The polar bear—something of a poster child for climate change—is just one of countless victims in this warming world. It’s thought that if global temperatures continue to rise by an average of 4.5°C since pre-industrial times, which is likely to happen if we do nothing to reduce our carbon emissions, half of the world’s wildlife could be lost from Earth’s most biodiverse places. As ocean temperatures melt ice sheets—the hunting grounds of polar bears—these large carnivores have to search new areas for food, which is why 52 polar bears “invaded” a Russian town in February 2019, looking for their next meal....

New research shows how the creeping loss of snow cover and increase of vegetative land cover, as consequences of climate change, have impacted the European Alps over the past 40 years. The study, from the Spatial Ecology Group at the University of Lausanne in Switzerland and recently published in the journal Science, reports that there’s been enough snow cover loss that the change is visible from space. But the more significant part of the research focuses on the increase of vegetative cover, or “greening” of this mountain region....

The Nomader, a roll-up bottle with a hook/carry strap, is designed for travelers. Its mouth is wide enough for ice cubes or fruit slices, and the bottle accommodates both hot and cold drinks. Its silicone body is designed to be drop- and shatterproof, and comes in an array of eye-catching colors. It can hold 22 ounces, or 650 ml. For outdoor and backpacking enthusiasts, this ultralight “bottle” is the best bet....

So-called “ocean deserts” or “dead zones” are oxygen-starved (or “hypoxic”) areas of the ocean. They can occur naturally, or be caused by an excess of nitrogen from agricultural fertilizers, sewage effluent and/or emissions from factories, trucks and automobiles. The nitrogen acts as a nutrient that, in turn, triggers an explosion of algae or plankton, which in turn deplete the water’s oxygen. According to the Ocean Conservancy, a dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico—where the Mississippi River dumps untold gallons of polluted water every second—has expanded to over 18,000 square kilometers in the last decade....

Now we have a more definitive idea. Thanks to a study recently published in Physical Review Fluids, there is persuasive evidence that wet face masks can block viral particles just as well as a dry one. The paper, by fluid dynamics researchers from the University of California San Diego, University of Toronto, and Indian Institute of Science, found that in both cloth and surgical masks, moisture wasn’t a problem. “It gives us some peace of mind that it actually blocks a droplet which is going out of you, even if [the mask] is getting wet,” says Abhishek Saha, a co-author and professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at UC San Diego....

This week’s episode is about all things chill and serene—providing just a quick taste of the sorts of stories you’ll find in the latest issue of Popular Science. We’re now a digital-only magazine, which means you can access it right here and now. FACT: Pee and ginger ale are both useless against motion sickness By Purbita Saha Humans have been trying to understand and combat motion sickness for millennia. In 2017, a trio of neurobiologists from Munich looked at classic texts like the The Odyssey and Siku Quanshu and found different descriptions of nausea and dizziness relating to ship, cart, and even camel travel....

The reality, though, is this: the truly best stuff? Not gonna happen. But we’ll get to that in a sec. First, background. Automobile manufacturers aren’t known for their open-door policies. You can’t just waltz in and see what they’re up to, any more than you can at Apple, say, or Sony. The reasons are obvious: Concealment of trade secrets and new tech from the competition, and the simple fact that most of the stuff in development at any given moment likely won’t see the light of day....

China isn’t alone in seeing its rivers and lakes well below capacity. Satellite images from NASA show how much reservoirs in the western USes have emptied and the destruction of wildfires. The depleted bodies of water and parched landscapes the world over are also revealing long-buried artifacts from the past and other secrets. On the Serbian portion of Europe’s Danube River, a graveyard of World War II area warships filled with explosive ammunition were uncovered near the town of Prahovo....

Remember those guys? The shrieking eels would get louder as they approached their target. Thankfully, the shrieking eels remain a species firmly rooted in fantasy, but their real-world counterparts, the electric eels have pretty similar hunting behavior. Only instead of shrieking, electric eels use intensifying electrical charges to track and stun their prey. In a paper published today in Nature Communications researchers showed that electric eels not only use their famous electric charge to stun their prey, they also use the charge to track down their dinner....

