Popular Mechanics - Product Reviews, How-To, Space, Military, Math, Science, and New Technology

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Must-Read Stories

deep learning, artificial intelligence background

AI Is Actually a Form of ‘Alien Intelligence,’ Harvard Professor Claims—And It Will Surpass Humanity

“It will be essential for us as a species to maintain superiority, but [...] we are not the pinnacle of creation,” he says.

By Elizabeth Rayne

bosch drill with the drill numbers being prominently displayed

Explained: What Do the Numbers on a Drill Mean?

us automobile tesla cybertruck

Nearly All Cybertrucks Recalled

By Matt Crisara

gorilla in cyberspace, holding leaf, digital composite

Did Human Consciousness Come From Stoned Apes?

By Stav Dimitropoulos

uncrewed jet fighter that will be called the yfq42a in a mockup illustration showing the fighter drone flying above the clouds with sunlight filtering through from the left hand side of the frame

The World’s First ‘Fighter Drones’ Are Coming

By Sébastien Roblin

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Must Watch

preview for How to Live Forever, or Die Trying

How to Live Forever, or Die Trying

Can science finally overcome our ultimate biological limitations?

By Courtney Linder and Pavlína Černá

Trending Now

global green energy, battery technology development, 3d rendering

Earth’s Rotation May Be an Untapped Energy Source

an underwater cave leads to a sunlit canyon between coral reefs.

A Kilonova Left Plutonium in Our Ocean

sea with air water balloon

Clay Figurine Pulled From Cryptic Underwater Town

crowds of people on the streets of madrid, aerial view, spain

Are There More Humans on Earth Than We Thought?

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Military & Defense

armored tank and fpv kamikaze drones

The U.S. Is Already Fighting the World’s First AI War—And China Is Winning

future drone technology and issues

Is the U.S. Ready to Fight a New Kind of War?

china aircraft carrier fujian on ocean

China’s Nuclear-Powered Carrier Is Almost Here

By Kyle Mizokami

coast guard icebreaker polar star

Russia Is Crushing the U.S. Navy in the Arctic

By Sébastien Roblin

jet ircraft on board the uss eisenhower, us aircraft carrier.

China Has Weapons to Destroy US Aircraft Carriers

By Kyle Mizokami

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Must-Read

popular mechanics 2025 tool awards

Tool Awards 2025

From a hammer drill to a handheld sander to a humble band saw blade, these new tools stood out among all that we tested this year.

By Bradley Ford and Photography by Trevor Raab and Thomas Hengge

Stay Curious

Tech

apple macbook air m4

Tested: Apple MacBook Air M4

By Stefan Vazharov

beautiful country house and garden

How to Fertilize Your Lawn This Spring

By Debbie Wolfe

a flying drone equipped with a camera

The 7 Best Drones, Tested

By Tom Price and Danny Perez

ai head

This Chip Could Bring About the Singularity

Science

binary code projection on mannequin head, close up

A Scientist Says the Universe Has a Source Code

unrecognized person searching for objects with a metal detector in the countryside during a sunset, close up of search coil.

A Metal Detectorist Found a Massive Iron Age Hoard

By Emma Frederickson

mount spurr venting steam and ash

A Dangerous U.S. Volcano is Preparing to Blow

uninhabited beehive

This Bizarre Fossil Is a Whole New Form of Life

By Elizabeth Rayne

Space

abstract line art

Black Hole Radiation May Have Shaped Our Universe

By Elizabeth Rayne

an ion drive powered exploration spaceship approaches a violent, new red star.

A Fusion Rocket Could Cut Space Travel in Half

two ‘fans’ corresponding to the two main areas desi has observed, above and below the plane of our milky way (see this map). desi is mounted on the u.s. national science foundation nicholas u. mayall 4 meter telescope at kitt peak national observatory (kpno), a program of nsf noirlab. desi has made the largest 3d map of our universe to date and uses it to study dark energy. earth is at the center of the two fans, where bluer points indicate more distant objects. this is a still from an animated rotation of the desi year 3 data map.

Everything We Knew About the Cosmos Might Be Wrong

By Jackie Appel

simulation of a large meteorite crossing the night sky.

