A few weeks ago, Facebook suffered one of its biggest user data debacles ever. The original report claimed up to 50 million or more accounts were at risk thanks to a vulnerability with the “view as” feature, which allowed users to see pages as a visitor would. This feature gave…

The researchers at NASA’s Frontier Development Lab (FDL) in Mountain View California just spent the summer working on out-of-this-world problems. They came from all over the globe and all different disciplines; computer science engineers, planetary scientists, even a particle physicist. For eight weeks they dug through data and maps, created…

The underwater world of kelp forests is a murky, mysterious place full of beautiful creatures. Some of them—sea otters—are among the most charismatic aquatic mammals. Newly published research from the University of California at Santa Cruz helps us peer into the murk and figure out how those snuggly-looking critters find…

If you looked up on the night of March 28, 2008 in Eastern Canada, you might have seen a bright, white-purple ribbon weaving up into the sky, unlike anything you had ever seen before. Could it be lighting? Fireworks? Maybe a spaceship finally bringing the first wave of envoys from…

We’ve all had that moment when we’re far from home and low on data, but still need to finish up some work (or catch up on some Netflix episodes). Free Wi-Fi is everywhere, yet paradoxically, it’s hard to actually find a hotspot when you really need one. Even if you…

↑ Marina Elliott, biological anthropologist at University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa In 2013, I was finishing my doctorate in biological anthropology when my supervisor sent me an intriguing Facebook post. Paleo­anthropologist Lee Berger was seeking a team to excavate hominin remains in South Africa’s Rising Star Cave, a…

At times, we all rely on the internet to diagnose our symptoms. But finding trustworthy health advice isn’t easy. For every website that blames your sore throat on allergies, there’s an app that thinks it might be cancer. Among the vast multitude of online voices—a search for “shallow breathing” alone…

It’s a constant cycle. NASA puts out a press release saying new Mars news is forthcoming in a press conference. Then, the ultimate announcement is tantalizing—but far from the discovery of actual life on actual Mars. This played out recently, with the announcement last month of the discovery of ancient…

Today, we live in a world where GPS systems, digital maps, and other navigation apps are all available on our smartphones. Few of us just walk straight into the woods without a phone, a personal GPS, or another navigation tool. But phones run on batteries, and batteries can die faster…

Late in the evening, a government-owned catamaran departs from Galveston, Texas nearly every week of the summer. It travels through the night, a hundred miles down the Gulf of Mexico, to reach a series of reefs that rise up from the seafloor. The boat parks beside the coral for several…

The internet is brimming with freebies—you just need to know where to look for them. There are a lot of sites that offer free items—but there are also a lot of scams. We’ve handpicked the most trustworthy sites and apps for you to turn to, whether you’re hunting for a…

Here’s how to find out if Cambridge Analytica got hold of your Facebook data Last week, Facebook confirmed that data from up to 87 million of its users ended up in the wrong hands. Specifically, it found its way into the digital coffers of Cambridge Analytica, a research company connected…

Clouds form in a multitude of different shapes and sizes, their infinite combinations and position across the sky offering a visual drama in response to the light conditions. But despite their apparent randomness, a detailed naming convention is in place to categorize them. When a cloud ultimately can’t be fitted…

Once in a while, during your constant cycling through your social media feeds, you encounter a memorable tweet, Facebook post, or Instagram photo that you know you’ll want to revisit later. Maybe it speaks a profound truth or perhaps it makes you laugh until you cry—either way, you don’t want…

Every morning on my walk into the PopSci offices, I can feel my lungs working hard to process that infamous New York City air. The requisite levels of oxygen and nitrogen are there, sure, but they come with mouthfuls of bus exhaust and cigarette smoke. And according to a new…

CES 2018 demonstrated that smart digital assistants are becoming key components of a variety of gadgets. As these AI companions play more of a role in everyday life, every tech company wants an assistant app to call their own. Amazon has Alexa, Apple has Siri, Google has Google Assistant, Microsoft…