, the first dog-bears appeared, primitive giraffes frolicked through Eurasia, and dog-sized three-toed horse ancestors lived in Florida. 

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Humans, on the other hand, weren’t exactly humans yet. Human evolution is a story of divergence that goes back to the Miocene when African apes split off from orangutans. Recent research estimates that the last common ancestor between humans, chimps, and bonobos split off around five to six million years ago, and evidence for early members of the Homo genus didn’t appear in the fossil record until around 2.8 million years ago. 

The trouble here is that these evolutionary cousins of ours are also tailless. So to find a tailed relative, we have to go back even further. Around 25 to 30 million years ago, our ape ancestors branched off from tailed monkeys. Once that split happened, many species of tailless apes started popping up in the millions of years that followed. This makes it pretty much impossible to determine which exact tailless species would go on to evolve into us, says Ward. 

The fossil record only offers us limited glimpses of what was happening, but even those snippets are enlightening. One such glimpse is the Ekembo, a genus with specimens dating back 17 to 20 million years ago that have been found in Kenya. Fossils of one species in this genus, the Ekembo heseloni, offer up a pretty good look at the relationship between apes and tails at the time, says Ward. These guys probably looked like chimps with legs and arms of the same length, adds Ward, and fossil evidence suggests that these creatures climbed on tree branches on all fours and kept the long, bendy lower backs that modern apes eventually lost. But what they were missing was the key components necessary for a tail. 

When it comes to pinpointing when ape tails disappeared, we have to look to the sacrum fossil, the bony structure at the base of our lumbar vertebrae. Sacrum fossils for say, cats and other tailed mammals, lead into a bunch of tail vertebrae. For apes and humans, the sacrum ends with just a small tip. 

“We have that small tippy point for Ekembo heseloni,” Ward says, “We know that sacrum could not have supported a tail, and that animal didn’t have one.”

The above skeleton belongs to an ancient ape, Ekembo nyanzae, dating back 17 to 20 million years ago that have been found in Kenya. Image: Ghedoghedo / CC BY-SA 3.0

But Ekembo isn’t the only example of a tailless primate from around this time. Another Miocene-era ape dubbed Nacholapithecus appears in Kenya’s fossil record about 15 million years ago. Fossils of these creatures’ sacrums demonstrate that they too wouldn’t have been able to support a tail, adds Ward.

While it’s not clear which exact ape goes on to become a hominid millions of years down the line, the evidence shows that apes had evolved to be tailless in this time period. And if our ancient ape ancestors didn’t have tails, homidis—and, in turn, humans—won’t either. 

Why hominid (and ape) tails disappeared

So we know pretty certainly that the “human” tail went the way of the dinosaurs long before humans were a twinkle in evolution’s eye. But why? There are a bunch of theories, but it may have to do with movement and motion, Ward suggests. 

Even though we, and our tailless brethren like gorillas, chimps, and gibbons, are related to these 20-million-year-old apes in some capacity, they likely looked very different from their modern counterparts. 

“Modern chimps and gorillas have really long forelimbs, really long hands and fingers, short hind limbs, and a bunch of other features for hanging below branches,” says Ward. “But millions of years ago, that wasn’t the case. [Early apes] had arms and legs that are about the same length, so we’re pretty sure they walked on all fours.” 

These strategies are intertwined with taillessness. While many animals use their tails to help maintain balance while in motion, they are especially useful if that movement is swift—think a running cheetah or a swinging monkey. 

Miocene apes were eating fruit out of trees, explains Ward. Getting to the good stuff on the edge of a fruit tree branch requires supporting their weight on multiple branches, moving slowly and carefully so as to not lose balance. 

For our slow-moving ape ancestors, a tail may have been a waste of energy to grow, or a potential liability waiting to be yanked by a predator. “They were climbing, but they were doing it deliberately,” Ward says. “The tail just didn’t offer an advantage.”

In Ask Us Anything, Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.

The post Why humans don’t have tails appeared first on Popular Science.

Many of the animals we know and love today have tails, from the littlest kitten to the largest whale. These tails vary widely by anatomy and purpose—from the grippy tails of opossums to the balancing tails of kangaroos to the swimming tails of fish. Others tell us how an animal is feeling, like a happy puppy with a wiggly butt. 

Having a tail that extends beyond the anal opening is a requirement of membership in the phylum Chordata, where humans and all other vertebrates reside. But us humans don’t really have a “tail” in the same way most creatures do, at least past eight weeks in the womb. Neither do our closest primate relatives. 

For humans, the story of losing our tails goes way back in the evolutionary timeline. “The reason that humans don’t have tails is that our ancestors didn’t have tails,” says Carol Ward, a distinguished professor in the integrative anatomy program at the University of Missouri. But how we lost tails is a story that goes back at least 20 million years into human—and ape—geneological history. 

One tail of a mystery

In the heart of the Miocene, land-dwelling animals were starting to look more and more like the fauna of today. During this era, which lasted from around 23 million years ago to five million years ago, the first dog-bears appeared, primitive giraffes frolicked through Eurasia, and dog-sized three-toed horse ancestors lived in Florida. 

Related 'Ask Us Anything' Stories

Do any bugs live in the ocean? Short answer: Not really.

How marine mammals stay hydrated in a salty sea

Why do we even have baby teeth?

Why our ancestors had straight teeth without braces

Why do we have five fingers and toes?

Why we have two nostrils instead of one big hole

Humans, on the other hand, weren’t exactly humans yet. Human evolution is a story of divergence that goes back to the Miocene when African apes split off from orangutans. Recent research estimates that the last common ancestor between humans, chimps, and bonobos split off around five to six million years ago, and evidence for early members of the Homo genus didn’t appear in the fossil record until around 2.8 million years ago. 

The trouble here is that these evolutionary cousins of ours are also tailless. So to find a tailed relative, we have to go back even further. Around 25 to 30 million years ago, our ape ancestors branched off from tailed monkeys. Once that split happened, many species of tailless apes started popping up in the millions of years that followed. This makes it pretty much impossible to determine which exact tailless species would go on to evolve into us, says Ward. 

The fossil record only offers us limited glimpses of what was happening, but even those snippets are enlightening. One such glimpse is the Ekembo, a genus with specimens dating back 17 to 20 million years ago that have been found in Kenya. Fossils of one species in this genus, the Ekembo heseloni, offer up a pretty good look at the relationship between apes and tails at the time, says Ward. These guys probably looked like chimps with legs and arms of the same length, adds Ward, and fossil evidence suggests that these creatures climbed on tree branches on all fours and kept the long, bendy lower backs that modern apes eventually lost. But what they were missing was the key components necessary for a tail. 

When it comes to pinpointing when ape tails disappeared, we have to look to the sacrum fossil, the bony structure at the base of our lumbar vertebrae. Sacrum fossils for say, cats and other tailed mammals, lead into a bunch of tail vertebrae. For apes and humans, the sacrum ends with just a small tip. 

“We have that small tippy point for Ekembo heseloni,” Ward says, “We know that sacrum could not have supported a tail, and that animal didn’t have one.”

The above skeleton belongs to an ancient ape, Ekembo nyanzae, dating back 17 to 20 million years ago that have been found in Kenya. Image: Ghedoghedo / CC BY-SA 3.0

But Ekembo isn’t the only example of a tailless primate from around this time. Another Miocene-era ape dubbed Nacholapithecus appears in Kenya’s fossil record about 15 million years ago. Fossils of these creatures’ sacrums demonstrate that they too wouldn’t have been able to support a tail, adds Ward.

While it’s not clear which exact ape goes on to become a hominid millions of years down the line, the evidence shows that apes had evolved to be tailless in this time period. And if our ancient ape ancestors didn’t have tails, homidis—and, in turn, humans—won’t either. 

Why hominid (and ape) tails disappeared

So we know pretty certainly that the “human” tail went the way of the dinosaurs long before humans were a twinkle in evolution’s eye. But why? There are a bunch of theories, but it may have to do with movement and motion, Ward suggests. 

