I was an electric kettle skeptic for a long time. After all, I could just use the stove. Then I got one as a gift, and I couldn’t believe how much better it was than the old-fashioned approach, especially when making pour-over coffee. Right now, Amazon has Bodum’s high-class electric kettle for just $25, which is down from its normal price of $55. I have seen it on sale for $40, but this is by far the cheapest I have seen. It looks way fancier than that $25 price tag suggests. Bodum 27oz Melior Gooseneck Electric Water Kettle — $25.19 (was $55) Bodum If you like coffee or tea, you should be familiar with Bodum. The company makes coffee, tea, and kitchen accessories that look great. This 27-ounce Gooseneck water kettle has a stainless steel exterior that’s easy to clean and won’t deteriorate with use. The cork handle is easy to grip and stays cool to the touch for easy pouring. The real draw, however, is the gooseneck spout. It’s designed specifically for a smooth pour that’s easy to control. The kettle fits easily onto the base, which has indicator lights to let you know when your water is heating up and when it’s fully done. The auto-shut-off feature prevents overheating, and the whole boiling process takes just a few hassle-free minutes. This is a simple device that’s built to save you a few minutes every single day. That really adds up over time. And if it encourages you to drink more tea, that could have a real health benefit. Bodum Bistro Electric Conical Burr Coffee Grinder — $51 (was $80) Bodum If you want to get the best out of your coffee beans, you need to grind them yourself. That process can be a pain, but this conical burr grinder makes it simple and quick. Stainless steel burrs mash up beans for a preset amount of time. The device offers up 12 different grind modes to accommodate your beans and tastes. It holds just under a half pound of beans at a time, and the glass canister is dishwasher safe, so it’s easy to clean up those pesky grounds. As with the kettle, this is the cheapest I have ever seen this grinder, which rarely dips below its $80 retail price.

Debate rages as to why the artist chose to include all the anatomical details. Credit: Deposit Photos / Popular Science Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 The Bayeux Tapestry is a remarkable example of medieval art. The embroidery piece depicts events leading up to the Norman conquest of England and spans nearly 230 feet. It is believed to have been completed soon after the Battle of Hastings in 1066 CE. But even as a renowned and intricately detailed artifact, it’s not without its controversy. Namely: How many penises are on it? In 2018, University of Oxford professor George Garnett said that the number stands at 93 male genitalia—88 on horses and five on men. But tapestry expert Christopher Monk believes one more penis deserves some extra scrutiny. In this case, a running soldier near the tapestry’s lower border who features a noticeable accessory hanging from beneath his tunic. The mystery appendage, highlighted in red. Credit: BBC / Creative Commons “I am in no doubt that the appendage is a depiction of male genitalia–the missed penis, shall we say?” Monk said on a recent episode of the podcast HistoryExtra. Garnett, however, remained doubtful about Monk’s evidence. The Oxford scholar instead contended the mystery shape is actually a scabbard, and pointed to a gold orb that he believes is the pommel’s brass cap. “If you look at what are incontrovertibly penises in the tapestry, none of them have a yellow blob on the end,” argued Garnett. Either way, one needs to examine the original embroidery still housed in Bayeux, France, to properly analyze the total penis count. Although an 18th century replica exists at the UK’s Reading Museum, the era’s social standards necessitated a censored version of the tapestry that omits most of the genitalia. But why include all those penises in the first place? Like their total count, the official explanation remains elusive. Medieval art is laden with symbolism (including everything from colors, to flowers, to animals), and the Bayeux Tapestry is no exception. According to some historians, the appendages may have been meant to convey “manliness” and virility. Case in point: the artwork’s largest equine penis belongs to the horse gifted to Duke William preceding the Battle of Hastings, thus symbolizing his right to the throne. Meanwhile, others contend the anatomical inclusions allude to Aesop’s Fables and other classical and satirical tales of the era. “There are lots of interesting theories—we don’t know really, to be honest,” historian David Musgrove said on the podcast. “But it’s very interesting that they’re there.”

Electric vehicles generally include a lot of bells and whistles as selling points, but a startup called Slate Auto is hyping up an alternative. Earlier this week, the Jeff Bezos-backed company unveiled the Slate Truck—a bare-bones EV pickup with a purported base price of around $20,000 to $25,000. Major hurdles remain before these EVs are cruising (at moderate speeds) down roads, but if successful, the new trucks could help many drivers make the switch from gas to electric. While the base model lacks accessories, Slate says it will offer a number of upgrade options. Credit: Slate Auto Slate’s selling point is its simplicity. The Slate Truck base models lack a stereo, infotainment system, power windows, and other now-standard accessories. These allegedly can be installed as upgraded features (for additional costs). However the off-the-lot EV will still aim for a 5-star crash rating with forward collision warnings, up-to-eight airbags, and active emergency brakes. Slate will also offer upgrades like a do-it-yourself “flat-pack accessory SUV kit” to transform the EV from an open-air truck to a five-seat ride. The base truck will include a 57.2 kWh battery pack with rear-wheel drive and a 150-mile target range. An additional 84.3 kWh battery pack option that aims for a 240-mile range will also be included. The inclusion of an NACS charging port allows for easier recharge options, along with the ability to reach 80 percent battery charge in under 30 minutes. The Slate Truck lacks an infotainment system, and instead relies on a smartphone hookup. Credit: Slate Auto That said, don’t expect powerhouse performance from the minimalist EV.The Slate Truck will offer 0 to 60 mph in eight seconds, while topping out at only 90 mph. Some real-world factors might also complicate the Slate Truck’s rollout. While the company vows to manufacture the vehicle’s basic components in the US, its motor, wheels, battery, and other parts may be liable to the Trump administration’s ongoing tariff war. Slate vows much of the manufacturing will take place in a “reindustrialized” Midwest factory that Ars Technica suspects will be located in Troy, Michigan. Again, the administration’s chaotic tariffs stances and EV opposition may prove more difficult for Slate to navigate. But in terms of a concept, it’s hard to not to get at least a little excited about a throwback utility truck with EV sensibilities. The post Minimalist EV pickup truck has no stereo and a $20,000 price tag appeared first on Popular Science.

The project is expected to finally finish in 2027.   Credit: CFOTO / Future Publishing via Getty Images Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 A 117-story skyscraper in the Chinese port city of Tianjin has stood unfinished and empty for nearly a decade—but according to China’s state media, construction on Goldin Finance 117 may resume as early as next week. If plans stay on schedule this time, the nearly 1,960-foot-tall supertall structure will open its doors in 2027. Goldin Finance 117 has remained the world’s tallest unoccupied building since 2015, when financial fallout from the Chinese stock market crash forced the liquidation of its Hong Kong-based real estate developer. The skyscraper is just one of numerous similar abandoned projects across the country that have since become symbols of China’s ongoing real estate problems. In 2020, the country’s housing ministry and National Development and Reform Commission released guidelines banning any new buildings over 1,640 ft. As CNN Goldin Finance 117 will be among the world’s tallest buildings once completed. Credit: Mahmut Resul Karaca / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images Groundbreaking on Goldin Finance 117 began in 2008. The tower relies on “mega columns” to strengthen it against earthquakes and high winds, while its overall aesthetic is intended to draw comparisons to a walking stick. Once completed, the supertall skyscraper will include apartments, a luxury hotel, and businesses—all topped by a diamond-shaped atrium level featuring an observation deck and swimming pool. It’s unclear if the project will retain its original name. Its new, $78 million construction permit no longer lists the now-defunct Goldin Properties Holdings, which implies Goldin Finance 117 will officially receive another title at some point. China still has numerous unfinished skyscrapers located across the country. Credit: Stringer/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images This isn’t the only revitalization effort underway for China’s abandoned skyscrapers. On April 20, Greenland Group announced construction would soon resume on the 1,535-foot-tall Chengdu Greenland Tower after a nearly two-year pause. Such projects aren’t generally seen as particularly profitable, but it’s often more about what they represent to investors and the public. “By having [these projects] revived and completed, the government at least hopes it can increase people’s confidence,” Duke University law professor and Chinese real estate expert Qiao Shitong told CNN on Thursday. A diamond-shaped atrium featuring a swimming pool will top the the building. Credit: Costfoto / NurPhoto via Getty Images These delays have had consequences on bragging rights, as well. Since its pause, Goldin Finance 117 was surpassed in height by Shanghai Tower and Ping An Finance Center. If finally completed, the skyscraper will become China’s third tallest, as well as the world’s sixth tallest structure. Even so, the nation is still home to 91 buildings over 656 feet tall—the most of any country in the world.

Scanners are slow. Printers are dramatic. And neither is easy to use when you’re in a rush. So we, the StackCommerce deals team, tested an app that claims to do it all—scanning, signing, saving, and even faxing documents—right from your phone.  After one week, we forgot any other methods existed. The SwiftScan document scanner and PDF editor app swept us off our feet. Plus, this weekend only, you can save an extra $18 on a lifetime subscription to the iOS and Android apps with code TAKE30 at checkout, dropping the price from $59.99 to $41.99 through Apr. 27. We scanned everything from receipts to handwritten notes, and the app delivered crisp, professional-looking PDFs each time. The auto-capture feature was a game-changer—just point your smartphone camera at the page, and SwiftScan handles the rest, automatically cropping and optimizing the image.  The mobile PDF editing tools were another highlight. Being able to annotate, sign, and even redact documents right on our phones saved us so much time. We found ourselves using it for everything from signing contracts on the go to highlighting key points in meeting notes.  And when it came to sharing, the one-tap export to email and cloud services like Google Drive and Dropbox made sending files a breeze. We even tried the fax feature, and it worked flawlessly for times when we needed an old-school sharing method. But what really made SwiftScan indispensable was the OCR technology. It’s already a major convenience to digitize paper documents and receipts, but being able to search for a specific date, word, or passage can help you stay even more organized. You have less than 48 hours left to get a SwiftScan lifetime subscription for $41.99 with code TAKE30 at checkout (reg. $59.99). This coupon code expires on Apr. 27 at 11:59 p.m. PT. What makes this deal special In a world where most productivity tools keep moving to the cloud, many people are still stuck juggling clunky office equipment just to send a quick scan. The SwiftScan app for iOS and Android offers a way out, with a tool that brings scanning, editing, and even faxing into the 21st century. And unlike most modern apps that charge monthly or yearly fees, this deal gives you lifetime access for a one-time payment.  StackSocial prices subject to change. SwiftScan VIP: Lifetime Subscription See Deal

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Imagine you’re a spider nestled comfortably in your messy cobweb built into the dark nook of a rotted log. You live in a humid forest on a mountainside in Hawai’i. Insects stumble their way into your nexus of sticky silk fibers. You trap them, poison them, and wrap them up for later. You’re in a beautiful tropical paradise, though you do not know it. Life is simple.  But lately, something seems off. You’ve been feeling more forgetful. You’ll sense a vibration, follow it through the tangle, and then find yourself face to face with… yourself. It’s your own exoskeleton shed yesterday. Or sometimes, it’s the remains of an ant you know you ate last week. There’s a heap of trash where you swear you didn’t leave it. Then there’s the other times. You’ll return to your prey, freshly liquified, ready to snack and find that large parts are gone– already eaten, though you can’t remember the meal. You must be losing it, you think. Your mind is turning to mush like the arthropod guts that feed it.  Or, more likely, there’s a bone collector in your midst. A newly discovered moth species spends its caterpillar days squatting in spiderwebs, fastidiously camouflaging itself in the cast-off parts of other creepy crawlies. The carnivorous “bone collector,” as the scientists have dubbed it, is entirely unique among known lepidoptera (the order of insects that includes butterflies and moths). No other species lives quite like it, according to a study published April 24 in the journal Science. Daniel Rubinoff, lead study author and an entomologist at University of Hawai’i at Mānoa, tells Popular Science.  A Flair for Fashion In their naked state, bone collector caterpillars don’t look particularly impressive. They’re small–only about five millimeters long–pale and maggot-like. The adult moths are similarly tiny and drab. Their most notable feature are the spots ringed with white against the background of their gray forewings.  But let a bone collector caterpillar dress itself and it really starts to stand out. First, the insect spins a silk case, like many other species in its genus, Hyposmocoma. Then, it ambles slowly around its adopted spiderweb home and carefully selects bug bits out of the detritus to weave onto its back. It doesn’t settle for just any old piece of exoskeleton.  [ Related: Baby hummingbird appears to mimic caterpillar to avoid death.] Bone collectors size up each body part they scavenge from corpses or spider sheddings. The caterpillars “examine everything they come across,” says Rubinoff. They poke and prod at the husks of abdomens and insect skulls with their jaws and front legs, deciding if or how they might incorporate each part into their growing collection. Bone collectors will even chew a piece down to fit perfectly amid the other remains. Given the option of other types of construction materials in the lab, like bits of leaves and dirt, the caterpillars ignore them. They are singularly focused on amassing their grisly trophies. The bone collector is here only to collect bones.   Adorned in their macabre attire, the caterpillars can safely navigate spiderwebs undetected. They use their camouflage to feed on trapped prey: both living and freshly dead. Bone collectors will target and kill weakened or slow-moving insects, even hunting and cannibalizing their own kind. In each spiderweb, there can only be one.  A bone collector caterpillar resting on a clump of webbing next to a non-native spitting spider with its egg sac. Image: Rubinoff lab, Entomology Section, University of Hawaii, Manoa Hunting for a Hunter  Meat-eating caterpillars are exceptionally rare. Among the nearly 200,000 documented moth and butterfly species, less than 0.13 percent hunger for flesh. And none aside from the bone collector are known to cohabitate with spiders or build their cases exclusively from carcasses.  It’s such a singular way of life that, initially, Rubinoff and his colleagues didn’t believe what they were seeing. “We thought it might have been a mistake,” says Michael San Jose, study co-author and an entomologist at the University of Hawai’i at Mānoa. Perhaps it was just one odd caterpillar choosing body parts for its case based on circumstance. Maybe the caterpillar itself had gotten snared in a spider’s web.  But then, over years of insect surveys (more than two decades in Rubinoff’s case), the scientists kept finding the odd moth larvae. In cobwebs housed in tree holes, under rocks, and inside rotting logs, they’d stumble upon caterpillars cloaked in bones, an apparent predator in an environment where it should more reasonably be prey.  “Rather than having a eureka moment, which is the way people like to think about science, it was more like the sun slowly rising,” says Rubinoff. “There’s this sense of disbelief… when the conclusion is something you wouldn’t have even imagined, it’s really hard to jump to.”  The scientists have now found 62 individuals, all from a single mountainside in the Wai’anae Range on the island of Oahu. Everywhere else they’ve looked, including the mountain range next door, they’ve come up empty. Bone collectors seem to inhabit patches encompassing only about six square miles of forest. Which means, as soon as they’ve been discovered, they’re already in danger of dying out. “They’re really precariously poised,” says Rubinoff.  Sweep-netting plants on a collecting trip. A bone collector attacking another native moth caterpillar. Images: Rubinoff lab, Entomology Section, University of Hawaii, Manoa Bone Collecting is a Lonely Life Hawai’i is home to an incredible amount of endemic species, animals like those in the genus Hyposmocoma, which aren’t found anywhere else in the world. But the archipelago is also host to many invasive species, brought there by humans since colonization. Those invasive species have transformed the islands’ ecosystems, and pose a continued major threat to native species. Though bone collectors have been found hanging out in the webs of invasive spiders, it’s possible they’ve proven so hard to find because their preferred, unknown native host is less common than it once was (or altogether extinct).  Additionally, climate change is shifting where and how species can survive. Bone collectors seem to prefer a particular elevation zone in their mountain home. As temperatures and rainfall patterns change, their area of suitable habitat is liable to shrink, suggests San Jose. “We’re trying to study a system as it disappears,” he says. And every disappearance is a tragedy for the forest ecosystem and the humans that depend on it to filter their water and air. Losing the bone collectors wouldn’t just mean losing a single funky caterpillar, but also an entire, ancient branch of evolution. Pinned adult female (left) of the bone collector caterpillar and portable case (right) in which the larva resides decorated with body parts from ants, bark beetles, weevils, and flies. Unlabeled parts are all host spider integument that has been shed. Image: Rubinoff lab, Entomology Section, University of Hawaii, Manoa The entomologists reared some of their 62 collected caterpillars into adults in the lab, where they exposed them to different types of prey and environments to observe how they behave. Through DNA analysis, the scientists determined that the bone collectors are their own distinct branch on the Hyposmocoma family tree, of which they seem to be the only remaining species. Its closest genetic relatives are another group of carnivorous, case-builders, but the bone collector lineage diverged at least 5 million years ago, making it older than the island it now lives on.  Likely, bone collectors evolved on Kaua’i or nearby on another volcanic island that’s since eroded away. The population living on Oahu most probably made it there by luck, hitching a ride on the wind or waves, and now remains the only known vestige of the species. “So many things have happened in 5 million years that have made these bone collectors unique,” Rubinoff says. It would be a shame to not protect them. Though perhaps the spiders would be happier living alone. 

