Somewhere high above New Jersey, I yanked the oxygen mask off my face, worried I was about to throw up.
Maj. Jason Markzon, the pilot of our F-16 fighter jet, had just steered the plane through two tight, hard turns, part of an aviation procedure…

I flew in an F-16 with the Air Force and oh boy did it go poorly

Earlier this week, an NPR report uncovered an exchange from June 1, in which a military police officer wanted to know if the D.C. National Guard owned a pain-inducing heat weapon for potentially using on protesters. He also asked about a powerful…

The US military’s heat weapon is real and painful. Here’s what it does.

Battery life is a crucial metric for smartwatches. The ubiquitous Apple Watch boasts about 18 hours of energy between charges, although the company is likely announcing new models tomorrow. But, it’s not just the size of the battery that determines…

These solar-powered smartwatches have seriously long battery lives

Military airplanes that can accelerate through the sound barrier are relatively common. An F-16 and other fighter jets can do it. So can a type of U.S. bomber, the B-1B. But those planes are designed for fighting and bombing, not shuttling executives…

Air Force transport jets for VIPs could have a supersonic future

When a patient climbs into an MRI scanner, it peers inside their body to reveal the complex anatomy within, like the ligaments and tendons in a knee. But in January, before COVID struck, some patients who needed their knee scanned at NYU Langone…

Artificial intelligence creates better, faster MRI scans

For years, Amazon has envisioned deploying drones to deliver packages to customers’ yards. In the company’s plan, an electric aerial vehicle would take off from a distribution center, cruise some 15 miles or less, and deposit whatever small item an…

Amazon is one big step closer to delivering packages by drone

The most dramatic way to fight a fire is from the sky.
An air tanker may fly about 150 feet off the ground at 161 miles per hour and can paint up to a mile-long line of retardant on the ground. A big helicopter could dump as much as 2,000 gallons of…

How aerial firefighters battle blazes from the skies

Popular Science’s Play issue is now available to everyone. Read it now, no app or credit card required.
Whether you want to bust tricks or just cruise around, there’s a skateboard that’ll get you moving. These half-dozen options are perfect for…

Six skateboards that absolutely shred

After more than a decade, Microsoft has officially launched the next version of its famous flight simulator. The game dropped for PCs this week, and while no computer simulation of something as complex as flight can completely mimic what actually…

Microsoft’s new Flight Simulator makes flying—and turbulence—a lot more realistic

Fighter jets need humans to fly them, but someday, that could change. This week, the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency—better known as DARPA—is hosting a virtual Top Gun-style competition in which various artificial intelligence algorithms fly…

Virtual fighter jets powered by AI are battling for the chance to duel a human

Our smartphones are fantastic at conveying information, from the serious to the silly. But it’s easy to forget that they’re also powerful information-collecting devices. The GPS chip can grab a satellite signal to learn your location, companies like…

Millions of Android phones could soon start detecting earthquakes

TikTok is a fun, silly place. To scroll through it is to take in a sensational amount of people dancing and lip-syncing. There’s a video of Cameron Diaz’s wine drinking challenge, a very polite kid named Grey, and a clip from Taylor Swift’s “Love…

Go ahead and use TikTok all you want

Samsung announced a slew of new phones, wearables, and tablets in an event streamed from South Korea this morning. The presentation, called Unpacked, included plenty of talk about the new normal that the coronavirus pandemic has led to, and featured…

The Note20, bean-shaped earbuds, and all the other products Samsung just announced

It’s a very bad time for aviation: The pandemic has people understandably wary about flying, and has spurred airlines to send beloved but aged aircraft like the 747 into retirement earlier than they had planned. Planes are grounded; air traffic is…

Microsoft’s new Flight Simulator looks real enough to scratch your air-travel itch

Three slices of fresh apple pie sit on the kitchen counter, and you and a trio of buddies are drooling over them. What do you do? Try to grab a piece right away, and you risk a tussle with a pal who makes the same move. Hesitate, and you might get…

It’s time to explain some game theory

The pandemic has forced countless people to reevaluate how they exercise. And since so many have shifted to working from home or been laid off, the normal activity they may have received from, say, walking to a nearby subway station has vanished—not…

Balance boards make for a scary, fun, and surprisingly perfect pandemic workout

Pilots sometimes train in simulators—machines on the ground that do their best to mimic the experience of operating an aircraft in the sky. This month, the simulators that give F-35 pilots the chance to practice down on terra firma at Nellis Air…

The US’s flagship fighter jet simulator is now multiplayer

Just before 9 a.m. on a blue-sky Louisiana morning, a giant gray B-52 bomber gradually lifts off the tarmac with some 190,000 pounds of fuel on board, a trail of dark exhaust behind it.
A few seconds later, there’s a small glitch: One of the…

Inside a training mission with a B-52 bomber, the aircraft that will not die

In the wake of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor’s deaths, the US is focusing on police reform. Among new measures on the table is an emphasis on the cameras that police officers wear on their bodies. In fact, a new proposal on Monday from…

Police body cameras were supposed to build trust. So far, they haven’t.

If all goes according to plan tomorrow, two NASA astronauts will blast off on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Florida, bound for the International Space Station (ISS). It will be the first crewed launch from US soil since 2011, when the Space Shuttle…

Astronauts explain what it’s like to be ‘shot off the planet’ in a shuttle

Jump ropes are more complex than you may realize. They range from the classic, nostalgia-inducing beaded ropes of playgrounds, to speed ropes equipped with a light, thin metal wire that can cost north of $100.
With the pandemic keeping so many people…