Elon Musk’s chaotic tenure as Twitter overseer continued this week—sudden policy about-faces, journalists’ accounts suspensions, and new signs of Twitter’s dire financial situation are combining into a storm of issues that change by the hour. Here is a brief rundown of the recent events. Elon Musk stance on ‘free speech’ on Twitter remains inconsistent In past 48 hours, Twitter suspended @ElonJet, an account created by a Florida college student tracking the world’s second-richest man’s private plane takeoffs and landings in real time based on what is ostensibly publicly available information....

While you can always enjoy a golf game or two through your Nintendo Wii, nothing beats playing on an actual course. Luckily, you can get that experience right at home with the Phigolf: Mobile and Home Smart Golf Simulator with Swing Stick. This golf simulator package lets you experience a full-blown round of golf right in your living room, and for a limited time, you can grab it on sale for an additional $30 off....

Walk in a Virtual World A Wireless Projector and Hotspot The Smallest 4K Action Camera A DIY Robot You Can Talk To Surround Sound in a Sound Bar A Camera Built for the Future Blazing-Fast Media Console TV For Cord Cutters Best Way To Watch A Movie A Star Wars Droid You Can Own A 4K Television For The Masses Biggest Videogame Space Battle

Although technically free to play, much of Fortnite’s profits stem from in-game purchases for digital perks like character dance moves, virtual concerts, and costumes. The FTC alleges that Epic Games relied on a marketing strategy known as “dark patterns,” which The Wall Street Journal described on Monday as “tactics that trap customers into paying for goods and services and create obstacles to canceling.” Additionally, the FTC argued that Epic Games routinely collected the personal data of children under 13-years-old without their parents’ consent or knowledge through Fortnite, which counts as many as 400 million users globally....

This woodburning pen is a relatively low-cost way to see if pyrography is right for you. Test your drawing skills with four different pen tips. Make simple signs or personalized gifts. This pen heats to just one temperature (a toasty 950 degrees), so you’ll want to upgrade as you master the basics. This kit has what you need to turn your work into a professional craft. Plug your pen into the 30-watt wood burning machine, and use the dial to adjust the voltage (and thus the temperature) for different materials and styles of marks....

To help you pack your essentials, here are 10 travel products with a tech focus that can come in handy as you continue exploring the world. They’re all on sale for a limited time. VogDUO Triple-USB Travel Wall Charger Rated 5/5 stars by verified purchasers, this charger may be lightweight, but it delivers an impressive 30 watts of power to up to three devices for faster charging. It also comes with a 270-degree swivel plug, allowing it to fit into any plug, including crowded power strips....

It’s not terribly surprising that news outlets would default to an image of the Reaper; it’s perhaps the most widely recognized drone in operation. But as more details of the incident surfaced, this simplification proved incredibly wrong. The unmanned craft is now described as a 3-foot-long quadrotor–a four-blade copter–which is wildly distinct from the 36-foot-long Reaper; a bit like the difference between a Johnny Seven O.M.A and an AK-47. That’s when I realized: drones are really confusing....

An additional benefit will be the standards across devices. Web producers may rue the inconsistencies across a handful of browsers and platforms when building a site, but mobile developers have to contend with dozens of dissimilar phones and other devices in order to make a game work on them all. Of course, with all the industry support Adobe has garnered in the run-up to the announcement, Apple remains the most notable exception....

Tapping the power of concentrated sunlight dates to antiquity. During the Siege of Syracuse in 212 BCE, legendary Greek mathematician Archimedes invented a solar death ray. Its polished bronze shields reflected sunlight walls onto approaching Roman ships to set them aflame—a feat that has been replicated in modern times. By the time Popular Science published Alden P. Armagnac’s “Sun Furnace Goes to Work” in March 1954, the prolific writer and editor was well into his four-plus decades-plus of covering the science beat....

A curly hair can also be described according to its composition and structure. A research team based in Clichy, France, and working for the cosmetics firm L’Oréal, used electron microscopy to compare straight and curly hair fibers. The former were circular in cross section and symmetrical in structure. The latter, though, had an uneven distribution of a particular type of keratin. This protein—which, along with other varieties of keratin, serves as the primary component of hair—accumulated near the inside edge of a curled hair, beneath the curve....