Browse Facebook Marketplace and you’ll encounter an assortment of odd finds: vintage lamps, used socks, a car engulfed in flames. Dom Robinson found a 3,300-ton, 330ft long cargo ship that sank off the Cornish coast during World War I. And it was a bargain: only £300 ($400 USD). Robinson purchased the wreck of the SS Almond Branch from someone who bought the wreckage from the British government in the 1970s. He told BBC Radio Cornwall that the original owner hoped to uncover something of value, but found it to just be a “big pile of rusting iron.” That didn’t bother Robinson, who is an hobbyist diver and had already done a dive visit to the site before acquiring the sunken pile of rusty iron. The SS Almond Branch. Screenshot: Dom Robinson/YouTube The SS Almond Branch was a British defense-armed merchant ship built in 1896 that a German submarine torpedo took down on November 27, 1917. The ship came to a rest in the waters near Dodman Point off South Cornwall. In the UK, private individuals can purchase shipwrecks. Thousands of wrecks sit in the waters around the UK, and owners need to follow a set of guidelines set by the government to ensure safety and historical preservation. Robinson took cameras along for his first dive of the wreck since finalizing his purchase. You can watch his dive, which took place in January 2025, in the video above. Happy exploring, Dom. Screenshot: Dom Robinson/YouTube The post Man buys WWI shipwreck for $400 on Facebook Marketplace appeared first on Popular Science.

The vegan dish includes five percent more protein than actual calamari. Credit: Credit: ACS Food Science & Technology (2025) Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 In 2023, researchers at the National University of Singapore unveiled their early attempts at realistic, nutritious 3D-printed vegan calamari rings. While results at the time tasted similar to the real thing, its inventors conceded that the texture didn’t quite work. That might seem like a minor caveat, but designing alternative cuisines that closely resemble their source dishes will be necessary if society wants to transition towards a more sustainable food industry.  After two years of trial and error, the researchers have returned with an updated fried calamari recipe they say finally matches the real thing. Not only that, but it actually provides 5 percent more protein than actual squid. Their results were recently published in the American Chemical Society. The new 3D-printed recipe still starts as plant-based paste made from isolated mung bean protein and powdered microalgae. But researchers also determined a precise mixture of extra ingredients to give their faux-calamari its familiar textural springiness. In addition to 10 percent powdered microalgae, the improved mixture also includes 1.5 percent gellan gum for thickening and 2 percent canola oil for fat content. To make the meal, each calamari is 3D printed in rings about 1.8 inches wide. Unlike previous trials, the team this time allowed the uncooked rings to freeze overnight. The following day, the researchers battered and quickly deep-fried their vegan calamari before proceeding to the taste tests. Microscopic imaging of the rings indicated another key factor that helped improve the meal. Inside the cooked paste resided small structural voids that modified its overall softness in ways that better resembled actual seafood. “This research showcases the potential of 3D printing to transform sustainable plant proteins… into seafood analogs,” said study lead author Poornima Vijayan. Moving forward, Vijayan says it’s just a matter of scaling their product—and convincing hungry diners to give it a try.

You may not even pay attention to what your T-shirt is made out of. I don’t blame you; checking tags can be boring. But, cotton shirts reign supreme over poly blends and other synthetic fabrics. They fade better, feel nicer, and don’t make you stink after two minutes on the treadmill. They can be a little pricier, though. Right now, Amazon has Hanes T-shirts made of 100 percent cotton in a four-pack for just $11.92. That’s less than half the regular price and more than $5 cheaper than I’ve ever seen them. You could even print a letter “T” on it to make yourself more attractive. Hanes Men's Short Sleeve Essentials Crewneck Cotton T-Shirt, Black Multipack — $11.92 (was $26) Hanes T-shirts are a summer staple, and these are great for the warm months. They’re made from 100 percent mid-weight cotton (as long as you get the black or the green, which are the only colors on sale), which comes with several advantages. They hold up over time and get a great-looking fade rather than falling apart like some synthetics. They have double-needle stitching and burly seams to keep them sturdy. This is a semi-full-cut T-shirt, so it offers a little more room in the torso than some other shirts. They will likely ship with an actual tag attached, rather than a screen-printed one, so I recommend cutting it out before wearing. They do go up to size 4XL, which is great because cotton T-shirts will tend to shrink a little after the first wash.

NASA's .50 caliber gas guns can fire at nearly 23,000 feet per second. Credit: Sierra Space / Trevor Thompson Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Sierra Space continues to put its Large Integrated Flexible Environment (LIFE) habitat designs through the wringer. After multiple stress tests that filled the inflatable space station modules with water until they burst like balloons, the private startup has transitioned to shooting their latest prototypes with hypervelocity light gas guns. And like the previous trials, the intense tests served an important purpose—in this case, making sure the shields coating LIFE habitat modules will withstand any hazardous micrometeoroid and orbital debris (MMOD) impacts. The possibility of a large meteorite strike is a terrifying scenario with dramatic and deadly consequences, but a space station is far more likely to encounter run-ins with much smaller bits of space rock. Because of this, any current and future orbital structures must be designed to endure the occasional pummeling from tiny meteorites and space junk traveling at incredibly fast speeds. Sierra Space’s LIFE habitat modules are constructed with a unique softgoods material called Vectran made from chemically-woven synthetic liquid crystalline polymers. Although light and flexible when not in use, Vectran modules can inflate to form a rigid structure stronger than conventional steel. But those structures must also be resilient to MMOD strikes, and that requires designing an additional composite shield layer. For NASA and any would-be contractors like Sierra Space, this means a trip to its Remote Hypervelocity Test Laboratory (RHTL) at the White Sands Test Facility in Las Cruces, New Mexico. RHTL operators have overseen around 600 test firings every year since the lab opened in 1993, and currently rely on four two-stage light gas guns placed in a vacuum-sealed chamber to simulate MMOD conditions in space. To achieve such cosmic speeds, NASA’s guns combine an initial stage relying on gunpowder that is subsequently boosted by a second stage of highly compressed hydrogen gas. One of Sierra Space’s shield options after being shot by NASA’s .50 caliber gas gun. Credit: Sierra Space Sierra Space’s recent tests involved a pair of .50 caliber guns built to replicate orbital debris impacts by firing projectiles at a speed of nearly 23,000 feet per second (fps). For reference, the fastest bullet on Earth—a .222 Remington round—travels at 3,167 fps. “Historically, whipple shields or stuffed whipple shields have been used,” said Sierra Space mechanical engineer Zack Masciopinto, referring to the metallic structures used on the International Space Station.  Masciopinto and colleagues are instead exploring flexible multi-shock shields. These use layers of ballistic fabrics to function as “sacrificial walls” that absorb the shock of projectiles while breaking them down into fragments. “By the time it gets to our rear wall, no damage is going to occur,” he explained. A view down the barrel of one of NASA’s two-stage gas guns. Credit: Sierra Space Sierra Space’s experiment involved two phases to determine the best ballistic fabric options. In the first phase, operators fired at various softgoods materials with .50 caliber guns kept at a fixed set of parameters to simulate MMOD events. After determining the most promising options, researchers then adjusted the guns to calculate an equation focused on a shield stack’s efficacy and performance. A total of 40 shots were fired at the materials to confirm the optimal configuration. Finally, the team subjected the final selection to another 19 shots in order to gather as much data as possible for future refinements. “After many tests… we were able to come away with something that performs really well and is super efficient,” said Masciopinto. Moving forward, Sierra Space will spend the next year-and-a-half finalizing its entire softgoods module system to submit for NASA certification. If all goes according to plan, future low-Earth orbit space stations could feature their inflatable LIFE habitats shielded from any pesky cosmic debris.

Ready to take your outdoor gear to the next level? These Mini Digital Night Vision Binoculars let you see in the dark, and in any low-light situation, giving you the advantage whether you’re tracking wildlife, scouting your next adventure, or securing your perimeter. These handy binoculars are now only $79.97 through April 27, with no coupon code required.  See in the dark and record videos of your adventures with these binoculars Planning an outdoor adventure after dark? Whether hiking at dusk, on a hunting expedition, or camping under the stars, these Mini Digital Night Vision Binoculars let you see up to 300 meters in total darkness. Don’t let their compact size fool you. These pocket-sized binoculars may weigh less than half a pound, but they deliver impressive 10x optical magnification for a detailed, close-up view. An 850nm infrared illuminator also lets you see animals or plants clearly in total darkness.  Do you want proof of your late-night escapades? With a 2.4-inch 1080p HD display and 4x digital zoom, you can capture stunning photos and videos even in low-light conditions. Perfect for capturing memorable nighttime moments with the included 32GB TF card. There are seven adjustable brightness levels to choose from, and you can also see the world via four color effects—color, black and white, luminous green, or infrared. And you won’t have to worry about constantly recharging your Mini Digital Night Vision Binoculars thanks to their built-in rechargeable lithium battery with a 2,260mAh capacity. Take these Mini Digital Night Vision Binoculars with you on any nighttime adventures now for 50% off and just $79.97 through April 27 (no coupon code required!).  StackSocial prices subject to change. Mini Digital Night Vision Binoculars with 1080p HD Recording – $79.97 See Deal

The record-breaking Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) has captured another stunningly close look at the surface of our sun. DKIST has collected incredibly detailed images of the sun from its perch on the Haleakalā volcano in Maui since 2022, but the largest observational tool of its kind only managed its latest look thanks to a recent major milestone described as its “technical first light.” Using its newly installed spectro-polarimeter visible tuner filter (VTF), DKIST has offered a stunningly close look at the sun’s surface photosphere featuring a gigantic sunspot. “The instrument is, so to speak, the heart of the solar telescope, which is now finally beating at its final destination,” VTF project scientist Matthias Schubert said in a statement. Each pixel in the original version of the image corresponds to 10 km (or 6.2 miles) on the Sun. Credit: VTF / KIS / NSF / NSO / AURA VTF’s primary goal is to image the sun at the absolute highest spatial, spectral, and temporal resolutions possible. Doing so will help experts gain a better understanding of the sun’s dynamic and complex behaviors, particularly the powerful particles, solar energy, and stellar radiation it ejects across the solar system. These solar storms routinely produce colorful atmospheric auroras on Earth, but especially intense events can wreak havoc on satellites and global communications systems. Studying the sun’s photosphere and chromosphere will allow researchers to examine how plasma flows and shifting magnetic fields interact to trigger surface eruptions.  DKIST’s VTF is specifically designed to help determine attributes like magnetic field strength, temperature, pressure, and plasma flow velocity. It is a massive addition to what is already a giant observational installation. At around the size of a small garage, the 5.6 ton instrument occupies two floors at the National Solar Observatory. The VTF was developed and constructed at Germany’s Institute for Solar Physics over the last 15 years—nearly as long as the time spent on DKIST itself. The painstaking installation process began at the beginning of 2024, and took months of work to complete before it could be utilized for the first time.  VTF’s first public image also showcases one of our star’s ever-changing sunspots, which are linked to comparatively strong magnetic fields that prevent plasma from escaping the star’s interior. To record the event, the VTF relied on sunlight with a wavelength of 588.9 nanometers, and also depicts the sunspot’s penumbra over a region measuring approximately 15,535-square-miles. “The Inouye Solar Telescope was designed to study the underlying physics of the Sun as the driver of space weather,” said Christoph Keller, Director of the National Solar Observatory, which is responsible for operating DKIST. “In pursuing this goal, the Inouye is an ideal platform for an unprecedented and pioneering instrument like the VTF.” The post World’s largest solar telescope shows off its full force with new image appeared first on Popular Science.