Even though we, and our tailless brethren like gorillas, chimps, and gibbons, are related to these 20-million-year-old apes in some capacity, they likely looked very different from their modern counterparts. 

“Modern chimps and gorillas have really long forelimbs, really long hands and fingers, short hind limbs, and a bunch of other features for hanging below branches,” says Ward. “But millions of years ago, that wasn’t the case. [Early apes] had arms and legs that are about the same length, so we’re pretty sure they walked on all fours.” 

These strategies are intertwined with taillessness. While many animals use their tails to help maintain balance while in motion, they are especially useful if that movement is swift—think a running cheetah or a swinging monkey. 

Miocene apes were eating fruit out of trees, explains Ward. Getting to the good stuff on the edge of a fruit tree branch requires supporting their weight on multiple branches, moving slowly and carefully so as to not lose balance. 

For our slow-moving ape ancestors, a tail may have been a waste of energy to grow, or a potential liability waiting to be yanked by a predator. “They were climbing, but they were doing it deliberately,” Ward says. “The tail just didn’t offer an advantage.”

In Ask Us Anything, Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.

The post Why humans don’t have tails appeared first on Popular Science.

Every mammal gives birth to live young, except for a handful of egg-laying monotremes like the platypus. But did the earliest ancestors of mammals also reproduce through eggs? It’s a question that’s stumped evolutionary biologists for decades, but researchers finally have a definitive answer. Published on April 9 in the journal PLOS One, their findings rely on a 250-million-year-old fossilized egg, sophisticated technological advances, and a lot of patience.

Paleontologists discovered the specimen in question almost 17 years ago during an excavation in South Africa’s Karoo Basin. The arid region located over 200 miles northeast of Cape Town is particularly well known for its vast troves of ancient fossils.

“My preparator and exceptional fossil finder, John Nyaphuli, identified a small nodule that at first revealed only tiny flecks of bone. As he carefully prepared the specimen, it became clear that it was a perfectly curled-up Lystrosaurus hatchling,” University of the Witwatersrand paleobiologist Jennifer Botha said in a statement. 

The fossilized egg photographed in the control room of the ESRF in France. Credit: Julien Benoit

Lystrosaurus was a pivotal species in the evolutionary journey of mammals. The herbivores arrived on the planet during the aftermath of the End-Permian Mass Extinction about 252 million years ago. Likely caused by volcanic eruptions in present-day Siberia, the End-Permian cataclysm eventually wiped out around 57 percent of all biological life, including 70 percent of terrestrial vertebrates. Lystrosaurus managed to thrive despite the era’s volatile climate, warm temperatures, and frequent droughts. Although Botha and her colleagues suspected their discovery showcased the remains of a hatchling inside its shell, the required imaging technology to assess their theory did not exist in 2008.

Within a few years, however, the development of advanced synchrotron X-ray CT scanning allowed a path forward. Botha brought the fossil to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France, where collaborators could finally examine it under the proper conditions. Only then could they identify a key piece of evidence—an incomplete mandibular symphysis. This section of lower jaw is crucial for an animal to eat, but only after its two halves fuse during gestation.

“I was genuinely excited,” recalled University of Witwatersrand paleobiologist Julien Benoit. “The fact that this fusion had not yet occurred shows that the individual would have been incapable of feeding itself.”

This means their Lystrosaurus wasn’t fully developed when it died, and its positioning could only mean one thing: it was still inside an egg. More specifically, the team believes Lystrosaurus laid soft-shelled eggs, which explains why fossilized evidence is so difficult to find.

A 3D reconstruction of the skeleton. Credit: Julien Benoit

Although small, the egg is large compared to the mammal ancestor’s body size. Today, larger eggs usually contain more yolk, which include all the nutrients needed for an embryo to develop without a parent feeding it. The bigger eggs are also much more resistant to drying—a vital strength during the harsh climate following the extinction event. Taken altogether, it appears that Lystrosaurus was already highly developed when it hatched. This made them able to evade predators, take care of themselves, and quickly begin reproducing.

Beyond filling in a major gap in mammalian evolution, Lystrosaurus can help biologists understand how species might continue to adapt to an increasingly chaotic ecosystem.

“This work is highly impactful because it offers a deep-time perspective on resilience and adaptability in the face of rapid climate change and ecological crisis,” said Benoit, adding, “This discovery [is] not just a breakthrough in paleontology, but also highly relevant to current biodiversity and climate challenges.”

The post Proto-mammals laid eggs, paleontologists finally confirm appeared first on Popular Science.

Every mammal gives birth to live young, except for a handful of egg-laying monotremes like the platypus. But did the earliest ancestors of mammals also reproduce through eggs? It’s a question that’s stumped evolutionary biologists for decades, but researchers finally have a definitive answer. Published on April 9 in the journal PLOS One, their findings rely on a 250-million-year-old fossilized egg, sophisticated technological advances, and a lot of patience.

Paleontologists discovered the specimen in question almost 17 years ago during an excavation in South Africa’s Karoo Basin. The arid region located over 200 miles northeast of Cape Town is particularly well known for its vast troves of ancient fossils.

“My preparator and exceptional fossil finder, John Nyaphuli, identified a small nodule that at first revealed only tiny flecks of bone. As he carefully prepared the specimen, it became clear that it was a perfectly curled-up Lystrosaurus hatchling,” University of the Witwatersrand paleobiologist Jennifer Botha said in a statement. 

The fossilized egg photographed in the control room of the ESRF in France. Credit: Julien Benoit

Lystrosaurus was a pivotal species in the evolutionary journey of mammals. The herbivores arrived on the planet during the aftermath of the End-Permian Mass Extinction about 252 million years ago. Likely caused by volcanic eruptions in present-day Siberia, the End-Permian cataclysm eventually wiped out around 57 percent of all biological life, including 70 percent of terrestrial vertebrates. Lystrosaurus managed to thrive despite the era’s volatile climate, warm temperatures, and frequent droughts. Although Botha and her colleagues suspected their discovery showcased the remains of a hatchling inside its shell, the required imaging technology to assess their theory did not exist in 2008.

Within a few years, however, the development of advanced synchrotron X-ray CT scanning allowed a path forward. Botha brought the fossil to the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in France, where collaborators could finally examine it under the proper conditions. Only then could they identify a key piece of evidence—an incomplete mandibular symphysis. This section of lower jaw is crucial for an animal to eat, but only after its two halves fuse during gestation.

“I was genuinely excited,” recalled University of Witwatersrand paleobiologist Julien Benoit. “The fact that this fusion had not yet occurred shows that the individual would have been incapable of feeding itself.”

This means their Lystrosaurus wasn’t fully developed when it died, and its positioning could only mean one thing: it was still inside an egg. More specifically, the team believes Lystrosaurus laid soft-shelled eggs, which explains why fossilized evidence is so difficult to find.

A 3D reconstruction of the skeleton. Credit: Julien Benoit

Although small, the egg is large compared to the mammal ancestor’s body size. Today, larger eggs usually contain more yolk, which include all the nutrients needed for an embryo to develop without a parent feeding it. The bigger eggs are also much more resistant to drying—a vital strength during the harsh climate following the extinction event. Taken altogether, it appears that Lystrosaurus was already highly developed when it hatched. This made them able to evade predators, take care of themselves, and quickly begin reproducing.

Beyond filling in a major gap in mammalian evolution, Lystrosaurus can help biologists understand how species might continue to adapt to an increasingly chaotic ecosystem.

“This work is highly impactful because it offers a deep-time perspective on resilience and adaptability in the face of rapid climate change and ecological crisis,” said Benoit, adding, “This discovery [is] not just a breakthrough in paleontology, but also highly relevant to current biodiversity and climate challenges.”

The post Proto-mammals laid eggs, paleontologists finally confirm appeared first on Popular Science.

Travel is notoriously hard on your digestion. Jet lag, dehydration, stress, and even slight disruptions to a regular meal schedule can result in unpleasant bathroom difficulties. But the next time you’re struggling with toilet troubles away from home, try to remember: At least you’re not dealing with it in outer space.

