You're probably terrible at spotting faked photos
A widely-shared, altered image of President Trump's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric. The photo on the left is the real photograph. The one on the right has been altered to be (even) less flattering.
Articles from Popular Science
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SpaceX is changing up its plans for landing a spaceship on Mars
On Wednesday, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk announced that the company is switching up its plans for landing on Mars.
Some invasive species actually help their new habitats thrive
The invasive species didn't mean to be bad. Not really.
Vegetarian and vegan diets aren't necessarily more healthy
Eliminating meat from a terrible diet doesn't really make it any healthier, according to a study released today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Why doctors are still studying JFK's chronic back pain
John F. Kennedy was known for his youth and energy, but in the decades since his death we've realized that there was more to the story: The 35th President of the United States actually battled an impressive collection of medical problems. Among these was agonizing back pain that led Kennedy to undertake four surgeries.
Sorry, but artificial sweeteners won't help you lose weight
If you're gonna call something “diet,” it should have to actually help you lose weight. But like dieting itself, diet foods don't work as well in practice as they do in theory.
Mac-n-cheese probably isn't more toxic than other foods
If there's one meal guaranteed to meet the needs of picky toddlers, harried parents, and broke college students alike, it's mac-n-cheese. Whether you prefer the classic stuff in the blue box or the organic brand famous for its pasta bunnies, you probably realize that mac-n-cheese isn't healthy, exactly. But given the fast food alternatives, we tell ourselves, it's isn't that bad.
This ancient one-ton crocodile had steak knives for teeth
Move over Tyrannosaurus rex: There's a new prehistoric carnivore in town. Meet the Razanandrongobe sakalavae, an ancient crocodile from Madagascar measuring as much as 20 feet long by 5 feet wide. Razana's name comes from the native Malagasy for “giant lizard ancestor from Sakalava.” This croc had steak knives for teeth, and was the first of its subfamily to live mostly on land.
Here's how we were able to see that giant chunk of ice break off of Antarctica
As big as the state of Delaware. Twice as big as Luxembourg. When Larsen C, a Western Antarctic ice shelf—otherwise known as a floating mass of ice attached to land—finally separated itself from the mother shelf earlier this week, the news didn't just send waves rippling across the Wendell Sea. It also launched a thousand size analogies (it's twice the volume of Lake Erie, in case you were still having a hard time visualizing it).
Tardigrades could probably survive the otherwise complete annihilation of life on Earth
Not everyone is familiar with the tardigrade (also known as the water bear, also known as the moss piglet, previously known as "animalcules"), and that's a damn shame. They're less than a millimeter long, sure, but they're almost certainly the most indestructible animals on the planet.