When it comes to ‘reading the room,’ humans still have a leg up.   Image: Richard Drury / Getty Images Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 AI models have progressed rapidly in recent years and can already outperform humans in various tasks, from generating basic code to dominating games like chess and Go. But despite massive computing power and billions of dollars in investor funding, these advanced models still can’t hold up to humans when it comes to truly understanding how real people interact with one another in the world. In other words, AI still fundamentally struggles at “reading the room.” That’s the claim made in a new paper by researchers from Johns Hopkins University. In the study, researchers asked a group of human volunteers to watch three-second video clips and rate the various ways individuals in those videos were interacting with one another. They then tasked more than 350 AI models—including image, video, and language-based systems—with predicting how the humans had rated those interactions. While the humans completed the task with ease, the AI models, regardless of their training data, struggled to accurately interpret what was happening in the clips. The researchers say their findings suggest that AI models still have significant difficulty understanding human social cues in real-world environments. That insight could have major implications for the growing industry of AI-enabled driverless cars and robots, which inherently need to navigate the physical world alongside people. “Anytime you want an AI system to interact with humans, you want to be able to know what those humans are doing and what groups of humans are doing with each other,” John Hopkins University assistant professor of cognitive science and paper lead author Leyla Isik told Popular Science. “This really highlights how a lot of these models fall short on those tasks.”  Isik will present the research findings today at the International Conference on Learning Representations. Though previous research has shown that AI models can accurately describe what’s happening in still images at a level comparable to humans, this study aimed to see whether that still holds true for video. To do that, Isik says she and her fellow researchers selected hundreds of videos from a computer vision dataset and clipped them down to three seconds each. They then narrowed the sample to include only videos featuring two humans interacting. Human volunteers viewed these clips, and answered a series of questions about what was happening, rated on a scale from 1 to 5. The questions ranged from objective prompts like “Do you think these bodies are facing each other?” to more subjective ones, such as whether the interaction appeared emotionally positive or negative. In general, the human respondents tended to give similar answers, as reflected in their ratings—suggesting that people share a basic observational understanding of social interactions. The researchers then posed similar types of questions to image, video, and language models. (The language models were given human-written captions to analyze instead of raw video.) Across the board, the AI models failed to demonstrate the same level of consensus as the human participants. The language models generally performed better than the image and video models, but Isik notes that may be partly due to the fact that they were analyzing captions that were already quite descriptive. The researchers primarily evaluated open-access models, some of which were several years old. The study did not include the latest models recently released by leading AI companies like OpenAI and Anthropic. Still, the stark contrast between human and AI responses suggests there may be something fundamentally different about how models and humans process social and contextual information. “It’s not enough to just see an image and recognize objects and faces,” John Hopkins University doctoral student and paper co-author Kathy Garcia said in a statement. “We need AI to understand the story that is unfolding in a scene. Understanding the relationships, context, and dynamics of social interactions is the next step, and this research suggests there might be a blind spot in AI model development.”  The findings come as tech companies race to integrate AI into an increasing number of physical robots—a concept often referred to as “embodied AI.” Cities like Los Angeles, Phoenix, and Austin have become test beds of this new era thanks to the increasing presence of driverless Waymo robotaxis sharing the roads with human-driven vehicles. Limited understanding of complex environments has led some driverless cars to behave erratically or even get stuck in loops, driving in circles. While some recent studies suggest that driverless vehicles may currently be less prone to accidents than the average human driver, federal regulators have nonetheless opened up investigations into Waymo and Amazon-owned Zoox for driving behavior that allegedly violated safety laws. Other companies—like Figure AI, Boston Dynamics, and Tesla —are taking things a step further by developing AI-enabled humanoid robots designed to work alongside humans in manufacturing environments. Figure has already signed a deal with BMW to deploy one of its bipedal models at a facility in South Carolina, though its exact purpose remains somewhat vague. In these settings, properly understanding human social cues and context is even more critical, as even small misjudgments in intention run the risk of injury. Going a step further, some experts have even suggested that advanced humanoid robots could one day assist with elder and  child care. Isik suggested the results of the study mean there are still several steps that need to be taken before that vision becomes a reality.  “[The research] really highlights the importance of bringing neuroscience, cognitive science, and AI into these more dynamic real world settings.” Isik said.

There’s a moment in many great recordings where the world just … drops out. Where the silence speaks volumes. Because it’s not silence. It’s subtraction. It’s the intentional absence of sound as a multiplier of mood. But achieving atmospheric recalibration requires dedicated hardware to place you in a space. That’s why Bowers & Wilkins comprehensively re-engineered the latest generation of its Px7 wireless over-ear headphones to actively suppress external distractions without dulling music’s emotional immediacy. The Px7 S3 is a Bluetooth headphone with a lower profile and lower distortion. It’s richer dynamics wrapped in streamlined design language. It’s immediately recognizable and thoroughly renewed—from acoustic architecture to an active noise cancellation algorithm fed by an eight-microphone matrix. The goal is quiet authority. And to achieve that goal, Bowers & Wilkins re-imagined heightened response in a slimmer silhouette. Wrapping rather than clamping the head, the reshaped armature has more pliant memory foam in the headband and ear cushions for superior comfort during marathon sessions. More svelte, less Cyberman. Despite the trimmer figure, the openings are wider and physical controls are still tactically positioned on the earcups to allow volume up, volume down and play/pause, as well as cycling through noise-cancelling options—Off, Pass-Through, and On—and launching Voice Assistant. New voice coils, suspension and magnets back 40mm biocellulose drive units in a reinforced chassis, now powered by a dedicated, discrete headphone amplifier. The drivers are subtly angled in the fabric-lined earcups to ensure consistent waveform delivery, enhancing stereo imaging and that elusive “air,” the dimensional truth. The goal is to turn data into drama, treat frequency curves as character arcs. Previewed briefly in a New York hotel suite in mid-April, the Px7 S3 did exhibit more nimble energy, more gravitas in the groove. Despite the more intentional output, battery life remains 30 hours with ANC, and a quick 15-minute charge adds seven. We’re looking forward to spending more time with them to flesh out our impressions, as we have the B&W Pi8 earbuds, among other models. Supporting the sonic spaciousness is an upgrade to Bluetooth 5.3 featuring aptX Adaptive/Lossless. And LE Audio with LC3/Auracast will come via OTA update. Also rolling out later this year, the Px7 S3 will be the first Bowers & Wilkins portable audio product to feature spatial audio, using a proprietary DSP. Finally, the Music app offers a new five-band EQ for those who love to personalize playback. The Px7 S3 will be available in Canvas White, Anthracite Black, and Indigo Blue. Included in the carrying case are USB-C to 3.5mm analogue audio and 24-bit / 96 kHz-capable USB-C to USB-C cables. While final pricing and North American retail details are pending, you can visit Bowerswilkins.com for a “notify me” button to register and receive notifications on the Px7 S3. Also teased as coming later in 2025 are the Px8 S2, the sequel to B&W’s flagship headphones that we regard highly.

A wine shop sign in the ruins of the ancient Roman city Herculaneum’s main street. The sign tells viewers to 'come to the sign of the bowls' (ad cucumas). Some of the wines also have vintage dates. The city near Pompeii was destroyed by the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in 79 CE. CREDIT: Werner Forman/Universal Images Group via Getty Images. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Just like the aging of a fine wine, the domestication of grapevines throughout Italy was a pretty slow process. One of the country’s signature exports developed over thousands of years. The earliest evidence of domesticated grapes in Italy dates back to the Bronze Age, between 1400 and 1200 BCE. The findings are detailed in a study published April 23 in the journal PLOS One. Seeds of discovery Today, grape cultivation produces about 80 million tons of fresh grapes annually. While Italian wine is very prominent, less is known about the history of viticulture in the western Mediterranean compared to other parts of Europe and Asia. “Winemaking has had a profound significance for human culture and continues to do so today, both in religious ceremonies and cultural traditions,” study co-author and archaeobotanist Mariano Ucchesu tells Popular Science. “From an economic standpoint, grapes are among the most widely cultivated fruits in the world, so much so that more than 260 million hectolitres of wine are produced every year.” In 2008, Ucchesu and other researchers on the Mediterranean island of Sardinia discovered a large amount of plant remains inside of a Bronze Age well. Due to the environment within the well, the plant remains were very well preserved–including thousands of grape seeds. Ucchesu began studying the seeds and plant remains for his doctoral thesis and the research team discovered that the archeological seeds belonged to domesticated–or farmed–variaties of grapes. “Until then, it was believed that it was the Phoenicians and later the Romans who spread domesticated grapes in Italy, while our study showed that domesticated grapes were already present in Sardinia around 3,000 years ago,” says Ucchesu. “This discovery led me to further investigate the phenomenon; I wanted to understand whether the case of Sardinia was an isolated one or if there were similar cases elsewhere in continental Italy.”  A view of the vineyards located in the ruins of ancient Pompei– with the Vesuvio (Vesuvius) volcano in the background–during the harvest on October 13, 2009. The vineyards, located on the same sites as 2000 years ago, will produce for the 10th time, the “Villa dei Misteri” (Mysteries’ Palace), a wine made from the same grape variety as the one used in ancient Pompei. CREDIT: Mario LaPorta/AFP via Getty Images. MARIO LAPORTA A new wine timeline In this new study, Ucchesu and a team from institutions in France, Italy, and Spain analyzed over 1,700 grape seeds uncovered from 25 archaeological sites in and around Italy. The seeds span 7,000 years, from the Neolithic Period up to the Medieval Period.  In the sites older than 1000 BCE, nearly all of the grape seeds share the size and proportions of modern wild grapevines. This suggests that these fruits were gathered from the wild. Things started to change from roughly 1000 BCE up to 600 CE. The majority of the grape seeds from this time period appear shaped more like modern domesticated varieties. However, there still appears to be considerable variation in the seed size and proportions and the ratio of both domestic and wild grapes from site to site. By the Medieval Period–about 700 CE–domestic grape seeds are plentiful and very similar to modern cultivated grapes. This timeline indicates that grape cultivation in Italy likely started during the Late Bronze Age. Many centuries of gradual domestication likely followed, with mixing of wild and cultivated wines to create new domestic varieties.  [ Related: Trojans of all classes enjoyed a nice jug of wine. ] Two Italian regions particularly show evidence of these first traces. Campania, in southeastern Italy, had grape seeds that were more domesticated and found in the Grotta di Pertosa caves. In Sardinia, thousands of grape seeds were discovered at the archaeological site of Sa Osa. According to Ucchesu, understanding how grape seeds evolve over time was one of the most surprising parts of this study. The radical shift in seed shape that occurred in the Sixth Millennium BCE indicates that communities began to take a real interest in grape cultivation around this time. “The shape of the seeds continued to evolve up to the Roman period, during which grape cultivation intensified, giving rise to new varieties through the crossing of wild and domesticated grapes,” he says.  ‘Echoes of a thousand-year journey’ While these results do align with some precious research, future study at more archaeological sites will help fill in this picture of Mediterranean grape cultivation. The team from this study is currently planning a project to analyze the ancient DNA from archaeological materials to identify which ancient seeds led to today’s grape varieties. For any and all wine enthusiasts, Ucchesu also says it’s important, “to imagine that, with each sip of fine wine, we are tasting the echoes of a thousand-year journey, a story woven through time to arrive at our palate.”