“I was thinking about how even on Earth, travel is one of the biggest constipation triggers,” Sarah Jane Bunger tells Popular Science. “[It’s] always going to make this perfect storm of constipation while on Earth. So it’s only going to be more and more exacerbated once you go outside Earth.”

It’s Bunger’s job to think about these things. She’s the global research and development lead for Dulcolax, where she oversees anything and everything tied to new formulas and clinical activities for the laxative and stool softener. But even after more than 13 years in the business, she was honored to learn the medication was available to a new demographic: the astronauts aboard Artemis II.

“We weren’t propositioned ahead of time. It was a lovely surprise for us that we were included,” she says of Dulcolax’s inclusion in NASA’s official Formulary and First Aid Kit.

Supplements like Dulcolax—specifically bisacodyl—are included on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medications, something keenly monitored by NASA’s medical team. At the same time, spacecraft cargo storage is always at a premium, so astronauts need meds that both get the job done and take up as little room as possible.

“I always think of the infamous example of sending a female astronaut up with, like, 100 tampons,” says Bunger, referring to Sally Ride’s historic first mission. “They want to make sure that they’re not overpacking, but that they have everything on hand that the astronauts might need to treat themselves while they’re up there.”

Bunger explains that constipation can be particularly troublesome for astronauts during the first few days in space while their bodies adjust. Eating is predictably difficult in space, although not necessarily for the reasons you think. Zero gravity makes digestion harder on an astronaut’s body because their organs and musculature must work in conditions they’re not evolved to handle. Bunger likens the digestive tract to an elastic material like leggings. While peristalsis—a muscle’s ability to contract and produce wavelike motions—helps move an object through the stretchy passageway, gravity is always lending a hand. Remove the earthbound physics altogether, and all that’s left is the peristalsis.

“That’s why they’re still able to swallow, even without the help of gravity. So there is some impact from the lack of gravity up there,” Bunger says.

Luckily, laxatives like Dulcolax are engineered to work both on- and off-world. The medication aboard Artemis II is the same as the types found in grocery stores, and features a protective coating that guards it against corrosive stomach acid. This allows it to delay dissolving until it reaches the lower GI tract. Bisacodyl also works on contact, so it doesn’t need to be metabolized by the kidneys or liver.

As helpful as the laxatives may be during the Artemis II mission, Bunger hopes their inclusion in the first aid kit has wider ramifications for everyone, not only astronauts.

“Honestly, if I could pick a benefit coming out of this, it would be that it helps address the stigma [of constipation] for some consumers,” she says. “If even astronauts are dealing with this, then you shouldn’t feel bad about the fact that maybe your GI tract is a little bit off, too.”

While not on the official list of mission experiments, there is also the possibility of real scientific progress thanks to laxatives in space. Bunger points out that no one has yet to study the effects of taking them while traveling to the moon.

“I would settle for a stock report,” she suggests. “I don’t need to know who took it and I don’t need to know when. I just want to know that it was taken.”

The post Even astronauts get constipated in space appeared first on Popular Science.

In March, NASA released a broad overview of the Artemis II mission menu accompanying astronauts on their historic, 10-day lunar flyby mission. The rundown was relatively comprehensive, but it lacked a crucial bit of information: Which specific five hot sauces have now traveled farther than any other condiment in human history?

After much anticipation, answers have finally arrived. Speaking with Axios, Johnson Space Center public affairs specialist Victoria Segovia confirmed the astronauts brought along Tabasco, Cholulu, Frank’s RedHot, Heinz Hot Taco Sauce, and Sriracha.

At the risk of sounding biased, the list isn’t exactly the spiciest of revelations. In terms of Scoville rating (the widely utilized hotness assessment based on capsaicinoid levels), the most mouth-burning sauce aboard Artemis II is Cholula with around 3,600 Scoville Heat Units (SHUs). The aficionados at PepperGeek.com deem this a “respectable heat” with a “decent bite,” but that’s about it. Second place is a tossup between Tabasco and Sriracha, each possessing around 2,500 SHUs. Meanwhile, Frank’s RedHot sits in last place with 450 SHUs.

This isn’t a knock on any of the hot sauces’ flavors, of course. If anything, their inclusion speaks to their appeal. Eating is difficult in space, although not necessarily for the reasons you think. Many astronauts have reported odd sensory shifts while traveling beyond Earth. Former NASA astronaut Douglas Wheelan once recalled that strawberries tasted sickeningly sweet and green beans had a grassy flavor during his 178-day tenure aboard the International Space Station.

Others have reported food simply tasting blander. This is largely due to how bodily fluids behave and realign in microgravity, which frequently causes swelling in the nasal passages. Much like having a cold, the subsequent congestion can then block odor molecules from reaching olfactory receptors. Knowing all this, astronauts routinely pack condiments to alleviate at least some of the mealtime weirdness. The hot sauces on the Artemis II mission probably won’t destroy anyone’s tastebuds, but that’s totally fine. Simply being in outer space does a decent job of that on its own.

The post The 5 hot sauces aboard Artemis II are kinda weak appeared first on Popular Science.

I have a confession to make: In my late teens, my car ran out of gas along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Rather than pump my own gas in PA, I’d been trying to make it across to neighboring New Jersey—a state that’s notoriously known for prohibiting self-service at gas stations—on an almost-empty tank. The truth is, I had no idea how to fill a tank on my own.

Since Oregon softened its laws back in 2023, New Jersey remains the only U.S. state in which drivers are not allowed to pump their own gas. Those of us from the Garden State often find the entire process of fueling up intimidating: so much so that we’re willing to run on fumes rather than work the pumps ourselves. My experience on the PA Turnpike was a learning one, for sure. But it left me with questions. 

In order to tackle some of those questions, we at Popular Science asked both Dr. Michael Jerrett, a professor at the Department of Environmental Health Sciences at UCLA, and Thomas Wright, a spokesperson for the New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development, to weigh in on New Jersey’s unusual law and the science behind it. 

The origins of New Jersey’s ban on self-service

While the first dedicated, drive-in gas station opened in Missouri in 1905, it took until the 1970s for most states to switch over to self-service. They did so in part due to rising gas costs resulting from the 1973 energy crisis. Facing tight margins, gas stations realized they could lower their overhead by reducing staff and then pass that savings on to customers. In short, having patrons pump their own gas allowed gas stations to remain competitive.

To make the switch, these states had to modify their fire codes. This included installing emergency cut-off switches for all pump stations and heavily regulated latch-open nozzles (those notches that allow you to keep gas flowing without having to hold the nozzle yourself). 

Two states held out: New Jersey and Oregon, primarily due to laws they enacted during the mid-20th century citing safety concerns, such as high fire risks and health-safety hazards, including exposure to toxic fumes. 

New Jersey’s legislation prohibiting customers from pumping their own gas dates back to 1949. It’s known as the Retail Gasoline Dispensing Safety Act. Under New Jersey’s law, “trained attendants—rather than customers—handle the dispensing of fuel as they are required to know where emergency shutoffs are, recognize potentially unsafe conditions, and ensure that only approved containers are filled,” says Wright. 

New Jersey gasoline attendant posts a new price low of 15.50 cents per gallon in October 1951. Image: Contributor / Getty Images / Bettmann The health risks associated with pumping gas

While pumping gas is an act that most people (New Jerseyans excluded) do without thinking, there are health hazards associated with it. 

“Basically, gasoline vapors include benzene,” a colorless, sweet-smelling chemical that’s highly flammable, says Jerrett, “as well as other volatile organic compounds,” which are carbon-based chemicals that evaporate into the air at room temperature. 

These include toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene—all used to help improve a fuel’s efficiency and stability as well as an engine’s performance. All of these flammable, colorless liquids are considered neurotoxic, meaning being exposed to them in large doses can cause headaches, fatigue, and even more severe symptoms like death. 