This Meteorite’s Origins Don’t Exist Anymore

Dive Deep

circa 1925 harry grindell matthews demonstrating his death ray he is currently working on a film about his achievements photo by sashahulton archivegetty images

Brilliant Inventor Claimed He Made a Deadly Laser-Powered Ray Gun. Was It Real?

Was Harry Grindell Matthews a fraud, or a genius ahead of his time by a century?

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Flight

silhouette of the nose of concorde at sunset in england

A Plane Just Achieved Supersonic Flight Without the Sonic Boom

futuristic plane over a rocky desert

A Hypersonic Jet in China Reached Mach 6.5

By Brandon J. Weichert

x59 plane with sharp nose cone against black background

Can NASA’s New X-Plane Finally Hush Sonic Booms?

drone is seen over ridge, in suffolk county, new york

9 Explanations for the Drones Over New Jersey

By Kyle Mizokami

the national air and space museum, washington, dc

Searchers Thought They Found Earhart’s Plane

Badass Military Machines

a plane flying in the sky

Why the F-15EX Is Such a Badass Plane

leopard 2 tank

Why the Leopard 2 Is Such a Badass Tank

By Kyle Mizokami

B-52 Badass Plane

Pop Mech Pro Pop Mech Pro

Why the B-52 Is Such a Badass Plane

By Alex Hollings

c5 galaxy

Pop Mech Pro Pop Mech Pro

Why the C-5 Galaxy Is Such a Badass Plane

By Kyle Mizokami

Learn Something New

Physics

time dilation, conceptual illustration

Gravity Might Be the Mother of Time

By Paul M. Sutter

light speed

Is This the Warp Drive We’ve Been Waiting For?

superheated plasma inside a nuclear fusion reactor ilustration concept, tokamak

Scientists May Have Found the Key to Fusion Energy

By Manasee Wagh

planet earth with power button

We Live Inside a Simulation–But We Can Hack It

By Stav Dimitropoulos

Deep Math

$physics teacher writing math equations on a blackboard$

A 4chan Post Prompted a Wild Mathematical Puzzle

By Elizabeth Rayne

mathematics textbook from 1743 year, geometry problems

Two Teens Proved the Pythagorean Theorem

infinite

A New Kind of Infinity Just Dropped

numbers background on blue bg 3d rendering

Mathematicians Solved a Notorious Old Problem

By Caroline Delbert

Home & DIY

closeup of an electric stove top

What to Know About Replacing Your Gas Stove

By Arabella Bowen

when to start mowing lawn

Here's When to Start Mowing Your Lawn This Spring

By Tierney McAfee

portable gasoline power generator and wires outdoor

How Do Portable Generators Work?

By Roy Berendsohn

harbor freight mini toolbox

Tested: The Harbor Freight Mini Toolbox

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Unlocking Consciousness

illustrative image of man with striped eyes and brain representing psychedelic

Transporting Your Consciousness to an ‘Alternate Reality’ Online Could Cause Memory Problems

By Stav Dimitropoulos

12 week old baby scan in rainbow colors

Consciousness May Arise Before Birth, Study Finds

By Stav Dimitropoulos

virus disease x cells microscope slide

Could We Have Evidence That Cells Are Conscious?

nurse pushing patient lying on hospital gurney into bright light of death

DMT Controls Consciousness at Your Moment of Death

By Stav Dimitropoulos

magic mushrooms psilocybin brain

This is How Magic Mushrooms Warp Our Reality

By Connie Chang

More Great Stuff

Culture

ethel and julius rosenberg sit in a police van with a fence in between them

Does New Evidence Exonerate the Rosenbergs?

By Michael Natale

hundreds of cloudlike white mushrooms

This Magic Mushroom is a Groundbreaking Mutant

By Danielle Zickl

a floating transparent ghostly woman standing in front of a gothic old tower with a cctv surveillance edit

Ghost Hunters Say They Can Prove Spirits Are Real

By Stav Dimitropoulos

a historical document with a grid of numbers and text overlaying a map

Massive Treasure Trove or Elaborate Hoax?