  Riverstone Audio We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › So, you bought your first turntable. Maybe you were seduced by that warm analog sound coming out of your speakers or headphones. Maybe you inherited your dad’s massive classic LP collection. Or maybe you fell down a Record Store Day rabbit hole and emerged with a stack of dusty jazz reissues, a limited-edition picture disc, and no clue how to clean them.  However you got here, welcome. Vinyl is one of the most rewarding—and, if we’re being honest, high-maintenance—ways to enjoy music. Unlike digital music streaming, a turntable is a mechanical system. A stylus rides a real groove, in real time. That means dust, drag, and bad habits can mess with your sound—and your records. Sure, vinyl can be persnickety, but that’s part of its charm. With just a little effort (and a few helpful tools), you can keep your turntable tracking true and your records sounding great for years to come. From balancing your tonearm to cleaning your grooves to flattening warped LPs, here’s how to keep your setup in tip-top shape—with recommendations for tools that can help. Choose the right cartridge for your sound (and budget) The cartridge is your turntable’s point of contact with your records. It holds the stylus—the tiny, diamond-tipped needle that rides the groove—and converts vibrations into an electrical signal. Cartridges come in two main types: moving magnet (MM) and moving coil (MC). MM cartridges are more common—they’re affordable, durable, and work with most entry-level turntables and phono pre-amplifiers. MC cartridges are more sensitive and detailed, but they typically need special preamps and are harder to replace. Think of it like this: MM cartridges are reliable all-rounders with a punchy, dynamic sound. MC cartridges pull more nuance but demand more from your setup. iFi Zen Phono 3 MM/MC Phono Preamp iFi Each cartridge has its own sonic personality. Some lean warm and smooth, while others are crisp and revealing. If your turntable came with a pre-installed cartridge, it’s likely an MM—and probably a solid place to start. But if you’re ready to upgrade, a great budget pick is the Audio-Technica AT-VM95E ($55): known for excellent tracking, tonal balance, and value.  Audio-Technica AT-VM95E Turntable Cartridge Audio-Technica If you’re ready to splurge, consider the Ortofon 2M Bronze—at $429, it’s incredibly accurate and balanced, with a clear top end that doesn’t get fatiguing. (And if you’re really suffering from a case of upgraditis, there’s the $695 Ortofon 2M Black, which uses a Shibata diamond to draw every transient in finest detail.) Swapping cartridges isn’t difficult, but accuracy matters. Misalignment can degrade sound or wear down your records. Use a tool like the Hudson Hi-Fi mirrored protractor ($15) to dial in precise angle and overhang. Ortofon 2M Black Turntable Cartridge Ortofon Balance your tonearm for better sound and longer record life No matter how affordable or fancy your stylus is, if it’s too light on the groove, it can skate across the record and miss detail. Too heavy, and it’ll grind down the vinyl and wear out the stylus. Proper tonearm balance—also called tracking force—is key to clean sound and record longevity. Consult your cartridge’s recommended tracking force, typically measured in grams (usually between 1.5 and 2.5g). Most turntables have a counterweight at the rear of the tonearm that lets you dial in the correct amount. If your turntable doesn’t include a built-in force gauge, use an external tracking force scale—like the Riverstone Audio Precision Record Level Turntable Stylus Tracking Force Pressure Gauge/Scale ($35)—for more accuracy. Riverstone Audio Precision Record Level Turntable Stylus Tracking Force Pressure Gauge/Scale Riverstone Audio Once that’s set, adjust anti-skate to match your tracking force. This keeps the stylus centered in the groove for smooth, even playback. Upgrade your mat  Your turntable’s platter mat cushions your records, controls vibration, and reduces static. If you’re using a stock felt mat, consider upgrading to cork or rubber for better grip and sound isolation. Cork mats (like Corkery’s $22 model) are great all-rounders; rubber and silicone add damping for improved resonance control. Acrylic mats, such as the Hudson Hi-Fi Acrylic Turntable Mat ($19), are another option, designed to mimic the acoustic properties of vinyl for tighter bass and a cleaner overall sound—but they work best on acrylic platters. Whatever you choose, make sure the thickness doesn’t mess with your tonearm height. Corkery Cork Turntable Platter Mat Corkery Isolate your setup from vibrations Foot thumps? Low-end rumble? Your turntable might be picking up unwanted vibrations from the surface it sits on. For this reason, it’s best to separate your turntable and speakers. However, many things—like subwoofers, walking across the room, or even spinning warped records—can introduce noise. Isolation feet can help.  IsoAcoustics Orea Series Equipment Isolators IsoAcoustics Models like IsoAcoustics’ zaZen platform ($230) or the Orea Series equipment isolators ($48 – $79 each, sized and priced based on weight of components) reduce interference by decoupling your turntable from shelves and furniture—especially useful if your floors aren’t exactly solid. (We’ve heard the pucks in an A/B audition, and there was an audible tidying of the soundstage and tightening of bass in the isolated setup.) Even budget-friendly generic silicone pucks ($13 for eight) are a worthwhile investment. Tight on space and want a compact speaker + vibration isolation? The $349 Andover Audio SpinBase 2 Speaker System is a clever under-turntable combo that adds a powered playback source while preventing feedback. Andover Audio SpinBase 2 Speaker System Andover Clean your records regularly Dust is the enemy of good vinyl sound. Even minute particles you can’t see can muffle detail, add surface noise, or worse, grind into the grooves under your stylus. So, if you’re looking for how to clean records before every play, we recommend giving each album side a pass with an anti-static brush—like my go-to, the AudioQuest Antistatic Carbon Plate Record Brush ($30), which uses more than 1 million (!) conductive carbon fibers to sweep away microscopic dirt and eliminate static. Let the record spin on the platter, and gently hold the brush in place for a few rotations, following the groove’s path. (Shine a flashlight on the record before and after to verify that you removed all dust and debris.) AudioQuest Antistatic Carbon Plate Record Brush AudioQuest Store your records properly Just as important as how to clean records is how you store your records. Good storage keeps your records sounding their best and protects them from warping, scratches, and dust. Always store vinyl upright—never stacked flat, which can cause warping over time. Invest in sturdy shelves or crates that support the full edge of the record.  Keep your collection away from heat, sunlight, and moisture. That means no storing records in attics, basements, or next to radiators. Inner sleeves matter too: Replace worn paper sleeves with anti-static inner sleeves to reduce dust and static buildup. MoFi Original Master Sleeves are beloved by hi-fi heads, thanks to their three-ply construction and static resistance. Want to protect your jacket art? Big Fudge makes clear, acid-free outer sleeves that are tough enough to protect, thin enough to stack. MoFi Original Master Sleeves Mobile Fidelity Keep your stylus sparkling Over time, dust and residue can build up on your stylus, dulling your sound—or worse, damaging your records. You don’t need to clean your stylus after every play, but a regular wipe-down will keep it performing at its best. Use a soft stylus brush or stylus cleaning gel. With a dry brush, like the one in Vinyl Buddy’s Ultimate 5-Piece Vinyl Record Cleaning Kit ($22), gently sweep from back to front—never side to side or back-and-forth, which can damage the stylus. If you opt for gel, like the Hudson Hi-Fi Turntable Stylus Cleaner Vinyl Cleaning Gel Bubble ($17), just lower the stylus onto the pad and lift—no scrubbing required. Vinyl Buddy Ultimate 5-Piece Vinyl Record Cleaning Kit Vinyl Buddy Avoid DIY hacks—no foggy breath, no rubbing alcohol, and definitely no Magic Eraser. Your stylus is expensive and fragile. Treat it accordingly. Flatten warps with a clamp or weight Warps happen—especially with older or heat-exposed records. A record clamp or weight can gently flatten the disc against the platter for better tracking and less distortion. Our favorite is the Viborg LP528G Turntable Stabilizer ($19)—this sleek brass clamp tames minor warps, improves stability, and adds heft and style, with a range of vivid colorways to choose from. Do proceed with caution: Some turntables, especially those with suspended platters or lightweight motors, aren’t built to handle extra mass. Always check your manufacturer’s guidelines. Viborg LP528G Turntable Stabilizer Viborg Cue your records carefully Resist the urge to drop the needle! Always use the cueing lever, never your fingers, to lower the stylus onto the record—it protects your vinyl and your stylus. Avoid placing the needle near the label or edge. Start gently in the lead-in groove, and never “drop” it mid-track unless you’re confident. Adopting a steady hand and good habits today will save you from scratches later. A little care goes a long way Listening to vinyl is a joyful experience that can renew your love of music, but it’s a habit that runs on ritual and respect. Whether you’re spinning brand-new 180-gram reissues or crate-digging dollar-bin treasures, a well-maintained setup helps your favorite songs sound the way they were intended to—and keeps them sounding that way. Put in a little effort now, and your vinyl and turntable will keep giving back—one satisfying spin at a time.

Eastern quolls primarily eat insects, small mammals, birds, and reptiles. CREDIT: University of Sydney/Aussie Ark. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 The University of Sydney and conservation organization Aussie Ark recently released 15 endangered eastern quolls (Dasyurus viverrinus) into a controlled bushland environment. The medium-sized, bushy-tailed, white-spotted nocturnal marsupials were set off into a preserve on the Scots College’s Bannockburn property near Nowra on along the southern coast of New South Wales, Australia.   Jerrinja tribal leader Ron Carberry conducted a Welcome to Country as the animals examined their new home. A Welcome to Country is delivered by Traditional Owners or Indigenous peoples who have been given permission from Traditional Owners as a way to  welcome visitors to their Country. Carberry reflected on a time not so long ago when his ancestors roamed with this “magic little animal.” Carberry added: “What is happening today is a magnificent moment. It’s about healing Country.” The release marked a first step in rewilding a species that disappeared from Australia’s mainland more than 60 years ago. Today, eastern quolls are primarily found in the eastern part of the island of Tasmania, and in farmlands, open grasslands, dry forests, woodlands, coastal scrub, and alpine heathland. Quolls are “opportunistic hunters that take live prey such as insects, small mammals, birds and reptiles, and scavenge,” according to Australia’s Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment, and Water.  Ron Carberry releasing an eastern quoll into the bushland. CREDIT: Aussie Ark They are considered extinct on the Australian mainland primarily due to disease, poisoning, and predation by foxes. Reintroduced populations like this one are being established at sites where introduced predators are managed. Aussie Ark has already established the 400-hectare Barrington Wildlife Sanctuary. Ten of the eastern quolls released at this new site at Bannockburn were born and bred at the sanctuary.  Thomas Newsome from the University of Sydney’s Global Ecology Lab said that the team will prioritize long-term scientific research to better understand how to successfully rewild the species. They plan on using very-high frequency (VHF) radio and global positioning system (GPS) tail transmitters, a camera observation network of 54 camera traps, and quarterly cage trapping to collect data and monitor the quolls.  “This long-term research project provides us with a wonderful opportunity not only to establish a meta-population of eastern quolls on mainland Australia but also deep-dive into the ecology of the species,” Newsome said in a statement. “We need to better understand the quolls’ role in an ecosystem from which it has been absent from for almost 70 years.” An eastern quoll. CREDIT: Aussie Ark. “The release is another powerful step toward one day rewilding the eastern quoll to the mainland of Australia,” Aussie Ark Operations Manager Dean Reid added. “It follows last year’s historic release of our Eastern Quolls into Booderee Botanical Gardens, when Federal Minister for the Environment Tanya Plibersek personally released one of our quolls.” The site will join the SE NSW Eastern Quoll Hub. This network of sanctuaries is participating in a genetic metapopulation management plan. The goal of this plan is to ensure the long-term genetic and demographic health of eastern quoll populations in areas where they are protected from predators. 

This oil painting by French artist Firmin Didot (1764-1836) depicts human-animal combat in ancient Rome. New evidence shows it likely occurred as far away as Roman Britain.   Credit: Public Domain / Wikicommons Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Archeologists in the UK and Ireland recently uncovered a rare find: the skeletal remains of a gladiator from Roman-era England. The bones not only help experts better understand the lives of fighters—they reveal who they fought against for the crowds’ entertainment. And according to a study published April 23 in the journal PLOS One, the skeleton displays the first-ever evidence of human-animal combat in Europe during the Roman Empire. Gladiator combat is a well-documented aspect of ancient Roman society, but the physical remains of fighters have remained elusive. Due to this lack of bodily evidence, experts have instead long relied on historical accounts, artifacts, and artwork to learn about gladiator combats. Contemporary textual evidence indicates that in addition to humans, organizers forced combatants and prisoners to face large animal predators. Events known as “venationes” (beast hunts) pitted trained and armed human performers against lions, boars, bears, elephants, and other animals. Meanwhile, “damnatio ad bestios” battles focused on reenacting mythical stories involving wild animals, often as backdrops for public executions. Despite written evidence and physical relics like weapons and armor, the lack of forensic information made it especially challenging for historians and archeologists. For example, it remained unclear if gladiator matches held as much importance in Roman-occupied regions like Britain as they did in Rome itself. Images of these spectacles survive to the present-day, but no direct links have supported human-animal gladiator matches in Roman Britain. However, analysis of a man’s skeleton excavated near York appears to finally offer concrete confirmation of the gruesome entertainment. Puncture injuries by large felid scavenging on both sides of bone. Credit: Thompson et al., 2025, PLOS One According to study authors, the remains were initially discovered during a city development project nearly two decades ago in a larger gravesite. Recent bioarcheological examination and isotopic analysis indicated the individual was a 26-35 year old local at the time of his death, and was buried around 200-300 CE near Eboracum, the Roman city that preceded York. His cause of death  starkly contrasted with other nearby remains. Experts previously noted a number of depressions on his pelvis resembling carnivore bites. After creating a three-dimensional scan of the area, researchers then compared the indentations to various animals’ teeth marks. Additional consultation from zoologists confirmed a large cat such as a lion likely caused the injuries by. Given their placement, the study authors also theorized the bites occurred as the predator was scavenging the body around his time of death.  “The implications of our multidisciplinary study are huge,” Maynooth University professor of archeology and study lead author Tim Thompson said in a statement. “Here we have physical evidence for the spectacle of the Roman Empire and the dangerous gladiatorial combat on show. This provides new evidence to support our understanding of the past.” David Jennings, CEO of the independent charity organization York Archeology that contributed to the study, said the newest findings also spoke to the latest advancements in the field. A bone featuring puncture markings from a leopard was used in the study for comparison. Credit: Thompson et al., 2025, PLOS One “One of the wonderful things about archaeology is that we continue to make discoveries even years after a dig has concluded,” he said. “It is now 20 years since we unearthed 80 burials at Driffield Terrace. This latest research gives us a remarkable insight into the life–and death–of this particular individual, and adds to both previous and ongoing genome research into the origins of some of the men buried in this particular Roman cemetery.” The first proof of human-animal combat in Roman Britain also helps clarify and situate regional culture during this time period. “As tangible witnesses to spectacles in Britain’s Roman amphitheatres, the bitemarks help us appreciate these spaces as settings for brutal demonstrations of power,” explained John Pearce, a study co-author and classics professor at King’s College London. “They make an important contribution to desanitizing our Roman past.”    “We may never know what brought this man to the arena where we believe he may have been fighting for the entertainment of others,” added Jennings. “But it is remarkable that the first osteo-archaeological evidence for this kind of gladiatorial combat has been found so far from the Colosseum of Rome.”