But don’t get too worried, says Jerrett, since it’s the dose that makes the poison. Gas stations nationwide have gone to great lengths to limit our exposure to vapors at the pumps. “California, for example, uses rubber sealers around the nozzle for fueling,” says Jeffett. These prevent harmful gasoline vapors from escaping into the atmosphere during refueling, which protects not only the people at the gas tank but also the environment. 

Wright says that prohibiting self-service also helps with overall general safety measures. “When customers pump their own gas, it’s simply harder to enforce basic rules like turning off engines or not smoking.” 

Indeed, smoking or vaping both provide ignition sources that can be highly flammable at a gas station. It’s the same for vehicles that are left running. Turning off your car’s engine prevents heat from the vehicle’s exhaust inadvertently igniting gasoline vapors. 

There’s also static electricity. This build-up of electrical charge (we’ve all felt that zap!) on the surface of an object often happens when you slide onto and off of your car seat. This can generate high-voltage sparks exceeding 1500 volts, which can easily spark a fire. 

The best ways to avoid a zap are to not get back into your vehicle while you’re filling up and to ground yourself (try touching a metal part of the car away from the nozzle) if you feel a static charge. 

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Limiting your own exposure 

For self-service patrons, there are things you can do to limit your exposure at the pump, says Jerrett. Avoid standing over the nozzle while filling your tank, or use the latch-open if it’s available and simply walk away. Higher wind speeds can disperse vapors more readily, so avoid pumping gas until the weather calms. 

While fires at gas stations do occur, roughly three-quarters of them result from mechanical or electrical malfunctions—not from pumping gas. In fact, only about four percent of them begin with gasoline igniting, so the chances of starting a fire at the gas station are extremely slim. 

Still, having a trained attendant pumped your gas is generally considered a safer option, since it reduces the risks of vehicles left running, static electricity, and consumers lighting up. It also keeps people who may be at higher risk for health complications—such as senior citizens and pregnant women—away from toxic fumes. 

The benefits of full-service 

In 2025, New Jersey had more than 1,900 gas stations and roughly 10,000 workers in the Auto & Watercraft Service Attendant category, which includes gas station attendants. “The law we’re tasked with enforcing prioritizes safety, accountability, and job creation,” says Wright. “Plus, the temperature is better in the car.”

Now, if they could just arrange a course in how to pump your own gas for those traveling out of state…

In Ask Us Anything, Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.

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Christina Koch made history this week, becoming the first woman to travel around the moon. The NASA astronaut’s lunar flyby wasn’t her first groundbreaking moment: Koch also holds the record for the longest single spaceflight by a woman and took part in the first all-female spacewalk.

Despite being a seasoned space explorer, the impact of seeing Earth as a small dot in vast blackness still astonishes Koch. In a post shared by NASA on Instagram, Koch poignantly reflected on the Artemis II mission:

The thing that changed for me, looking back at Earth, was that I found myself noticing not only the beauty of Earth, but how much blackness there was around it and how it just made it even more special. It truly emphasized how alike we are, how the same thing keeps every single person on planet Earth alive. We evolved on the same planet, and we have some shared things about how we love and live that are just universal. And the specialness and preciousness of that really is emphasized when you notice how much else there is around it.

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Koch, along with the rest of the Artemis II crew, return to Earth on April 10.

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Supermassive black holes literally don’t add up. Astrophysicists know it takes more time than is mathematically possible for one of them to reach its incomprehensible proportions via standard gas accretion. Despite this, they are clearly observable at the center of nearly every large galaxy. So how do they get so big?

The likeliest explanation is that supermassive black holes attain their size when two smaller black holes smack into one another during a galactic collision. For years, this theory has remained simply that—a theory. However, evidence from a team at Germany’s Max Planck Institute for Radio Astronomy now offers the first clear look at a pair of supermassive black holes at the heart of a distant galaxy. As they explain in a study published in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the duo is racing towards a head-on collision.

Markarian 501 (Mrk 501) is an elliptical galaxy located in the Hercules constellation, and the site of the breakthrough. Researchers recorded a spectrum of radio frequencies during dozens of observations over 23 years. Like many other galaxies, Mrk 501 features a jet of supercharged particles ejected from a black hole at nearly the speed of light. Mrk 501’s jet is particularly bright because it points towards Earth, making it easy to study.

Researchers started noticing something peculiar over the years of observational data. Although oriented in a different direction, it became increasingly clear that there wasn’t one, but two jets emitted from the heart of Mrk 501. In a matter of weeks, astronomers tracked the second jet as it started behind the first one, then proceeded to move counterclockwise around it. In June 2022, the radiation appeared so crooked that it looked almost circular—a situation known as an Einstein ring. The researchers believe the likeliest explanation for this was that the system was briefly, perfectly aligned towards Earth. During that time, gravitational lensing from the first black hole bent the second jet’s light behind it.

The graphical depiction shows the central region of the galaxy Mrk 501 at a frequency of 43 gigahertz on three different days. The contours indicate the intensity of the emission, while the grey circles mark bright regions within the jet, identified through model calculations. One can track the movement of the jets by following the movement of these regions. The previously known jet (Jet 1, orange guide line) pointing towards Earth is clearly visible. The newly discovered second jet (Jet 2, blue) changed its appearance within a few weeks. Both particle streams originate close to each other in the core of the galaxy. The position of the black hole (BH) associated with Jet 1 is marked with an arrow. Credit: Silke Britzen

“We searched for it for so long, and then it came as a complete surprise that we could not only see a second jet, but even track its movement,” study coauthor and astronomer Silke Britzen said in a statement.

After multiple repeating brightness cycles, Britzen and colleagues estimated the black holes orbit each other once every 121 days. The distance between them is 250–540 times farther than Earth’s distance to the sun. That may sound like a lengthy separation, but it’s actually incredibly close for cosmic objects possessing masses anywhere between 100 million and 1 billion times that of our sun. They’re already so near one another that it’s possible they merge a century from now.

Unfortunately, no one will likely ever witness the actual grand finale. At more than 440 million light-years away from Earth, the two black holes are inseparable even when seen through astronomy’s most advanced tools. This will only become more difficult to see as they move closer to one another. That said, the dual jet emissions remain the strongest evidence so far that supermassive black holes grow by combining forces. If true, the pair should eventually start emitting extremely low-frequency gravitational waves that are detectable—providing even more evidence of the astounding meetup.

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Less than a 30 minute drive from the University of Cambridge, a metal detectorist followed beeps to a remarkable treasure: a ninth century gold coin pendant. 

Now finding long-lost coins in the English countryside isn’t exactly unheard of. In 2025, another metal detectorist discovered a gold coin dating back to the Iron Age in East Yorkshire. Before that, a Viking silver cache was discovered in North Yorkshire.

But this newly discovered gold coin isn’t like the others. This coin might just rewrite history, at least a little bit.

What makes this coin a bit of a head scratcher is what it depicts: a bearded profile of Saint John the Baptist. Thanks to a Latin inscription, experts have no doubts the coin shows the Christian saint. But what experts don’t yet understand is why the Vikings, who had conquered the English kingdom of East Anglia (where the coin was found) and who weren’t Christians, minted or wore a coin with a Christian saint on it. Why would pagans want a coin with a Christian on it?

In an interview with BBC, numismatics expert Simon Coupland compared the coin to “a child trying to fit a hexagonal object into a square hole.” The coin just doesn’t fit into history the way it should, which suggests we may have some of the history wrong. 

Maybe pagan Vikings liked wearing pendants showing Christian saints as a way to assimilate into East Anglia’s largely Christian population? Or maybe a Christian East Anglian wore the pendant? Or maybe a Christian Viking wore the pendant, even though most historians believed the invading Danes were pagan, not Christian?

And just like that, one small gold coin can upend history—rewriting England’s cultural landscape during the island’s perilous ninth century. 

Limestone relief of John the Baptist from Zakynthos, Byzantine and Christian Museum, Greece. Image: Public Domain

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The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is widely seen as a model success story for wildlife conservation. Prior to the 1986 global ban on commercial whaling, marine biologists estimated only around 10,000 of the marine animals still existed around the world. Today, more than 135,000 of them swim in Earth’s oceans.

