science Archives

💩 It’s potty time

Science says a potty stool is good for small kids, older adults and those who need a little help going No. 2. Put your feet up and get down to business.

Hey there, sweet cheeks: This potty stool is on sale for $19.88 and folds away before guests arrive.
On the rails: Find you need a little help coming in for a landing and taking off from the toilet? These adjustable safety rails are 35% off.
For tiny tushies: Calling all potty-training parents or accommodating grandparents. This small seat stays attached by a magnet when not in use. Save 7% to 10% on round or elongated seats.
Roses really smell like …: Poo-Pourri’s Cypress Woods is on sale for $8.21. The spray-before-you-poo scent eliminates the smell of, well, elimination.
Brush it off: You should replace your toilet brush now and then. This incredibly well-reviewed set is currently 43% off at $9.99. Yup, you need this.

We may receive a commission when you buy through our links, but our reporting and recommendations are always independent and objective.

Next time you’re bidding on eBay: Science says you should use a round percentage of the asking price. Say a seller wants $44. You’ll win the bid at $22, or 50%, more often than if you’d offered $24, or 54%. Sweet.

Are scammers using infidelity to manipulate you?

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“Your spouse is cheating on you.” That’s the shocking line behind a new sextortion scam. The message includes a link claiming to offer “proof,” but it’s a trap to get you to click. Plus, Gen Z is moving away from Google, and strange science wins big at the Ig Nobel awards.

🤖 It’s alive: OpenAI’s new o3 model can “think,” aka reason and check facts on its own. That’s a giant step toward artificial general intelligence (AGI), where bots can do tasks they were never specifically trained for. Rest easy, o3 is a total ace at math and science, but it’s not quite ready to take over the world.

These famous tech personalities are all college dropouts except for one. Is it … A.) Michael Dell, B.) Steve Jobs, C.) Elon Musk or D.) Mark Zuckerberg?

Find the answer here! →

15 minutes

To create diamonds. Real diamonds form 100 miles below the earth’s surface at 2,000 degrees Fahrenheit. A team in South Korea used a special gallium-silicon mixture to create a diamond foundation in 15 minutes at room temp. No pressure — the whole thing was done in 2.5 hours.

🌊 Making waves for my science nerds: Researchers found a new way to turn seawater into freshwater. Even better, it’s not rocket science. They used cheap clay materials to hit evaporation rates 18.8% higher than pure water.

Weird science: A scientist claims our universe might be an advanced computer simulation, and the proof is in the Bible. The Gospel of John says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” He says “the Word” refers to the underlying computer code controlling the simulation. I know what you’re thinking: “Whoa, this is too much for my brain. I’m going to see if Prince Harry is divorcing Meghan Markle yet.”

Science anus as easy as it seems: The Ig Nobel Prize (a play on the Nobel Prize) honors those doing quirkier work. Some of this year’s award-winning discoveries: Real plants can imitate the shapes of nearby fake plants, a coin is more likely to land on the side it started (heads or tails), and many mammals can breathe through their anuses. Yup, you read that right.

🤖 Want a job in AI? Recruiters want candidates with a technical background and degree in data science, computer science, mathematics and applied science (paywall link). You also should be proficient in a few programming languages, starting with Python and JavaScript. Bonus points if you’ve taken a course in AI ethics.

📚 Turn “da-da” into data: Get your kiddo ready for the future (and AI) with these 30 free STEM resources. The list includes apps, games and classes to teach youngsters stuff like coding, aeronautics, mathematics and, yes, data science.

What did Elon Musk try for two days before he gave up? Was it … eating only carrots, getting his Ph.D., living in a Mars space simulator or saying “good enough” to any project?

Find the answer here! →

Not only do you blink less when looking at a screen, but science proves most people read more slowly on a screen than on paper. Is it slower by … A.) 5%, B.) 10% or C.) 20%?

Find the answer here! →

🚀 Streaming for science! A crew spent 378 days in a simulated Mars base, cut off from outside contact. How’d they pass the time? By watching a lot of TV. Turns out there’s a lot of downtime between experiments and farming your own food. They were probably binging “Friends” just to stay sane!

$1.25 per issue

For a Popular Science magazine in 1978. Old editions like this one were loaded with cigarette promos, limited-run cars like the Jeep Honcho and DIY kits for early home computers like the Sol-20. I always get a kick out of ‘70s ad copy. They just don’t write them like they used to!

🗞️ Trust fall: Science says you’re more likely to believe fake news from an acquaintance than your best friend. That’s why so many scammers pose as long-lost classmates or distant relatives. Focusing instead on who’s sharing — not what’s being shared — could be the best way to stop fake news.

Wikipedia isn’t the only option: Try Perplexity AI to learn more about a topic you’re interested in. Think of it as your smartest pal who lies from time to time but is versed in science, math, history and most other subjects.

10- to 20-minute “fart walk”

For happy digestion. That’s the funny name for a jaunt to kickstart digestion and help with bloating and gas. Science supports this. Btw, I learned an important lesson while hiking Machu Picchu: Never trust a fart.

The biggest heist in history

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What’s the backbone of chatbots like Gemini or ChatGPT? It’s the art, science, and hard work of real humans — humans who may never get credit or compensation.

7% of adults

Say “please” when asking for something. And half the time we use it, science says we want to guilt the other person into doing something. Kids say please about 10% of the time. Reminds me of the time Ian’s middle school art teacher told me, “Ian says ‘please’ and ‘thank you’ too much.” Yeah, I schooled her on that. I worked hard to be sure he was a gentleman, and he is to this day.