A few years ago, I hired an electrician to install a wired video doorbell in my house. He quoted me $1,500 because my house has a “unique” shape and it would require a lot of work to get wiring over there. The following week, I bought a battery-powered video doorbell for $99 and installed it myself in five minutes. You can live out this DIY smart home improvement scenario and save even more money by grabbing the Ring Battery Doorbell for just $55 right now at Amazon. This is the cheapest it has been since Black Friday last year, and a ton of other Ring accessories, including the excellent Floodlight Cam, are also on sale if you want to jump into an entire system. Ring Battery Doorbell, Head-to-Toe Video — $55 (was $99) Ring See It This is Ring’s bread-and-butter video doorbell. It has head-to-toe video coverage, which means you can see the ground as your delivery driver drops off your package or your food. It connects to Alexa (obviously) and sends you notifications to let you know what’s going on in front of your home. The two-way talk feature allows you to interact with people at your door, whether you’re inside the house or somewhere away from home. Most importantly, however, it’s super easy to install. I did it with 10 minutes and an impact driver. It’s as simple as sinking a few screws. The built-in battery charges with a simple USB-C cable, and it can last months between charges depending on usage and conditions. You will need a Ring subscription to use this camera, which means paying for the Basic ($5 monthly or $50 annually), Standard ($10 monthly or $100 annually), or Premium ($20 monthly or $200 annually) plans. I use the Standard plan, and it does everything I personally need. I think most people would feel the same way. It comes in two colors, including the Venetian Bronze (shown above) and Satin Nickel. Ring Battery Doorbell Plus (newest model) — $99 (was $150) Ring See It If you don’t mind spending $99, you can upgrade to the Ring Battery Doorbell Plus, which offers improved video quality and more customization options. The customizable motion detection zones allow you to specify how your camera operates, increasing accuracy and reducing annoying false alarms. This model installs easily and charges via USB-C as well. Ring security camera deals Ring Indoor Cam (newest model) — Home or business security in 1080p HD video, White $35 (was $60) Ring Pan-Tilt Indoor Cam | See all around with 360° pan coverage, HD video, plus Two-Way Talk (2024 release) | White $60 (was $80) Ring Spotlight Cam Plus, Battery | Two-Way Talk, Color Night Vision, and Security Siren (2022 release) – White $119 (was $149) Ring Battery Doorbell with Ring Floodlight Cam Wired Plus (White) $169 (was $249) Ring Alarm 14-Piece Kit – home security system with 30-day free Ring Home subscription $249 (was $329) Ring Spotlight Cam Plus, Battery | Two-Way Talk, Color Night Vision, and Security Siren (2022 release) – Black $119 (was $149) Ring Indoor Cam (2nd Gen) | latest generation, 2023 release $69 (was $99) The post The best battery-powered doorbell camera is down to just $55 from $99 right now at Amazon appeared first on Popular Science.

A Hubble image of NGC 6302, aka the "Butterfly Nebula," from June 2020. The star or stars at its center are responsible for the nebula's appearance. In their death throes, they have cast off layers of gas periodically over the past couple thousand years. The "wings" of NGC 6302 are regions of gas heated to more than 36,000 degrees Fahrenheit that are tearing across space at more than 600,000 miles an hour. NGC 6302 lies between 2,500 and 3,800 light-years away in the constellation Scorpius. CREDIT: NASA, ESA, and J. Kastner (RIT) Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 This week, the famed NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope turns 35 years-young. Launched on April 24 1990, the space telescope fundamentally changed our understanding of the universe.  The Hubble Space Telescope launched on April 24, 1990, aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery (STS-31), and deployed into Earth orbit the following day, marking the beginning of its 35 years of exploring the cosmos. CREDIT: NASA. In its over three decades of service, Hubble has taken over 1.6 million observations, traveled 13.4 billion light-years, and roughly 21,000 peer-reviewed scientific papers have been published back home on Earth about its discoveries. Hubble also snapped the first space-based images of an asteroid breaking, the first confirmation that the Andromeda Galaxy will collide with our Milky Way Galaxy, and many more famous firsts.  In celebration of its big birthday, gaze at five recent images taken by the famed telescope. Cosmic Pillar in Eagle Nebula This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features a towering structure of billowing gas in the Eagle Nebula (Messier 16). The pillar rises 9.5 light-years tall and is 7,000 light-years away from Earth. CREDIT: ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll An earlier image of the Eagle Nebula–aka called Messier 16–was included as part of Hubble’s 15th anniversary celebration in 2005. This year, Hubble is using new image processing techniques to show this star factory in a new light. According to the European Space Agency (ESA), a pillar of cold gas and dust 9.5 light-years tall is unfurling along the length of the new image. The dust and gas pillar is only one part of the Eagle Nebula, whose name is inspired by its appearance. Dark clouds shape the nebula’s shining edge, and look like a majestic eagle spreading its wings. It is roughly 7,000 light-years away from Earth near the famous Pillars of Creation, which Hubble has imaged multiple times and was one of the early images sent back by the newer James Webb Space Telescope. Squid in the Whale This NASA/ESA Hubble Space Telescope image features the spiral galaxy Messier 77, also known as the Squid Galaxy. CREDIT: ESA/Hubble & NASA, L. C. Ho, D. Thilker. Spiral galaxy Messier 77, also called the Squid Galaxy, sits 45 million light-years away in the constellation Cetus (The Whale). The name Squid Galaxy refers to the extended, filamentary structure curling around M77’s disk-like the tentacles of a squid.  Hubble previously released an image of the Squid Galaxy in 2013. This image released on April 18 incorporates the space telescope’s recent observations made with different filters. It also used updated image processing techniques, which allow astronomers to see this spiral galaxy in more detail. Stellar Star Sculptors This new image showcases NGC 346, a dazzling young star cluster in the Small Magellanic Cloud. The Small Magellanic Cloud is a satellite galaxy of the Milky Way, located 200 000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. CREDIT: ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. Massey, E. Sabbi, C. Murray, M. Zamani (ESA/Hubble). ESA/Hubble & NASA, A. Nota, P. M Hubble’s first observation made in infrared, optical, and ultraviolet wavelengths shows a  new look at a young star cluster NGC 346. The “star-forming factory” is home to more than 2,500 newborn stars. Some of its biggest stars are even larger than our sun and shine with an intense blue light in this image. Remnants of the births from many of the stars in the cluster glow in the sparkling  pink nebula and dark clouds. NGC 346 is in the Small Magellanic Cloud. This satellite galaxy of our home Milky Way galaxy is about 200,000 light-years away in the constellation Tucana. The Small Magellanic Cloud has less elements heavier than helium than the Milky Way with conditions more similar to what existed in the earliest days of the universe.  Cosmic Guitar Elliptical galaxy NGC 3561B (upper left) and spiral galaxy NGC 3561A (lower right) form a shimmering guitar shape in the ongoing merger known collectively as Arp 105. CREDITS: NASA, ESA and M. West (Lowell Observatory); Processing: Gladys Kober (NASA/Catholic University of America). Even with a seemingly infinite amount of elbow room, sometimes galaxies stick together thanks to gravity. Arp 105 is one of these. It’s an ongoing merger between elliptical galaxy NGC 3561B and spiral galaxy NGC 3561A, characterized by a long tidal tail of stars and gas that is more than 362,000 light-years long. This unique shape gives this cosmic merger its nickname: The Guitar. The long lane of dark dust coming from elliptical galaxy NGC 3561B may be feeding the bright blue star-forming area on the base of the guitar. This region known as Ambartsumian’s Knot is a tidal dwarf galaxy. These are a type of star-forming system that develops from the debris in tidal arms of interacting galaxies, according to NASA. Sombrero Galaxy The Sombrero Galaxy is an oblong, pale white disc with a glowing core. It appears nearly edge-on but is slanted slightly in the front, presenting a slightly top-down view of the inner region of the galaxy and its bright core. The outer disc is darker with shades of brown and black. Different coloured distant galaxies and various stars are speckled among the black background of space surrounding the galaxy. CREDIT: ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll. ESA/Hubble & NASA, K. Noll The Sombrero Galaxy is about 30 million light-years away in the constellation Virgo. It boasts a softly luminous bulge and sharply outlined disc, which resemble the rounded crown and broad brim of a sombrero. Hubble has imaged this “fan-favorite” galaxy several times in the past 20 years, including a well-known image from October 2003. This new image reveals finer detail in the galaxy’s disc, as well as more background stars and galaxies. While it is packed with stars, the Sombrero Galaxy is not really a major area of star formation. However, it does surround a supermassive black hole that is more than 2,000 times bigger than the Milky Way’s central black hole. For more on Hubble’s 35th anniversary, you can download NASA’s eBook Hubble’s Beautiful Universe.

Researchers collected and analyzed venom from 83 rattlesnakes across 11 uninhabited islands. These included the Red Diamond Rattlesnake (Crotalus ruber) from Isla San Jose, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Credit: Ricardo Ramírez Chaparro Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 A longstanding theory in evolutionary biology is that venomous predators like rattlesnakes often develop complex venoms in order to immobilize the widest variety of prey. The more ecologically diverse a location, the more likely it is that native rattlesnakes will  feature a stew of deadly hemotoxins designed to keep their prey from escaping, disrupt blood clotting, and break down tissues. But recent fieldwork at a cluster of islands in the Gulf of California appears to challenge this widespread assumption. According to a study published April 23 in the journal Evolution, some vipers are producing venoms containing fewer and more focused toxins, despite living in extremely varied environments. Researchers from the University of South Florida’s Department of Integrative Biology recently hopped across 11 uninhabited islands in the Gulf of California, the expansive inlet located between Mexico’s state of Baja California and the country’s northwest mainland coast. While there, a team led by assistant professor Mark Margres camped along the beaches and waited until dusk for temperatures to cool enough for rattlesnakes to emerge. Ultimately, Margres and colleagues collected venom from 83 rattlesnakes, some as large as four-feet long. Venom extraction from a rattlesnake. The snake is gently induced to bite a parafilm- Jacobo Reyes Velascocovered collection cup, after which it is safely released at its original capture site. Credit: RicardoRamírez Chaparro “The Baja California islands are pristine and largely untouched by human activity, making them an extraordinary place to study evolutionary processes in isolation,” study co-author and doctoral student Samuel Hirst said in a statement. Like many evolutionary biologists, Margres and Hirst assumed the larger islands’ biodiversity would result in more complex rattlesnake venoms designed for a wider range of prey. “However, we found the opposite pattern,” said Hirst. Subsequent analysis of the venom trove revealed that the islands with more competition and space were home to more specialized rattlesnake toxins. This led researchers to theorize that when competition is reduced, venomous predators may actually evolve concoctions better suited to specific prey. The new revelations may soon help experts better understand how species evolve in increasingly fragmented natural environments. Project researcher Sam Hirst collecting venom after extraction. The venom is dried in the field and later Jacobo Reyes Velascoanalyzed at the Chemical Purification Analysis and Screening (CPAS) Core Facility at the University of SouthFlorida (USF). Photo credit: Ricardo Ramírez Chaparro “Habitat fragmentation is like breaking apart a completed puzzle. A healthy, intact ecosystem is like a 1,000-piece puzzle where every piece is in place—you can clearly see the full picture,” said Margres. “But when you start fragmenting it, pieces go missing or get rearranged, and the image becomes distorted. That distortion represents the disruption of ecosystem function.” The study’s implications go beyond Earth’s last remaining untouched wildernesses. Humanity’s rapid, unprecedented changes to  ecosystems around the world are upending millions of years of evolution for countless species. By reducing biodiversity, humans may not only be altering  population counts and food chains—we may be forcing species like rattlesnakes to adapt on a molecular level. Moving forward, Margres’ team hopes to continue exploring how island systems influence habitat fragmentation and genetic diversity. They also intend to test how well existing antivenoms work on the rattlesnake venom collected from the Gulf of California vipers. “This isn’t just about rattlesnakes—it’s about understanding the fundamental ways life evolves when isolation and biodiversity start to shift,” said Margres.

Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 What’s the weirdest thing you learned this week? Well, whatever it is, we promise you’ll have an even weirder answer if you listen to PopSci’s hit podcast. The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week hits Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and everywhere else you listen to podcasts every-other Wednesday morning. It’s your new favorite source for the strangest science-adjacent facts, figures, and Wikipedia spirals the editors of Popular Science can muster. If you like the stories in this post, we guarantee you’ll love the show. FACT: We don’t actually know why period cramps hurt  By Kate Downey  So for context, I get severe period cramps. I have since I was 14. For the last year, I’ve been making the podcast CRAMPED, where I tried to find answers to what I think are very basic questions about my body and my cramps. After all, 90% of menstruating people experience period pain. But it turns out when you try to look into these basic questions and get them answered… there may not be answers out there, largely because of how female bodies are treated in the medical system.  So obviously, if we’re talking about severe period pain, my question was: what’s causing it? And I’ve had this question for 22 years. Like truly what is happening inside my body? I went ahead and did the research, I looked up the medical papers, I found the best information that the internet could give me.  Most folks think they know what’s going on in there—the uterus is squeezing to get the blood out, right? But what’s causing the uterus to squeeze? Why do some people feel mild discomfort while others feel excruciating pain that can cause them to vomit or pass out? Surely science has answers for us…? As it turns out, NOPE! Current studies conducted by the GyRL Lab in Evanston, IL are discovering that, in fact, everything we thought we knew about period cramps might be wrong.  Listen to this week’s episode of Weirdest Thing to hear more about the shockingly recent history of scientific investigation into period pain, and check out CRAMPED for loads more info.  FACT: Rats could make surprisingly decent sommeliers  By Laura Baisas A rat may not be up to the task of selecting a great wine pairing for your dinner anytime soon, but some new research shows that these rodents can learn to differentiate between varieties of vino. The findings are detailed in a study published in the journal Animal Cognition in February.  It’s no secret that rats have great “smellers.” They have about 1,200 genes that function as smell receptors, compared to around 400 for humans. This new research put those receptors to the test. A team from the University of Trento, the University of Lincoln, the University of London and the University of Vienna took nine adult male domesticated rats and trained them to distinguish between sauvignon blanc and riesling. Turns out, they could tell the grape varietals apart fairly well—with one rat named Peanut sticking out. Find out more on this week’s episode.  FACT: People used to use pneumatic tubes to flirt at the club  One of the points I make in the dating and courtship chapter of my book “Been There Done That: A Rousing History of Sex,” is that whatever the hot new technology is, people will probably find a way to use it for dating (and also making porn, but that’s another story).  For instance, in the 80s people would go into little studios and record their bios on VHS tapes that could be sent around to prospective partners.  But what about dating with…pneumatic tubes??? In a 2017 Atlas Obscura article, Michael Waters shared how nightclub patrons in Berlin used pneumatic tubes to send messages to other tables starting in the 1920s. The Resi and the Femina were two clubs said to have spearheaded this trend.  The Resi had live music and space for 1,000 people, plus it apparently had this big water jet show with flashing lights, and it also had both phones and pneumatic tubes, plus paper for writing notes on. Tables had big glowing numbers to designate them, and you could call or send a message to any other table. You could even ask the switchboard to send another patron a gift from a list of available options (via tube, of course).  Listen to this week’s episode of The Weirdest Thing I Learned This Week for more on the thrilling history of pneumatic tube usage, from sending sick cats to the vet to package delivery systems that put our modern food delivery robots to shame. Also: at least one marriage proposal. 

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Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Since filmmaker George Lucas introduced audiences to the ways of the Jedi with Star Wars (now titled A New Hope) in 1977, the chronicles of that galaxy far, far away have grown to 11 movies, nine animated shows, five TV series, and a slew of non-canon shows, miniseries, video games, books, and other media. Even if you just stick to the canon stuff, it can be overwhelming, especially if you’re trying to figure out how to watch Star Wars in order. But before we dive in, we’ll emphasize that there really isn’t a “correct” viewing order. There are several ways to enjoy the Star Wars universe as you proceed along your Jedi journey, and you may even be able to create your own method. Watch the Star Wars movies in order of release The Star Wars movie timeline spans several decades, starting with the original trilogy in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The prequel trilogy dropped in the late 1990s and early 2000s, and the sequel trilogy hit theaters in the 2010s. Various standalone films were released intermittently throughout this timeline, offering fans opportunities to explore specific characters and events more deeply. By choosing to watch the Star Wars movies in theatrical release order, you’ll experience what it was like to grow up with the series. Although this order doesn’t necessarily provide you with a cohesive timeline, each trilogy can stand on its own. They demonstrate complete arcs for key characters, yet tie in beautifully with the other trilogies. This viewing order allows you to experience the excitement and surprises of the original trilogy first, followed by the backstory-building prequels. Finally, you can witness the epic conclusion of the sequel trilogy. Watching this way can help you appreciate the evolution of the Star Wars universe and see how it has captivated audiences for decades.  Original trilogy The original trilogy introduces iconic characters such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Han Solo, and Chewbacca, taking viewers on a thrilling journey through the Rebel Alliance‘s fight against the evil Galactic Empire. These films set the foundation for the Star Wars universe. Episode IV: A New Hope (1977 movie) Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (1980 movie) Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (1983 movie) Prequel trilogy Then there’s the prequel trilogy, which delves into the origins of the Star Wars saga by exploring the rise and fall of Anakin Skywalker, as well as the events leading up to the Galactic Civil War. These films provide a deeper understanding of the complex political landscape underlying the action and provide some background information on Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. Episode I: The Phantom Menace (1999 movie) Episode II: Attack of the Clones (2002 movie) Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (2005 movie) Sequel trilogy Set decades after the events of the original trilogy, the sequel trilogy introduces a new generation of characters. It’s the first time audiences get to see Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, and others, and there are plenty of appearances by beloved characters such as Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and Han Solo. These films explore themes of redemption, identity, and the ongoing struggle between the light and dark sides of the Force. Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015 movie) Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017 movie) Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019 movie) If you want to throw in the two related movies that are not part of the trilogies, you can watch the Star Wars movies in this order: A New Hope  The Empire Strikes Back  Return of the Jedi  The Phantom Menace  Attack of the Clones  Revenge of the Sith  The Force Awakens  Rogue One (2016 movie) The Last Jedi  Solo (2018 movie) The Rise of Skywalker  How to watch the Star Wars movies in chronological order If you’re a fan of linear storytelling, you may want to watch the Star Wars movies in chronological order. This means starting with Episode I: The Phantom Menace, and progressing through the prequel trilogy before moving on to the original trilogy and concluding with the sequel trilogy. This will allow you to experience the story in the order in which events occur within the Star Wars universe. This list includes the two Star Wars universe theatrical releases that aren’t part of the trilogies: The Phantom Menace  Attack of the Clones  Revenge of the Sith  Solo  Rogue One  A New Hope  The Empire Strikes Back  Return of the Jedi  The Force Awakens  The Last Jedi  The Rise of Skywalker  Machete Order The Machete Order is a unique Star Wars viewing experience designed by fan Rod Hilton. It skips Episode I: The Phantom Menace because some viewers deem it less relevant to the overall narrative (and some fans also really, really dislike the first prequel). Machete Order preserves Darth Vader’s true identity until The Empire Strikes Back, enhancing the viewing experience and allowing for a more emotional and dramatic storyline. Episode IV: A New Hope  Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back  Episode II: Attack of the Clones  Episode III: Revenge of the Sith  Episode VI: Return of the Jedi  How to watch Star Wars in Rotten Tomato score order (from lowest to highest) We’ll admit that this is a chaotic way to approach the Star Wars universe. Rotten Tomatoes aggregates critics’ reviews, deeming them either “rotten” or “fresh.” It’s an imperfect system, but certainly one way to do things. Andor Season 2 recently set a record on the site for the highest ranked live-action Star Wars project. Star Wars: The Clone Wars (18 percent) Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (51 percent) Episode I: The Phantom Menace (54 percent) Episode II: Attack of the Clones (61 percent) The Book of Boba Fett (66 percent) Solo (69 percent) Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (79 percent) Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (82 percent) Obi-Wan Kenobi (82 percent) Rogue One (84 percent) Ahsoka (85 percent) Star Wars: The Bad Batch (88 percent) The Mandalorian (90 percent) Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (91 percent) Star Wars: Resistance (92 percent) Episode IV: A New Hope (93 percent) Episode VII: The Force Awakens (93 percent) Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (95 percent) Andor (97 percent) Star Wars: Rebels (98 percent) Star Wars: Visions (98 percent) Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi (100 percent) How to watch Star Wars in order—all of it Outside of the movies, Star Wars has expanded to include TV shows like The Clone Wars, Rebels, Andor, The Mandalorian, and The Acolyte, many of which have been produced since Disney bought Star Wars and Lucasfilm in 2012. Disney has, in fact, released an official timeline for these various Star Wars universe pieces, conveniently queued up when you select the Star Wars tab on Disney+ (you’ll need a subscription or a free trial). The Acolyte (2024 live-action series) Tales of the Jedi (2022 animated series) Episode I: The Phantom Menace  Episode II: Attack of the Clones  Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 animated film) Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008 animated series) Episode III: Revenge of the Sith  Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021 animated series) Solo  Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022 live-action miniseries) Star Wars: Rebels (2014 animated series) Andor (2022 live-action series) Rogue One  Episode IV: A New Hope  Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back  Episode VI: Return of the Jedi  The Mandalorian (2019 live-action series) The Book of Boba Fett (2021 live-action miniseries) Ahsoka (2023 live-action miniseries) Star Wars: Resistance (2018 animated series) Episode VII: The Force Awakens  Episode VIII: The Last Jedi  Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker  Star Wars: Visions (2021 animated series) Disney has announced several upcoming Star Wars projects as well, including Star Wars: Starfighter starring Ryan Gosling and a film from Jon Favreau titled The Mandalorian & Grogu. FAQs Q. Should I watch Obi-Wan Kenobi before Star Wars? It’s not necessary to watch the Obi-Wan Kenobi series before watching the Star Wars movies, but doing so can provide additional context and depth to the character of Obi-Wan. However, the movies themselves provide enough information to completely understand the story.  Q. What is considered the best Star Wars movie?  Opinions on the best Star Wars movie vary among fans, but many consider The Empire Strikes Back the pinnacle of the franchise. Its darker tone, iconic plot twists, and memorable characters have made it a beloved favorite for many.

The wearable uses sensors to identify emotions in real-time.   Image: Yangbo Yuan / Penn State Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Good luck hiding how you feel. Researchers from Penn State University believe they have developed a stretchy, Band-Aid-sized wearable device capable of decoding even the most advanced poker face. The device attaches to a subject’s skin and uses sensors to independently detect physiological responses, such as skin temperature and perspiration, in real time. That data is then digitized and analyzed by an AI model designed to determine the type of emotional responses the wearer is experiencing. In testing, the device was able to accurately identify the correct emotional response 89 percent of the time—significantly more accurate, the researchers say, than simply observing a person’s facial expression. That insight, they write, could prove useful for doctors seeking to better understand the psychological state of patients who don’t obviously express emotions outwardly, or those who may be trying to conceal their feelings. The findings were published late last month in the journal Nano Letters. “This technology has the potential to help people who are struggling with their mental health, but maybe aren’t being fully honest with others or even themselves about how much they are struggling,” Penn State doctoral student and paper coauthor Yangbo Yuan said in a statement.  Sweat, heart rate, and skin temperature provide emotional clues  The researchers set out to create a “multimodal sensing” device capable of collecting several physiological signals simultaneously without interference, a concept they refer to as “crosstalk.” To do that, the team designed the small, sticker-like device made from thin layers of flexible metals like platinum and aluminum, folded and cut into wave-like shapes.Its flexible structure allows it to continue collecting real-time data even when bent, stretched, or pulled. A rechargeable lithium-ion battery powers the device. The device attached to one of the researcher’s cheeks. Image: Yangbo Yuan / Penn State Once applied, the sensors monitor changes in skin temperature, heart rate, humidity (as expressed through sweat), and blood oxygen saturation. Each of these physiological signals can correlate with emotional responses. Increased skin temperature, for example, often signals surprise or anger, while a drop in temperature can indicate happiness, fear, or sadness. Elevated perspiration and heart rate, meanwhile, are common signs of fear. While each signal on its own offers limited insight, the researchers say combining multiple measurements in real time provides a far more accurate picture of an individual’s emotional state. “More accurate emotion recognition can be possible with multidimensional data that integrate the physiological signals with facial expressions,” the researchers write. No facial expression, no problem  That stream of physiological data is digitized and transmitted to a mobile device or the cloud. A custom-built machine learning model then analyzes the data to predict the type of emotion the subject is experiencing. All of this happens in near real-time, allowing a physician to monitor and interpret emotional responses while observing a patient in a clinical setting. Researchers put the device to the test in an experiment involving eight volunteers. Participants watched a series of videos designed to elicit specific emotional responses, all while wearing the device. In the first trial, subjects were instructed to display facial expressions linked to emotions such as happiness, fear, sadness, anger, and disgust. The device successfully matched the expressed emotions with 92.28 percent accuracy. Even more impressively though, it identified emotional responses with 88.83 percent accuracy when participants watched the videos without intentionally making any facial expressions. Credit: Yangbo Yuan, Hongcheng Xu, Libo Gao, and Huanyu Cheng, Nano Letters 2025 “Relying only on facial expressions to understand emotions can be misleading,” Penn State Professor and lead author Huanyu “Larry” Cheng said. “People often don’t visibly show how they truly feel, so that’s why we’re combining facial expression analysis with other important physiological signals, which will ultimately lead to better mental health monitoring and support.” Though the sticker is still in the testing phases, researchers believe it could one day be a particularly useful tool to help clinicians better understand the emotional state of non-verbal patients. Early indications of brewing mental health issues, which might otherwise go unnoticed, could give medical professionals and psychiatrists more time to intervene before those situations intensify. 