This steadily increasing population is a testament to both human environmental stewardship as well as the humpback whale’s own adaptability and intelligence. But even scientists aboard the superyacht-turned-research vessel M/Y Solace were surprised at the sheer number of whales during a recent excursion in the Caribbean. Speaking with Popular Science, the EYOS Expeditions team confirmed that Navidad Bank, a shallow underwater coral formation around 62 miles off the coast of the Dominican Republic, is one of the world’s most densely populated humpback whale breeding grounds.

“This is an extraordinary testament to the power of long-term marine conservation,” Jonathan Delance, Chief Conservation Officer for the Dominican Republic Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, said in a statement. “Decades of conservation have allowed humpback whales to thrive in Dominican waters, and the density documented at Navidad Bank underscores the global importance of creating a sanctuary for our treasured marine life.”

Depending on their location, humpback whales typically spend much of the year in colder waters closer to the poles, where they feed on abundant sources of krill. As ocean temperatures warm, they instinctually migrate towards breeding grounds around the world, including areas of the Caribbean. Female whales typically gestate for about 11.5 months and usually give birth to a single calf, who then spends around a year with their mother before setting out on their own.

Pregnant humpback whales will typically gestate for 11-12 months before giving birth. Credit: Caribbean Cetacean Society

Orchestrated in collaboration with the Dominican Republic government and the Caribbean Cetacean Society, the visit to Navidad Bank from scientists with Fundación Puntacana and Fundación Dominicana de Estudios Marinos/FUNDEMAR captured incredible footage and images of North Atlantic humpback whales as they traveled amid their winter nursery. The observations culminated with a total of 513 whale sightings in a single day. According to the team, the event is even more incredible knowing that the whales were congregating far before the peak migration period usually spanning March and April.

“We have seen a profound shift toward travel that yields a sense of purpose through genuine exploration,” added EYOS Explorations co-founder Rob McCallum. “Our guests are increasingly…investing their resources into moments that contribute to our understanding of the natural world.”

The full findings will be presented to the International Whaling Commission in the hopes of further emphasizing Navidad Bank’s integral role in helping some of the ocean’s largest and most fascinating animals thrive.

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The Artemis II mission has re-inspired our collective fascination with space. We’ve gazed on our home planet in a way unseen in decades and caught a glimpse of a part of the moon never seen by human eyes. The historic lunar flyby also sent humans farther from Earth than ever before.

Thanks to stellar camera work by the mission’s crew—Commander Reid Wiseman, pilot Victor Glover, and NASA mission specialist Christina Koch, and CSA mission specialist Jeremy Hansen—those of us left down here can feel like we’re along for the ride.

Captured by the Artemis II crew during their lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, this image shows the Moon fully eclipsing the Sun. From the crew’s perspective, the Moon appears large enough to completely block the Sun, creating nearly 54 minutes of totality and extending the view far beyond what is possible from Earth. The corona forms a glowing halo around the dark lunar disk, revealing details of the Sun’s outer atmosphere typically hidden by its brightness. Also visible are stars, typically too faint to see when imaging the Moon, but with the Moon in darkness stars are readily imaged. This unique vantage point provides both a striking visual and a valuable opportunity for astronauts to document and describe the corona during humanity’s return to deep space. The faint glow of the nearside of the Moon is visible in this image, having been illuminated by light reflected off the Earth.
Image and caption: NASA

Capturing these beautiful and unprecedented photographs wasn’t a fluke. The NASA and CSA astronauts worked with Rochester Institute of Technology alumni Katrina Willoughby and Paul Reichert at the Johnson Space Center in Houston to up their photography skills in preparation for Artemis II.

“Most people can use a camera and get a photo that is good enough, but good enough isn’t what we’re after scientifically,” Willoughby, a graduate of RIT’s imaging and photographic technology program, said. We’re really teaching the astronauts how to go beyond the basics. Being able to understand how to use the equipment, and what the options are, gives us a lot more capability.”

[Related: Why you can’t see space junk in Artemis II photos]

The pair spent two years working with the crew and designed training modules to emulate the challenges of photographing in space. The astronauts learned how to operate both commercially available cameras (including iPhones), along with more advanced equipment and hardware.

A close-up view from the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II crew’s lunar flyby on April 6, 2026, captures a total solar eclipse, with only part of the Moon visible in the frame as it fully obscures the Sun. Although the full lunar disk extends beyond the image, the Sun’s faint corona remains visible as a soft halo of light around the Moon’s edge. From this deep-space vantage point, the Moon appeared large enough to sustain nearly 54 minutes of totality, far longer than total solar eclipses typically seen from Earth. This cropped perspective emphasizes the scale of the alignment and reveals subtle structure in the corona during the rare, extended eclipse observed by the crew. The bright silver glint on the left edge of the image is the planet Venus. The round, dark gray feature visible along the Moon’s horizon between the 9 and 10 o’clock positions is Mare Crisium, a feature visible from Earth. We see faint lunar features because light reflected off of Earth provides a source of illumination.
Image and caption: NASA

While the photographs are absolutely awe-inspiring, they also hold importance for scientific study. Lunar and planetary scientists can use the images to better understand our moon and solar system. The Artemis II crew returns to Earth on April 10.

The Artemis II crew captures a portion of the Moon coming into view along the terminator – the boundary between lunar day and night – where low-angle sunlight casts long, dramatic shadows across the surface. This grazing light accentuates the Moon’s rugged topography, revealing craters, ridges, and basin structures in striking detail. Features along the terminator such as Jule Crater, Birkhoff Crater, Stebbins Crater, and surrounding highlands stand out. From this perspective, the interplay of light and shadow highlights the complexity of the lunar surface in ways not visible under full illumination. The image was captured about three hours into the crew’s lunar observation period, as they flew around the far side of the Moon on the sixth day of the mission.
Image and caption: NASA Earthset captured through the Orion spacecraft window at 6:41 p.m. EDT, April 6, 2026, during the Artemis II crew’s flyby of the Moon. A muted blue Earth with bright white clouds sets behind the cratered lunar surface. The dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime. On Earth’s day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater has terraced edges and a flat floor interrupted by central peaks. Central peaks form in complex craters when the lunar surface, liquefied on impact, splashes upwards during the crater’s formation.
Image and caption: NASA Captured from the Orion spacecraft near the end of the Artemis II lunar flyby on April 6, this image shows the Sun beginning to peek out from behind the Moon as the eclipse transitions out of totality. Only a portion of the Moon is visible in frame, its curved edge revealing a bright sliver of sunlight returning after nearly an hour of darkness. In final moments of the eclipse observed by the crew, the reemerging light creates a sharp contrast against the Moon’s silhouette and reveals lunar topography not usually visible along the lunar limb. This fleeting phase captures the dynamic alignment of the Sun, Moon, and spacecraft as Orion continues its journey back from the far side of the Moon.
Image and caption: NASA The Moon seen peeking above the window sill of the Orion spacecraft during the Artemis II lunar flyby on April 6, 2026. The Artemis II crew spent about 7 hours at the Orion windows during the flyby, taking photos and recording observations on the Moon to share with scientists on the ground.
Image and caption: NASA A close-up view taken by the Artemis II crew of Vavilov Crater on the rim of the older and larger Hertzsprung basin. The right portion of the image shows the transition from smooth material within an inner ring of mountains to more rugged terrain around the rim. Vavilov and other craters and their ejecta are accentuated by long shadows at the terminator, the boundary between lunar day and night. The image was captured with a handheld camera at a focal length of 400 mm, as the crew flew around the far side of the Moon.
Image: NASA The lunar surface fills the frame in sharp detail, as seen during the Artemis II lunar flyby, while a distant Earth sets in the background. This image was captured at 6:41 p.m. EDT, on April 6, 2026, just three minutes before the Orion spacecraft and its crew went behind the Moon and lost contact with Earth for 40 minutes before emerging on the other side. In this image, the dark portion of Earth is experiencing nighttime, while on its day side, swirling clouds are visible over the Australia and Oceania region. In the foreground, Ohm crater shows terraced edges and a relatively flat floor marked by central peaks — formed when the surface rebounded upward during the impact that created the crater.
Image: NASA Astronaut Jeremy Hansen captures an image through the camera shroud covering window 2 of the Orion spacecraft. The camera shroud, essentially a curtain with a hole for the lens to pass through, is used to prevent light from the cabin from reflecting on the windowpanes.
Image and caption: NASA A shot from early in the Artemis II lunar flyby, taken with a smaller aperture setting, shows a moodier version of the Moon than some of the other flyby images with more typical lighting settings. The four crew members spent about 7 hours photographing and recording observations of the Moon as they flew around the far side on April 6, 2026.
Image and caption: NASA Artemis II Pilot Victor Glover, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen prepare for their journey around the far side of the Moon by configuring their camera equipment shortly before beginning their lunar flyby observations.
Image and caption: NASA In this view of the Moon, the Artemis II crew captured an intricate snapshot of the rings of the Orientale basin, one of the Moon’s youngest and best-preserved large impact craters on his first shift during the lunar flyby observation period.
Image and caption: NASA NASA’s Orion spacecraft is pictured here from one of the cameras mounted on its solar array wings. At the time this photo was taken at 9:03 a.m. ET, the Artemis II crew was in a sleep period ahead of beginning their seventh day into the mission.
Image and caption: NASA CSA (Canadian Space Agency) astronaut and Artemis II Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen is seen taking images through the Orion spacecraft window early in the Artemis II lunar flyby. Hansen and his fellow crewmates spent approximately seven hours taking turns at the Orion windows capturing science data to share with their team back on Earth.
Image and caption: NASA The Artemis II crew – (clockwise from left) Mission Specialist Christina Koch, Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen, Commander Reid Wiseman, and Pilot Victor Glover – take time out for a group hug inside the Orion spacecraft on their way home. Following a swing around the far side of the Moon on April 6, 2026, the crew exited the lunar sphere of influence (the point at which the Moon’s gravity has a stronger pull on Orion than the Earth’s) on April 7, and are headed back to Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on April 10. The crew was selected in April 2023, and have been training together for their mission for the past three years.
Image and caption: NASA