By David Howard

Editor Favorites

usa, arizona, titan nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile in silo

The Potent Fuel That Could Save American Energy

By Liam Critchley

lightning bolts crashing together

Scientists Are on the Cusp of Wireless Electricity

a large snowcapped mountain is seen through the base of a firetower

The Volcanic Threat in the Pacific Northwest

fantasy abstract earth tunnel background

How to Finally Unlock an Endless Source of Energy

By Manasee Wagh

UFO Central

ufo encounter with scientists in white coats standing in front of a crashed ufo in the desert on a sunny day with blue skies and clouds

How to Copy Alien Tech, According to Scientists

By John Scott Lewinski

giant ufo in body of water with a ship in the foreground and the moon and two fighter jets in the sky

Ex-Navy Official: UFOs Are Hiding in Our Oceans

By Elizabeth Rayne

an alien encounter of a woman being abducted and floating in the sky by a ufo, next to her car at night

They Claimed Aliens Abducted Them in New Hampshire

By Courtney Linder

alien invasion, illustration

Humanity May Find Clues of Aliens Within 20 Years

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Our Planet

fantasy abstract earth tunnel background

Scientists Discovered the Tunnels of a Possibly Unknown Ancient Lifeform

By Elizabeth Rayne

two hands are connecting with digital effect

Tiny Sparks May Have Triggered Life on Earth

aerial view of the dramatic north shore of oahu

Parts of Hawaii Are Sinking Faster Than We Thought

tornado with aircrafts in the foreground

The Story Behind America’s First Tornado Forecast

By Ashley Stimpson

hatching egg

Life’s Common Ancestor Lived 4.2 Billion Years Ago

Live the POP Life

Cars & Trucks

How to Fix a Broken Odometer

By Timothy Dahl

10th annual breakthrough prize ceremony

Tesla Trade-Ins Nearing Record Highs

By Matt Crisara

car engine

Automakers are Pumping The Brakes On EV Targets

By Matt Crisara

electric vehicle ev charging station at night glowing light

Tesla's Superchargers Have Been Defeated

By Matt Crisara

Adventure

view from inside a yellow tent showing two peoples' legs with boots on, snowy mountains in distance

The Ultimate Cold-Weather Camping Guide

a pair of hiking boots worn by a person standing near a water stream

How To Break in Hiking Boots: An Expert's Guide

By Stefanie Waldek

lightweight hiking boots, best light weight hiking boots

The 5 Best Lightweight Hiking Boots

several solar powered generators on stones

The 7 Best Solar Generators, Tested and Explained

By Maggie Slepian and Mike Epstein

Gear & Gadgets

avalon bottom loading water cooler water dispenser, brio limited edition top loading countertop water cooler

The 5 Best Water Coolers

By Sarah Connor

coway airmega 100 air purifier, levoit vital 200s air purifier

Get Up to 35% Off Air Purifiers Right Now

By Amber Joglar

Person using a chainsaw to cut a log in a forested area

The 6 Best Chainsaws

By Tony Carrick

using a bosch stud finder

The 6 Best Stud Finders I Tested

By Alex Rennie and Bradley Ford

The Latest

binary code projection on mannequin head, close up

A Scientist Says the Universe Has a Source Code

apple macbook air m4

Tested: Apple MacBook Air M4

avalon bottom loading water cooler water dispenser, brio limited edition top loading countertop water cooler

The 5 Best Water Coolers

unrecognized person searching for objects with a metal detector in the countryside during a sunset, close up of search coil.

A Metal Detectorist Found a Massive Iron Age Hoard

mount spurr venting steam and ash

A Dangerous U.S. Volcano is Preparing to Blow

view from inside a yellow tent showing two peoples' legs with boots on, snowy mountains in distance

The Ultimate Cold-Weather Camping Guide

lego icons “back to the future” time machine 10300, lego “star wars” darth vader helmet building set

Dozens of Cool Lego Sets Are Marked Down on Amazon

coway airmega 100 air purifier, levoit vital 200s air purifier

Get Up to 35% Off Air Purifiers Right Now

uninhabited beehive

This Bizarre Fossil Is a Whole New Form of Life

beautiful country house and garden

How to Fertilize Your Lawn This Spring

digital personalization concept

A.I. Can Now Replicate Itself. What Happens Next?

lacing hiking boots using the surgeon knot method

How to Lace Your Hiking Boots the Right Way