Cratonic dripping is a process that can last millions of years. Credit: Deposit Photos Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 As you read this, the North American continent’s underside is dribbling away into Earth’s molten mantle. And according to researchers at the University of Texas at Austin, this may be the first time anyone’s analyzed this geological phenomenon called “cratonic thinning” in real time. The team recently published their findings in the journal Nature Geoscience. Cratons are ancient, huge rock formations that compose portions of the planet’s continents. Although they often maintain their stability for billions of years,  geologic regions occasionally shift in ways that can cause entire layers of rock to disappear during a process known as cratonic thinning or cratonic dripping. One documented example occurred in the North China Craton’s deepest root layer millions of years ago. However, until recently, scientists hadn’t had a chance to study the process as it happened. But maybe not for long. Seismic waves pass through different geological features at different speeds. This map shows seismic speed in the Earth’s crust at 200 kilometers depth across the continental United States and portions of Central America and Canada. The North American craton (outlined in black dashes) has a high seismic velocity compared to its surroundings. Credit: Hua et al., Nature Geoscience. During the development of a new, full-waveform seismic tomographic model of North America at UT Austin geoscientist Junlin Hua and colleagues noticed odd behavior at the border between Earth’s deep mantle and its thinner lithosphere. “We made the observation that there could be something beneath the craton,” Hua, a study co-author now a professor at China’s University of Science and Technology, said in a statement. “Luckily, we also got the new idea about what drives this thinning.” Their tomographic modeling suggests that an oceanic tectonic plate known as the Farallon Plate underneath a large portion of the Pacific Ocean may be to blame. First seismically imaged in the 1990s by study co-author Stephen Grand, the Farallon Plate has spent the last 200 million years subducting underneath North America. Although separated from the craton-in-question by about 370 miles, the Farallon Plate appears to be redirecting mantle material flow into a path that melts away the bottom of the craton. The resulting activity is potentially releasing volatile compounds t, which weaken the larger craton base. “A very broad range is experiencing some thinning,” said Hua. A figure from the study showing rock dripping from the craton. The researchers hypothesize that the dripping is caused by the remnants of the subducting Farallon slab below the craton. Credit: Hua et al., Nature Geoscience. To test this theory, Hua and colleagues ran their computer model with and without the inclusion of the Farallon Plate. When it was in the model, the craton dripped.Once removed, the dripping ceased altogether. “You look at a model and say, ‘Is it real, are we overinterpreting the data or is it telling us something new about the Earth?,’” said study co-author and planetary sciences professor Thorsten Becker. “But it does look like in many places that these blobs come and go, that it’s [showing us] a real thing.” Becker underscored the importance of such discoveries by explaining how they assist planetary scientists in better understanding Earth’s evolutionary history. “It helps us understand how do you make continents, how do you break them, and how do you recycle them [into the Earth,]” he said. The dripping appears to be focused primarily under the US Midwest, but that doesn’t mean residents in places like Topeka or Cleveland don’t need to worry. Processes like cratonic dripping influence tectonic activity over the course of millions of years. Not only that, but similar events generally stop once the Farallon Plate’s remnants sink deeper into the mantle and cease affecting the North American craton.

I haven’t watched “The Last of Us” yet. However, what I can tell from all the promos (no, I don’t game, so no spoilers) is that it’s a show that’s dark both tonally and visually. So when I do get around to watching it—or anything else moody, for that matter—I’m glad I’ve got the XGIMI AURA 2 Dolby Vision/IMAX Enhanced 2300 ISO Lumens UST Laser Projector at home. If you have a blank wall in a room with relatively low light, the AURA 2’s Dual Light 2.0 system (tri-laser + LED) and 2300 ISO Lumens can deliver excellent peak brightness and contrast up to 150 inches of vivid, Dolby Vision/IMAX Enhanced-compatible content, even during the day. (See that YouTube video above? That’s at 2:30 p.m., and my bedroom has a LOT of windows and no blackout shades. In a dark room, it’s so much better.) And if you act this week, it’s even more affordable, as we’re offering an exclusive 15% PopSci discount on Amazon through Friday, April 25. Just Add to Cart and enter the code XGIMIPOPSCI at Checkout to save hundreds. XGIMI AURA 2 UST Laser Projector — $2,294.15 (w/ promo code XGIMIPOPSCI, was $2,699.99) XGIMI We’re big fans of the latest generation of XGIMI projectors—and have been particularly impressed by the flagship ultra-short-throw AURA 2. The picture is pretty accurate, with excellent color reproduction and dynamic range even before calibration, and there are many ways to optimize it for your environment. There are ways to adapt to a wall’s color and texture, so a screen isn’t a must … though it’s always preferable. The projector uses pixel-shifting to upscale content to 4K, but it’s still crisp and a noticeable improvement over 1080p. Plentiful inputs allow you to use an Apple TV, Kaleidescape, or whatever type of streamer you prefer (delivering enhanced playback and getting around the Netflix limitations, etc., of Android TV). Accompanying the visuals are equally expressive audio, thanks to a 60W four-speaker Harman Kardon system that creates effective ambience. You won’t even need some of our favorite speakers for projectors (though there’s no shame in wanting the widest soundstage possible to match those cinematic vistas). If you’ve got a wall, the AURA 2 is a winner that’s even sweeter if you take advantage of this exclusive XGIMIPOPSCI discount code. Take the money you save and buy enough bulk theater-sized movie candy to pay for your dentist’s kid’s college.

An osprey sits on its nest protected by a human-made basket.   CREDIT: New York State Bridge Authority. Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 For the osprey that call New York’s Hudson Valley home, the bridges offer a tempting nesting ground. Positioned high above the fish-filled Hudson River, the large birds have a nest on top of the Bear Mountain Bridge, a 2,255-foot suspension bridge roughly 50 miles north of Manhattan. However, this is not the osprey’s first time on this scenic spot.  “We noticed that two years ago at the Bear Mountain Bridge, [that] they started building nests on top of the tower,” Craig Gardner, manager of maintenance for the New York State Bridge Authority tells Popular Science. “It’s not really an ideal spot for us, so we would go up and try to encourage them to go someplace else. But then last year, before we could get the nest, they laid eggs. So then we stayed away from the nest.” An osprey sits in its nest atop New York’s Bear Mountain Bridge in May 2024. CREDIT: New York State Bridge Authority. Ospreys are masters at swooping down into bodies of water to catch fish. Like other large birds of prey, they bring these fish back to their nests–whether they sit atop a tree or a large bridge. Osprey can be found in a variety of habitats, typically near any body of water with an adequate food supply. Thanks to ongoing conservation efforts in the Hudson River and its surrounding area, bald eagles, peregrine falcons, ospreys–and the fish that they need to survive–have seen a major recovery. The osprey are also the second most widely distributed raptor species, after the peregrine falcon, which can also nest on the bridges.  “The osprey actually build a nest. They will carry sticks up and create a nest,” says Gardner. “The peregrine falcons pretty much lay their eggs right on the stone. [For the peregrine falcons], we make a box and we fill it with stone so that they can lay their eggs in there. They’re opportunistic.”  In 2024, two chicks hatched in the Bear Mountain Bridge osprey nest. CREDIT: New York State Bridge Authority. According to Gardner, last year’s osprey clutch successfully hatched and the chicks stayed up in the nest for most of the year. While the nesting birds are a good indicator that the ecological recovery of the Hudson, the nests can pose some risks to the approximately 20,000 vehicles per day who cross the Bear Mountain Bridge. The nest itself was about 250 feet above the roadway, so if a stick, branch, or even a fish falls out of it, cars and people below are at risk. The New York State Bridge Authority, which operates and maintains five bridges along the Mid-Hudson River Valley, typically tries to encourage birds to nest on the lower spans, closer to the river and away from cars. But in true New Yorker fashion, these birds appear to be seeking out the penthouse with spectacular views. The solution: some human-built steel nesting boxes made especially for the ospreys. Instead of dismantling the nests, workers installed modular steel boxes so that the birds have a safer place to nest that contains any potential debris that might fall out. Five crewmembers installed the steel nesting boxes in March. CREDIT:New York State Bridge Authority. “We designed it so it would all be modular, so that we could take it up there,” says Gardner. “We actually have a motorized platform that one guy stands on, and it winches himself up to the top of the tower. It’s pretty similar to the basket on your desk. The birds use big sticks, so you could have the rod spaced fairly wide open, and then with the mesh inside.” When all weighed together, the engineers took about 500 pounds of steel 350 feet in the air to install the nest boxes. The osprey quickly returned and fixed up their nest after the crew finished installing the new baskets. CREDIT:New York State Bridge Authority. “We took it up in components and assembled it on the top of the tower,” says Gardner. “They [the birds] were back there as soon as we left, rearranging the sticks and establishing their nest.” There is no word yet on how many eggs–if any–are currently up in the nest. The Bridge Authority said that it will continue to share updates. 

A disintegrating planet orbits a giant star. “The extent of the tail is gargantuan, stretching up to 9 million kilometers long,” says Marc Hon, a postdoc in MIT’s Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares / MIT Get the Popular Science daily newsletter💡 Inside the Pegasus constellation, a planet is disintegrating into boiling chunks of rock and evaporating minerals. Its dramatic final days aren’t due to cataclysmic surface events, but rather the proximity to its star. With a 30.5-hour orbit and a position about 20 times closer than Mercury’s distance to our sun, BD+05 4868 Ab more resembles a comet than a planet, with a debris tail as much as 5.6 million miles long. “The extent of the tail is gargantuan… roughly half of the planet’s entire orbit,” Marc Hon, an MIT postdoc at the Kavli Institute for Astrophysics and Space Research, said in a statement. Discovered by accident using NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), Hon and colleagues detail BD+05 4868 Ab’s final days in a study published April 22 in The Astrophysical Journal Letters. “We weren’t looking for this kind of planet,” Hon explained. “We were doing the typical planet vetting, and I happened to spot this signal that appeared very unusual.”An orbiting exoplanet’s signal typically features a brief, regularly repeating light curve dip that indicates it’s passing in front of a host star. BD+05 4868 Ab’s brightness takes much longer to return to its normal measurement. This implies a long, trailing formation that continues to block host starlight. Each orbital rotation’s light dip also varies, indicating that the formation is dynamically shifting in size and composition. Although the transit shape resembles a long-tailed comet, the composition doesn’t align with that kind of space object. “It’s unlikely that this tail contains volatile gases and ice as expected from a real comet—these would not survive long at such close proximity to the host star,” said Hon. “Mineral grains evaporated from the planetary surface, however, can linger long enough to present such a distinctive tail.” Astronomers have only identified three disintegrating planets before BD+05 4868 Ab, all of which were detected over a decade ago using data collected by NASA’s Kepler Space Telescope. The newest find is the most violent example yet, with the longest tail and deepest transits of the four known examples. “That implies that its evaporation is the most catastrophic, and it will disappear much faster than the other planets,” said Hon. “Faster” is often relative when dealing with cosmic events, and BD+05 4868 Ab’s case is no exception. Even losing an estimated Mount Everest’s worth of material with every orbit, it will still take 1–2 million years before the planet is completely destroyed. Until then, conditions on BD+05 4868 Ab will remain pretty hellish: surface temperatures reach an estimated 3,000 degrees Fahrenheit. Such constant, punishing heat also means the entire planet is likely covered in boiling magma as its mineral grains continue to evaporate into space. “This is a very tiny object, with very weak gravity, so it easily loses a lot of mass, which then further weakens its gravity, so it loses even more mass,” explained Avi Shporer, a study co-author at the TESS Science Office. “It’s a runaway process, and it’s only getting worse and worse for the planet.” According to Shporer, it’s pure luck that astronomers detected BD+05 4868 Ab when they did. “We got lucky with catching it exactly when it’s really going away,” said Shporer. “It’s like [it’s] on its last breath.”