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Growing up, summers felt like they lasted forever—or close to it. It felt as though the season had no end, until the lure of a new backpack and crayons finally summoned us out of the pool. 

In adulthood, we’re all too aware of summer’s fleeting nature from the moment it begins. We anticipate our vacations. We guard our weekends. We complain about “Back To School” promotions that seem to start the day after school lets out.

It’s tempting to chalk this up to simple logistics—kids have the summers off. But teachers have summers off, too, and they’ll tell you that August hits like a freight train carrying a giant load of Mondays.

So, what happened? How does the season that once felt never-ending now seem to disappear before we’ve even found our sunscreen?

According to time perception researcher Dr. Marc Wittmann, the answer lies in the mechanics of memory, specifically which moments get stored and which ones slip away. 

The science behind the endless summer

When we look back on a period of time, our sense of how long it lasted comes down to how many moments we actually remember from it. Novel experiences—firsts, surprises, anything that catches the brain off guard—are the moments most likely to stick. In childhood, those moments are everywhere. Almost everything is happening for the first time.

“Everything seems new in childhood: the first ride on a pony, the first trip to the circus, the first vacation at the beach—everything is a first,” Wittmann, a research fellow at the Institute for Frontier Areas in Psychology and Mental Health in Freiburg, Germany, and author of Felt Time: The Psychology of How We Perceive Time, tells Popular Science. “So that causes us to store the memory as something special.”

As kids, almost every experience is a new experience, which helps solidify it in your memory. Image: J_art / Getty Images pluto_art_lab

In addition to how novel a summer feels to a child who has only experienced a handful of them, there’s the fact that a child’s brain is still developing. So not only is the child processing new experiences, but they’re processing them through a rapidly changing brain.

“Each year is a completely new year for a child and adolescent,” says Wittmann. “There are so many bodily and mental changes happening. Each year, the child is a new person.”

All those brain changes help cement new experiences into memory.

Why does time go so much more quickly as an adult?

One of the more commonly cited explanations for why childhood summers feel endless deals with simple proportions: a year at age five represents a fifth of your entire life, while a year at age 50 is merely a fiftieth.

Although Wittmann acknowledges the popularity of this theory, he questions whether an individual’s experience of time perception really lines up so neatly with the math.

“This is an easy calculation for us to do, and it’s so intuitively compelling,” he says. “But the question would be whether the mind and brain actually calculate lived time this way, and there is no evidence.”

What is happening, says Wittmann, is something both more human and complex. At some point, childhood ends. Development plateaus, the brain stabilizes, and the world stops feeling quite so new. We’ve seen summers before; we know how they go.

This is where time starts to accelerate, or at least, where it starts to feel that way in retrospect. With fewer novel experiences being stored, there’s simply less to look back on. The summers don’t disappear, exactly. They just leave less new memories behind.

How memory shifts as we age

But novelty is only part of the picture. Wittmann’s newer research points to an additional factor, one that surprised even him.

In a recent study accepted for publication in the journal Memory & Cognition, Wittmann and colleagues tracked memory and time perception across adults ranging in age from their 20s to their 90s. What they found was not what they expected: Older adults didn’t describe their memories as fainter or less vivid. If anything, the opposite was true. The memories they did retain felt richer and more emotionally resonant than those of younger adults.

What was declining was something far more subtle: the ability to encode the unremarkable moments of daily life. Wittmann attributes this to cognitive decline, a process that can begin as early as our thirties. 

“From 30 years on, we already have a slight decline, and then at 50 and 60 we decline even more, and, in very old age, we have a steep decline,” Wittmann says. “And this seems to correlate exactly with this feeling that the last ten years have passed so quickly.”

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How you can make summers feel longer

The good news? We can still live our daily lives in ways that can slow the relentless tick of the clock, or at least make those seconds, minutes, and hours more memorable.

Wittmann recommends seeking out new experiences, new places, and new people where you can find them. Even the smallest shake-ups to your usual routine can make a difference. He also suggests staying physically active, keeping up your social connections, and challenging yourself mentally. These are the same habits, he notes, that help ward off cognitive decline in older age.

“The glue for memory”

However, Wittmann cautions against cramming one’s day planner with novel experiences as a means of seizing (and holding on to) the day. 

“Very often, people think they have to pack their Saturdays full of things to do,” he says. “But because you’re so focused on the timeline of items, time will pass quickly again. Instead, try living into your Saturday morning. Start the day without any plans. Be aware of how you feel, what you want to do, and stay open to whatever comes.”

The endless summers of childhood aren’t coming back, but that may be beside the point. What Wittmann’s research suggests is that we have more control over our experience of time than we might assume. We can seek out the new, maintain social bonds, and keep moving. We can learn to live into our Saturdays.

Ultimately, Wittmann suggests welcoming emotions into your life with—and if that feels like a tall order, start with your calendar. “Emotions are basically the glue for memory,” says Wittmann. “If something is very emotional, it will last your whole life.”

In Ask Us Anything, Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.

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The Artemis II astronauts have completed their historic lunar flyby and taken the pictures to prove it. But as skygazers continue enjoying the images of both the moon and Earth, one question is making the rounds online: If there’s such a space junk problem orbiting our home planet, then why isn’t it visible in any of the newest photos?

It may sound like an odd question, but it’s somewhat understandable. After all, numerous astronomers and researchers continue to sound the alarm on the exponentially growing amount of trash encircling Earth at any given moment. Without any actionable solutions, there is an increasing worry about the possibility of initiating a “Kessler cascade.” In such a scenario, the amount of space junk becomes so ubiquitous that collisions are inevitable. Debris traveling at upwards of 17,500 miles per hour smacks into one another, creating even smaller pieces of trash that then increase the likelihood of similar events. All of that ensuing orbital junk could make it extremely difficult to launch new satellites into space, send astronauts on missions, and even protect Earth’s terrestrial residents.