We may earn revenue from the products available on this page and participate in affiliate programs. Learn more › Jackery, Bluetti, Anker, EcoFlow Portable power stations have become increasingly capable and can be a game changer whether you’re camping, in need of backup electricity, or simply want a convenient, mobile power source. But they certainly aren’t cheap, so you want to make sure you choose a model you can count on. We named the Bluetti Elite 200v2 best overall because it’s such a well-rounded, versatile unit, but there are several other great options out there depending on your needs. How we selected the best portable power stations I’ve been using portable solar gear since way back in the 1990s when it was just shy of useless, but over the past decade the tech has progressed by leaps and bounds. Today I regularly use portable power stations for a wide range of purposes, from camping to home backup to powering my work devices on the go, so I know what makes one model stand out from another. This firsthand experience has informed over a decade of reviewing power stations and solar equipment for top consumer guides like Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, Thrillist, and more. For this list, I tested dozens of units from the top brands as well as many up-and-comers, checking to see how they fared for tasks like charging a laptop, powering the lights and portable fridge in my van conversion, and using electric tools off-grid. My opinion was bolstered by input from Popular Science editors as well as reviews from actual customers. The models below were selected based on factors like capacity, performance, features, portability, and durability, and are the best portable power stations across a range of categories. Best portable power station overall: Bluetti Elite 200v2 Best portable power station for camping: Anker Solix C800 Plus Best portable power station for off-grid living: EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra Best portable power station for homes: Bluetti AC500 Best portable power station on a budget: Ampace Andes 300 Best portable power station for high capacity: Jackery 5000 Plus Best portable power station for rugged use: Generac GB2000 The best portable power stations: Reviews & Recommendations The power stations included on this list span a wide range of budgets, from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. We have picks to suit a variety of scenarios, from charging a few devices to off-grid camping to emergency home backup. Based on extensive testing, we are confident that these are the best portable power stations of 2025.  Best portable power station overall Bluetti Elite 200v2 Nick Hilden Specs Storage capacity: 2,073Wh Input capacity: 1,800W Output capacity: 2,600W (3,900W surge) Dimensions: 13.8 × 9.8 × 12.7 in Weight: 53.4 lbs Why it made the cut: Small but powerful, the Bluetti Elite 200v2 delivers the capability and versatility to suit just about any mobile power need. Pros Fast charging High output Ports a’plenty Very compact Cons Somewhat heavy for its size Bluetti has been among the leaders of the portable power space for a while now, but with the Elite 200v2 they’ve surged to the head of the pack, providing a station that is about as well-rounded as it gets. In terms of performance, the Elite 200v2 is impressively cutting edge. Its 2,073Wh LiFePO4 battery offers plenty of capacity for general use, from charging a few devices to keeping a high-draw appliance going for impressively long: it kept my electric grill going for about an hour.  It provides ample output, and its TurboBoost fast charge will have it from flat to 100% in a little over 90 minutes via wall socket. Bluetti’s new Charger 1 DC adapter makes car port charging far faster and more effective than with most competitors, charging the unit over 4 hours of driving. And 1000W solar input capacity means it can handle as large a solar array as you’re likely to throw at it. I’m also a big fan of its compact, perfectly boxed design. It’s easy to fit into a trunk or van conversion, and while it is surprisingly heavy for its size, sturdy integrated handles make it easy to move around. App control allows for monitoring and adjustment from afar, and it has no shortage of ports spanning AC, USBs A and C, and a 120W car port.  This is a real “no notes” situation. The vast majority of people looking for a reliable, intuitive, moderate-capacity power station will be more than satisfied with the performance and portability of the Elite 200v2. Best portable power station for camping Anker Solix C800 Plus Nick Hilden Specs Storage capacity: 768Wh Input capacity: 1,440W Output capacity: 1,200W (1,600W surge) Dimensions: 14.61 x 8.07 x 9.96 in Weight: 24 lbs Why it made the cut: Compact and lightweight with a decent capacity and unique lantern, the Anker Solix C800 Plus is perfect for camping. Pros Great size to capacity ratio Multi-setting camp lamp Good input/output rates Cons Not large enough for an RV If you’re looking for a decent-sized power station that will keep a few devices going while venturing into the great outdoors, the Anker Solix C800 Plus offers an excellent balance between portability and capacity along with some camp-friendly features. Its shoebox size and slight 24 pound weight make it easy to pack along, yet its 768Wh capacity is plenty to keep a few devices charged and your camp lit. Speaking of which, its nifty collapsable lantern makes for a great addition to your campsite. Multi-setting and stored in the station body, it’s a smart feature I haven’t seen anywhere else. With good port offerings, a quality app for remote control, and relatively high input and output rates, it checks pretty much all the boxes. You’ll need to look for something larger if you’re hoping to power an RV, but for general camping purposes it’s a very well-thought-out power box. Best portable power station for off-grid living EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra Nick Hilden Specs Storage capacity: 6144Wh (expandable up to 90KWh) Input capacity: 5,600W (expandable up to 16.8KW) Output capacity: 7,200W (expandable up to 21.6KW) Dimensions: Inverter 27.2 × 18.9 × 8.4 in / Battery 26 × 18 × 8 in Weight: Inverter 70lbs / Battery 111.8lbs Why it made the cut: Massively expandable beyond any portable power station out there, the EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra is for serious off-grid living.  Pros Super expandable Huge input/output rates Fits into wider EcoFlow ecosystem Cons Very expensive While portable power stations have been marketed as a renewable electricity alternative for a while now, their ability to truly power an off-grid lifestyle was largely overhyped—they simply didn’t offer the performance necessary for reliable long-term electrification. The EcoFlow Delta Flow Ultra, however, is more than capable of delivering on the promise. Expandable up to a whopping 90KWh capacity with input rates of up to 16.8Kw and outputs up to 21.6Kw, it can gobble up as much solar as you can throw at it, power appliances of any draw, and provide backup power for over a month to the average sized household. It also integrates into the wider EcoFlow smart home, off-grid ecosystem, which can allow you to build a off-grid setup of unrivaled capability.  But none of that comes cheap. The base inverter/battery combo starts out with a high price tag, and expanding it to its full potential will make costs soar. But if you’re serious about building a reliable, capable off-grid system, it’s a worthwhile investment. Best portable power station for homes Bluetti AC500 Nick Hilden Specs Storage capacity: 2764.8Wh (expandable up to 16.6KWh) Input capacity: 4,500W  Output capacity: 5,000W (10,000W surge) Dimensions: Inverter 20.5 x 12.8 x 14.1 in / Battery 20.67 × 12.87 × 8.23 in Weight: Inverter 66.2lbs / Battery 65lbs Why it made the cut: With plenty of expandable capacity and output, the Bluetti AC500 is perfect for helping your home weather the storm.  Pros Expandable  Intuitive use Plenty of ports Cons Pricey Sometimes you aren’t looking to take your house totally off the grid, but still want a power station capable of keeping your home going through a few hours or even days of blackout. To that end, I recommend the Bluetti AC500, which when paired with the B300K batteries offers more than enough storage capacity and output ability to keep the lights on while powering essential appliances. I also really like that it’s more intuitive to use than most other whole-house power stations. While it can be integrated into your home power system for automatic switchovers in the event of an outage (which requires a home integration kit that should be installed by an expert), it’s also simple enough to just plug and use as needed without more extensive home modifications.  Expanding it to its full capacity does get pricey, but even its single battery storage is enough to keep on the lights and necessities. Stacking batteries to its full potential, however, will provide ample juice for several days.  Best portable power station on a budget Ampace Andes 300 Ampace Specs Storage capacity: 266Wh  Input capacity: 100W  Output capacity: 300W (450W surge) Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 9.6 in Weight: 8.2lbs Why it made the cut: Affordable yet capable, the Ampace Andes 300 is a solid budget pick for charging devices. Pros Compact and lightweight Good port variety USB-C chargable Cons Modest capacity and output Portable power stations do not tend to be cheap, and those that are typically disappoint. The Ampace Andes 300, however, is surprisingly capable considering its sub-$200 price. It’s as compact as can be, and its 266Wh capacity is plenty for charging a few devices and lights while off the grid. It has six port options, and is maybe the only power station I’ve seen that can charge via USB-C. The build quality is better than you normally see at such a low cost, its digital display provides an abundance of information, and it can be monitored and adjusted via app.  Sure, it’s not big enough to do any heavy power lifting, but for such a decently sized, versatile, highly portable battery, it’s a bargain.  Best portable power station for high capacity Jackery 5000 Plus Nick Hilden Specs Storage capacity: 5040Wh  Input capacity: 4,000W Output capacity: 7,200W (14,400W surge) Dimensions: 25 x 16.5 x 15.5 in Weight: 134.5lbs Why it made the cut: High capacity as a standalone unit and highly expandable, the Jackery 5000 Plus is ideal when you need a big box of power. Pros Large capacity on its own Expands up to 60KWh Decently portable Cons Very heavy We’ve already looked at a couple of power stations with massive storage potential, so why does the Jackery 5000 Plus take our slot for high-capacity specifically? Because unlike most other big power boxes, the 5000 Plus can offer plenty of juice as a standalone unit without additional batteries. This makes it perfect for lugging around camping or to an off-grid worksite without having to mess with a bunch of extra gear. At the same time, its ability to expand to 60KWh is no slouch. With its high output capability and fast charging, it’s a perfect unit for use around the home or with an off-grid solar setup. It’s pretty heavy, but with its wheels, telescoping tow grip, sturdy handles, and single-piece design it’s still fairly portable. The perfect pick when you need plenty of portable power. Best portable power station for rugged use: Generac GB2000 Nick Hilden Specs Storage capacity: 2,106Wh  Input capacity: 468W Output capacity: 1,600W (3,200W surge) Dimensions: 16.8 x 15.1 x 10.4 in Weight: 43lbs Why it made the cut: The Generac GB2000 is plenty burly for the great outdoors.  Pros Rugged durability Sturdy grab handle Wireless charging pad Cons Slow charging Generac has long been known for crafting rugged gas generators, and they’ve applied that same dedication to durability with their new line of portable power stations. With a solid exterior and sturdy lunchbox-style handle, it feels more like a substantial power tool than a piece of electronic equipment. This makes it ideal for the great outdoors, whether you’re camping or working with power tools. Its 2,106Wh capacity is more than enough for most day-to-day uses, and its high output rate means it will power most devices, tools, and small appliances.  Its only glaring issue is its relatively slow charging speed. Four hours when plugged into a wall outlet is fairly sluggish these days. But beyond that, it’s perfect if you need a power station that can take some bumps around the campsite.  Things to consider before buying a portable power station There are a lot of portable power stations and solar power generators on the market right now, and while they tend to look fairly similar at a glance, they vary wildly in terms of quality and capability. When making such a high value purchase, there are a few things you need to keep in mind to ensure you’re getting the best unit for your situation.  How much power can it store? Above all else, a portable power station must offer enough capacity to meet your mobile power needs. This is measured in Watt-hours (Wh), with one watt-hour being the equivalent of one watt flowing over the course of an hour. Most people will likely want a station that holds several thousand Wh, but that doesn’t mean the unit will provide power for several thousand hours. You’ll likely need to use far more watts than one an hour, so ultimately how long your station’s charge will last will be determined by what you plug into it. It’s easy to predict how long a generator will last when you use it to power one thing. For example, if you were to power a 100-watt bulb using a power station with a capacity of 500 watt-hours (Wh), it would stay lit for 5 continuous hours. Add a portable fridge that requires 50 watts per hour, your phone which uses 18, a mini-fan that uses three…you get the picture. Typically speaking, the more capacity, the better. A growing number of brands also offer expandable models, which can be stacked and daisy-chained to add-on batteries that can increase their capacity to well over 10,000Wh. These are usually geared toward home backup power. Charging capability Most portable power stations can be recharged via solar, a wall or car socket, or in some cases a combination of both. Solar allows you to top off when off the grid, but tends to charge somewhat slowly, especially in subpar sun conditions. Plugging directly into the wall will give you the fastest power-up. I’ve found that car sockets, however, are unreliable and often outright useless. Whichever method you choose, a particular model’s recharging speed will be throttled by its input capacity, which is measured in Watts (W). A power station with a max input of 100W, for example, can take in a continuous flow of up to 100 watts. Most of the models included below offer well over 1000W. Output capability Any portable power station worth your money will have a high output capacity so you can charge many devices, even if they require a lot of juice. A generator’s maximum output should be much higher than its max input. While a particular model might only be capable of taking in a few hundred watts at any given moment, it will usually put out exponentially more. At a minimum you’re going to want a generator that can put out several hundred watts, though I typically recommend looking above 1000. Most of the models below produce several thousand. The best portable power stations should also offer a variety of output plugs, including AC outlets, USB-A, USB-C, and even 12 volt DC outlets like the one in your vehicle dash. This ensures that you can charge several devices at once no matter what plug they use. The number of ports you’ll need will vary depending on how many devices you need to power, but it should have at least a couple of AC outlets and a few USB-A ports. Portability The larger the capacity, the heavier the unit. What is or isn’t portable depends largely on how you plan to use it, but you can expect to find a model that is well suited for your situation as these days they come in all sizes.  If you’re camping, converting a van, or otherwise on the go, you’re probably going to want to compromise some capacity in favor of portability. That means looking in the 800-3000Wh range, which with current technology will weigh somewhere between 10 and 60 pounds and will be no larger than 2-3 stacked shoeboxes. Larger models will often have handles or wheels to help with moving around. On the other hand, if you expect to use your power station closer to home and will either never move it or only move it occasionally, portability becomes less of an issue. In that case you can look for a higher capacity battery that is heavier and harder to move. These can weigh as much as 140 pounds, but they usually have wheels and handles. Durability As with any product you expect to last, durability and all-around quality craftsmanship is essential. This is especially true if you plan on lugging your generator around on camping and road trips. A lot of subpar power stations are made from cheap components and flimsy plastic that doesn’t feel like it will hold up under the rigors of the road. Durability isn’t something you can determine by reading a spec sheet off the internet. You’ve actually got to take the generator out, use it a bunch, and see how it holds up. I’ve verified the durability of these recommendations via a combination of my own actual field tests and reviews culled from countless real product owners. FAQs What size solar generator should I get? It’s easy to underestimate how much capacity you need. A thousand watt-hours might sound like a lot, but if you’re going to, say, power a converted van with a portable fridge, lights, and occasional phone and laptop top-off, that thousand watt-hours will go faster than you expect. I used a setup like this and know from personal experience that you should always overestimate how much power you’ll need. A generator with a capacity under 1,000 Wh can keep electronics charged. A larger one with 1000-1500Wh should be the minimum for road trips where you’ll need it to last multiple days between full charges. For a house or worksite where you expect to use some serious energy—like a full-sized refrigerator or power tools—you’re going to want to start looking at the biggest possible power stations that can be daisy-chained to external batteries.If you want to get precise, there is an equation:1. Estimate how many hours you’ll need to power various devices. For example, if you want to power two light bulbs for two hours: you need four hours of operation.2. Add up the total wattage necessary: the two bulbs are 60 watts each, so you need 120 watts.3. Multiply these together to find the total watt-hours needed: 4 x 120 = 480. So, in this you’d need at least a 500Wh solar generator. That might sound like a lot for two lightbulbs, but keep in mind that in most situations you won’t realistically be powering 60-watt light bulbs for hours on end. You’ll be charging phones and laptops for an hour here or there, cooling a fridge that kicks on and off every once in a while, using power tools in short bursts, and whatnot. How many years will a solar generator last? Most modern generators are rated to last upwards of 25 years. The best-designed power stations are pretty sturdy, with few to no moving parts, so they should likely keep kicking for a long time, provided that you care for them properly. I’ve been pretty rough with a few of mine, and they show no signs of stopping. Can I run my house on solar power only? These days, absolutely. Just a few years ago I would have said such capabilities were severely limited, but the latest generation of whole-home power stations are capable of providing enough storage to electrify your home for as long as a month. This typically requires that you install some form of integration unit in your home that plugs into the power station and can even switch power automatically in the event of a blackout.  Final thoughts on the best solar generators Best portable power station overall: Bluetti Elite 200v2 Best portable power station for camping: Anker Solix C800 Plus Best portable power station for off-grid living: EcoFlow Delta Pro Ultra Best portable power station for homes: Bluetti AC500 Best portable power station on a budget: Ampace Andes 300 Best portable power station for high capacity: Jackery 5000 Plus Best portable power station for rugged use: Generac GB2000 We’re living in a “golden age” for portable solar generators. When I was a kid and my family was playing around with solar gear while camping in the ‘90s, the technology wasn’t capable of charging many devices so it wasn’t all that practical.  By contrast, the solar generators we’ve recommended here are incredibly useful. I’ve relied on them to power my work and day-to-day needs while road-tripping all over the country. They’re also great when the power goes out. When a windstorm cut the power at my house for a couple of days, I was still working, watching my stories, and keeping the lights on.  We haven’t even scratched the surface in terms of the potential offered by portable, reliable, renewable, relatively affordable power. What we can do now is already incredible. The potential for what may come next, though, is truly mind-blowing.