If all that pollution is so concerning and prevalent, how hasn’t the Artemis II crew documented examples to point it out once they return home? Technically, there is a slight possibility that astronauts could snap a perfect photo pointing out low Earth orbit’s fragility. But when you consider the logistics, the likelihood of pulling off such an image is extremely low. The vast majority of space junk isn’t discernible to the naked eye—especially at the speeds both the junk and astronauts are traveling. Aside from the millions of centimeter-or-larger objects orbiting Earth, around 130 million smaller chunks waste from satellites and rocketry encircle the planet.

[Related: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch isn’t just a floating trash pile]

The altitude varies case-by-case, but the NASA Orbital Debris Program Office estimates the greatest concentration of space junk is floating between 466 and 621 miles above Earth. To put it simply, Artemis II’s astronauts were too busy focusing on the earliest minutes of their launch to take photos outside the Orion capsule’s windows. Within seconds, it became nearly impossible to take pictures of any discernible orbital debris, let alone entire satellites. Imagine taking a photo of a pebble on the highway from even 10 miles down the road. It would be that hard—and that’s before piloting a historic space mission.

This isn’t to say Artemis II hasn’t already had firsthand experience with space junk. The International Space Station often collides with tiny debris, but the habitable capsules’ engineering ensures it can withstand strikes from objects as large as one centimeter in diameter. The Orbital Debris Program Office also estimates encounters with anything larger is “slight” at best.\

The bottomline is this: Space is incomprehensibly vast, but even Earth’s dimensions are difficult to imagine. There is still a lot of wiggle-room for Artemis II and future NASA astronaut crews, especially with the aid of precise computing models and orbital tracking technology. Space junk is a serious problem—but it’s not something to make you worry about crew safety, much less doubt humanity’s latest trip around the moon.

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Sometimes it feels like the names of new species can come from just about anything—from regions to a supportive grandmother to a creature’s short butt. Certain people, however, have received more attention from the taxonomic community, inspiring the names of more than one previously undiscovered creature—much to one man’s joking chagrin. 

1. Stephen Colbert 

Famous comedian and television host Stephen Colbert has a number of creepy crawlies named after him, including the wasp Aleiodes Colberti, the trapdoor spider Aptostichus stephencolberti, and the diving beetle the Agaporomorphus colberti. 

“Last year, Stephen shamelessly asked the science community to name something cooler than a spider to honor him,” Arizona State University entomologist Quentin Wheeler, who was involved in the naming of the diving beetle, explained in a statement back in 2009. “His top choices were a giant ant or a laser lion. While those would be cool species to discover, our research involves beetles, and they are ‘way cooler’ than a spider any day.”

Botanical artist Lucy Smith (left) and Kew Gardens’ scientific and botanical research horticulturalist Carlos Magdalena (right) pose for photographs with the Victoria Boliviana, a new botanical discovery named in honor of Queen Victoria, at Kew Gardens on July 01, 2022 in London, England. Despite specimens sitting in Kew’s Herbarium for 177 years, the waterlily was identified as a previously unrecognized species. Image: Leon Neal / Staff / Getty Images 2. Queen Victoria

The famous British monarch doesn’t just have animal species named after her. She has a whole genus of giant waterlilies. Of course, the queen is also referenced in specific animal names, such as the large pigeon Goura victoria (Victoria crowned pigeon), and the Ornithoptera victoriae (Queen Victoria’s birdwing). 

3. Leonardo DiCaprio 

While some argue that there could have been room for Jack next to Rose at the end of the Titanic, Leonardo DiCaprio would have certainly drowned them all if he had climbed aboard with all the species named after him. The American actor inspired the names of the Cameroonian tree Uvariopsis dicaprio, the water beetle Grouvellinus leonardodicaprioi, and the frog Phyllonastes dicaprioi. 

4. Harrison Ford

Indiana Jones is terrified of snakes, so he probably wouldn’t be too happy to discover that in 2023 the slithering species Tachymenoides harrisonfordi was named in honor of actor Harrison Ford and his environmental advocacy, among other things. 

“These scientists keep naming critters after me, but it’s always the ones that terrify children. I don’t understand. I spend my free time cross-stitching. I sing lullabies to my basil plants, so they won’t fear the night,” Ford said in a statement. “In all seriousness, this discovery [of Tachymenoides harrisonfordi] is humbling. It’s a reminder that there’s still so much to learn about our wild world — and that humans are one small part of an impossibly vast biosphere.

The aforementioned critters include the spider Calponia harrisonfordi and the ant Pheidole harrisonfordi.

Arachnologist Norman Platnick first described this tiny spider in 1993 and named it after actor Harrison Ford as a thank you for his voice narration work on a documentary for the Natural History Museum in London. Image: Marshal Hedin / CC BY-SA 2.0 5. Barack Obama 

The former president has an entire Wikipedia page dedicated to things named after him, including an impressive number of organisms. There is the bee Lasioglossum obamai, the spider Spintharus barackobamai (which is in the same genus as Spintharus berniesandersi), and the waterbeetle Desmopachria barackobamai, among others. Like Queen Victoria, even Obama has a genus named after him, as seen in the (extinct) lizard Obamadon gracilis.

6. David Attenborough

Last but certainly not least, there are a whooping over 50 species that carry the name of broadcaster and naturalist David Attenborough (though we would argue there should be a few species named specifically after his voice, too). These include the bird Polioptila attenboroughi, the carnivorous plant Nepenthes attenboroughii, and the Bolivian lichen Malmidea attenboroughii. 

In Ask Us Anything, Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.

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In 2023, the U.S. government approved the sale of “lab-grown” chicken after it passed food safety tests.

Lab-grown meat, also called “cultivated” or “cultured” meat, is meat grown in a lab instead of on a farm. Scientists take a few cells from an animal and put them in a tank called a bioreactor with nutrients like vitamins, minerals, and amino acids. The cells grow and multiply until they form muscle tissue—the same stuff that makes up the meat people eat.

Because no animal has to be killed, cultivated meat is better for animal welfare. The environmental impact is still debated: cultivated meat could be better or worse for the planet depending on the type of energy used to power the factories that make it. 

But what about the big question: Is it actually healthy to eat?

Lab-grown meat is nutritionally similar—but not identical—to conventional meat

Lab-grown meat is designed to be as close to the real thing as possible in terms of look, taste, and nutrition, but it’s not a perfect copy.

Conventional meat contains all nine essential amino acids (protein building blocks), which the human body cannot produce on its own, as well as various non-essential amino acids. It is also a source of B vitamins and several mineral nutrients, including iron and zinc. 

According to Dr. Tim Spector, an epidemiologist at King’s College London and co-founder of the nutrition science company ZOE, “the protein quality and amino acid profile of cultivated meat is generally similar to conventional meat, with all essential amino acids present but with varying ratios.” 

And what about the vitamin and mineral content? “There is still limited published data on how closely real-world cultivated meat products match conventional meat for these micronutrients,” Spector says.

Early research suggests that some nutrients may be lower in lab-grown meat, while others could be equal—or even higher, says Noah Praamsma, a registered dietitian nutritionist and a nutrition education coordinator with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

At an agricultural expo in Hangzhou in east China’s Zhejiang province, a piece of lab-grown rainbow trout meat is displayed in November 2024. Image: Feature China / Contributor / Getty Images

One study found that, compared with regular chicken meat, lab-grown chicken had less protein, lower amounts of most essential amino acids, less magnesium, and less vitamin B3. However, it had more total fat, more saturated fat, more cholesterol, and higher levels of vitamins B5, B6, and A. Lab-grown chicken also contained higher amounts of several minerals, including calcium, copper, iron, potassium, manganese, sodium, phosphorus, selenium, and zinc.

In conventional meat, nutrients build up in animal tissues over the animal’s lifetime through diet, microbes in the animal’s gut, and normal metabolism, explains Spector.  Replicating that complex process in a lab environment is difficult, although technology is making great strides.

Lab-grown meat could be healthier than conventional meat

One of the biggest promises of lab-grown meat is that, unlike conventional meat, its nutritional content can potentially be fine-tuned during production.

“In practice, this might mean aiming for less saturated fat and more unsaturated fat and enriching the product with beneficial fatty acids such as omega-3,” says Spector. This may come with a few trade-offs, as fat plays a major role in how meat tastes and feels, he says. 

Another benefit of cultivated meat comes from the way it’s produced—in a sterile lab environment. This contrasts with traditional meat farming where manure is present and can—potentially—come into contact with meat. Lab-grown meat might improve the food safety concerns associated with large-scale animal farming, Praamsma says.

Lab-grown meat falls under the ‘ultra-processed food’ umbrella

Because of how lab-grown meat is made—through an industrial process, and with added ingredients—it would probably count as an ultra-processed food, says Spector. 

“But ‘processed’ doesn’t automatically mean unhealthy,” he says. “What matters is the quality of the final product, what’s added, how it affects the gut microbiome, and what it replaces in the diet.”

Nutritionally, lab-grown meat is much like regular meat: low in fiber and high in saturated fat. “But in theory, it could be designed to have an improved nutrient profile,” Spector says, for instance with more iron or vitamin B12 and less saturated fat.

Still, tweaking the nutrient mix doesn’t erase the health concerns linked to eating meat. “Decades of research shows that diets emphasizing whole plant foods are consistently associated with better long-term health outcomes than diets high in meat, whether conventional or novel,” says Praamsma. Simply swapping conventional meat for lab-grown versions isn’t likely to deliver the same benefits as adding more fruits, vegetables, and legumes to your plate, he points out.

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Its long-term impact on health is unknown

At the moment, we don’t yet know how eating lab-grown meat affects health in the long run.

“Studies evaluating its long-term health outcomes relative to traditional meat do not yet exist,” says Praamsma.

Spector agrees. “No clinical trials have been conducted to date, which means we don’t have data on its impact on any health conditions or allergies. This includes the impact on our gut microbiome.”

The bottom line

Nutritionally, lab-grown meat is much like regular meat, though it isn’t an exact copy. On the upside, it could be designed to be healthier, and because it’s made in a clean lab, it may lower the risk of contamination compared with farm-raised meat. 

But we still don’t know how eating lab-grown meat affects our health long-term. Based on what we know now, diets rich in whole plant foods are still the best way to improve overall health.

In Ask Us Anything, Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.

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Sports arenas across  the United States could soon have a new, jiggly way to measure the excitement of a game. Jell-O, the company most known for its physics-defying gelatin dessert, is introducing a device it says can calculate fan intensity in a stadium and then visually represent that data in real time as a jiggling mass of Jell-O. The rowdier the crowd gets, the more the Jell-O jiggles. The company is calling its bizarre invention the JELL-OMETER. It’s already been used at a professional hockey game in New York and is expected to be on its way to other stadiums soon.

Anyone who has been to a sporting event has likely seen messages on the jumbotron urging fans to “Get Loud” and cheer. Those systems typically use decibel readers to measure sound.

The JELL-OMETER takes a different approach and tries to measure fan energy instead. The company claims the device uses “proprietary plate-sensing” technology to capture sound pressure from the crowd’s cheers. That sound pressure is then converted into mechanical motion and presented as a shaking mold of Jell-O.

The energy is measured in “jiggles”on a scale of one to 10. One jiggle is roughly equivalent to a microwave, while 10 is supposedly the same as a small earthquake rumble. No word yet on how many the small earthquakes generated at Taylor Swift concerts would be. 

Related: [What a Jell-O brain tells us about the future of human-machine interaction]

The  company says that their goal is to create an “interactive way to experience crowd intensity.” Priming fans to get up and buy a packet of the jiggly substance probably doesn’t hurt either.

“As the inventors of the jiggle more than 125 years ago, we knew we had a unique opportunity to visually measure sound in a way no one else could,” Kathryn O’Brien, the Kraft Heinz Company’s head of marketing for desserts, said in a statement.

“With the JELL-OMETER, we’re bringing the iconic Jell-O jiggle to sports to give the fans something they’ve long waited for—the opportunity to secure bragging rights on who has the most passionate fanbase.” 

The JELL-OMETER has already seen some action. On Friday, the device was trialed  at a professional hockey game between the New York Islanders and the Philadelphia Flyers. This clip posted on Instagram shows the device registering “5.8” jiggles. 

View this post on Instagram Loud crowds can win games 

Sports fans aren’t shy about getting loud. In 2014, Kansas City Chiefs fans broke the Guinness World Record for loudest crowd roar at a sports stadium, belting out an ear-blistering 142.2 decibels—roughly equivalent to the sound of a jet taking off. That record beat the one set by Chiefs fans in 2013.

And while the rowdy fans certainly played a role, the stadium has also earned a reputation for being particularly loud, something reportedly attributed to a pair of canopies that cover a large portion of the seats. That coverage protects fans from rain, but it also serves a secondary purpose of amplifying sound.

Some particularly crafty sports teams have also been known to use a stadium’s loudness to their advantage. The Houston Astros famously opted to keep their roof closed during the 2017 World Series, even when the weather was fine, in a deliberate attempt to amplify the crowd noise bouncing back down from the roof. They ended up winning that series four to three.

The science behind the JELL-OMETER. Image: JELL-O

Jell-O makes it clear they aren’t pulling for any one team in particular. The company said it is looking to introduce its device to more stadiums and is gathering feedback from fans to see which cities might be prime candidates. 

“The JELL-OMETER doesn’t take sides,” O’Brien said. “It just measures the madness.”

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While it might not always feel like it, spring has finally sprung for those of us in the Northern Hemisphere. At the New England Wildlife Center in Massachusetts, the arrival of the first baby squirrels is an important indicator of the start of the season. 

While they usually begin to come in around St. Patrick’s Day, the center has received them as early as late February. This year’s  first baby squirrels have just arrived, New England Wildlife Center CEO Greg Mertz, tells Popular Science. 

Regardless of their admittance date, baby squirrels always mean lots of work for the staff. And the work has just begun, as the staff must feed them specially formulated milk every half an hour. 

Mertz explains that they receive the young animals in waves. They’re currently experiencing a spring wave and there will be another over the summer, and one more at the beginning of October. 

Baby squirrels can fall out of their nests for a variety of reasons. Wind storms can knock the babies out of a tree, the nest could be too small, or yard work like trimming or cutting down a tree may cause problems. The mother squirrel may also be injured, killed, or have been scared away. If the mother is still alive and well she will usually return her baby to the nest, which is why people shouldn’t immediately move a baby squirrel when they find one. 

Staff at the New England Wildlife Center must feed baby squirrels specially formulated milk every half an hour. Image: Greg Mertz / New England Wildlife Center.

“I would tell people to monitor the situation, not closely, but monitor from a distance for a good 12 hours, even if it’s overnight,” Mertz explains. “If people have indoor outdoor cats, keep the cat inside. If they have dogs, keep dogs inside and away from where that area is and let mom do her business, because as soon as we’re nearby, or dogs are nearby, or cats are nearby, she’s going to run away.” 

A predator like a hawk or raccoon might still come by, “but that’s the way of nature. We’re trying to do what we can for those that are left out of the system.”

If 12 hours passes and the baby has not been recuperated, then you should pick it up and reach out to a wildlife rehabilitator, he adds. 

According to an adorable New England Wildlife Center video, people could facilitate a healthy baby’s return to the mother by putting it (and a hot water bottle in case of cold weather) in an elevated basket and playing baby squirrel noises on YouTube. After setting this up, people should keep their distance. 

“Yes, it can work,” Mertz says, explaining that this solution is meant to keep the baby out of reach from predators. Though he admits, “I’m not sure that it’s gonna work successfully all the time.” 

When in doubt, contact your local animal rescue organization. 

In Ask Us Anything, Popular Science answers your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the everyday things you’ve always wondered to the bizarre things you never thought to ask. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.

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