A quick aside: I’m a coffee guy. I’ve written about coffee and coffee accoutrement many times for PopSci. As such, companies that peddle stuff for hot beverages often send me things to try out. I never promise coverage, and I’ve never written anything about the products individually because there’s never been one that I’ve had a shout-it-from-the-rooftop kind of love for. What you’re reading about now is the exception. The Ember ceramic mug changed the way I’ll drink coffee, and it can do the same for anybody who hates lukewarm swill and the flavor of overcooked coffee sludge....

The early answer appears to be yes. It may sound unusual, but it’s not. Researchers have long recognized that environmental and other external factors can cause genetic changes in utero, the study of which is called epigenetics. One of the most dramatic examples of this occurred after the Dutch Hunger Winter of 1944 to 45. The children of mothers who were pregnant during the famine developed a biological response, prompting them to eat as much food as possible....

It’s also really far away. Quasars are the cores of galaxies during the early days of the universe. Periodically, these cosmological artifacts emit huge amounts of extremely bright light, which makes them visible across vast distances of space. This LQG is so far away that it looks as it did when the universe was just 770 million years old. It is hands down the brightest object we’ve ever observed out there, so bright and huge that it actually challenges one of the underpinnings of modern cosmology: the Cosmological Principle....

The standard 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens can only take you so far. Sooner or later, you’ll need to buy your first proper lens. That’s why we’ve put together this roundup of the five lenses you should consider when it’s time to step up your game. From the traditional “nifty fifty” to more eclectic picks like an entry-level macro lens, there’s a great option for every photography enthusiast. The nifty fifty The 50mm f/1....

If you’re ecologically minded, you can look into installing renewable power for your house or buying energy from renewable sources. But whether you care about the environment or just hate the giant bill at the end of the month, one easy fix is to use less air conditioning. Outside the house, regulate your body temperature and drink lots of water. Inside, you can do a lot to drive down the temperature before you flip on the AC....

When folded, this keyboard is slightly larger than an iPhone X, but it expands to 10.3 inches, roughly the same size as the keyboard on a Macbook Air 13. Unlike other models, this design doesn’t leave a gap where the device folds, so it’s one continuous keyboard with no breaks. The iClever works with all Bluetooth compatible devices, however, there isn’t a secondary way to connect this keyboard to a device that doesn’t support Bluetooth, like an older laptop....

Now, through sophisticated computer modeling and robotics, Rolf Müller and Herbert Peremans are at last beginning to reverse-engineer a digital approximation of the bat’s ultrasonic sonar system. Their effort, part of an $8.5-million European Union project called CILIA, could lead to more-advanced sonar technology—and possibly even bat-inspired antenna designs. All active sonar, including in the animal world, involves emitting sound pulses and interpreting the reflected echoes. But even the best man-made systems are no match for the bat, which can sort through countless noises on the fly to pinpoint obstacles or prey, a key part of a navigational process known as echolocation....

As far as human knowledge is concerned, the electron turned 125 on April 30, 2022. Of course, the subatomic particles have been around since shortly after the Big Bang, but here on Earth nobody knew about them until British physicist, J. J. Thomson announced his discovery on April 30, 1897 at the Royal Institution in London. In August 1901, Thomson wrote “On Bodies Smaller Than Atoms” for Popular Science, detailing his discovery and methods....

The most iconic of the X-Planes is perhaps the most straightforward: the bright orange X-1, piloted by Chuck Yeager, which broke the sound barrier in 1947. It currently hangs inside the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum. NASA’s X-15 hit a top speed of mach 6 and explored flight at the edge of space. The Forward-swept wings of NASA’s X-29 are rarely copied, but the X-29 program also tested a lot of new control surfaces for planes and automated systems for controlling flight....

HAL for your Home A Headset That Creates Holograms Earbuds For Cord Cutters World’s Cheapest PC A Robot At Your Beck And Call The Ultimate Drone For Filmmakers A Thermal Camera For Your Phone Longest-Lasting Smartwatch The Next USB Port 3D At Your Fingertips

Using an exceptionally laborious combination of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, the scientists have shown that the molecules contain a heavy form of carbon—carbon 13—which is consistent with having formed in space. Organic compounds on Earth contain a lighter carbon variant. While no one has established the connection between the development of life on Earth and the molecules’ presence on meteorites, the discovery does shed light on the possibility of life elsewhere in the galaxy....

Enter Snapchat’s latest feature: Food Scan. This tool began rolling out across the US today and it’ll recommend recipes for whatever it’s in your fridge. All you have to do is, well, scan your food. Learn how to use it and eat those delicious vegetables before they start rotting on the kitchen counter. To get recipe recommendations, open Snapchat, point your camera at an ingredient, and then press and hold on the image to start scanning....

You shouldn’t panic about getting into trouble in these scenarios, but you should absolutely make sure you’re aware of each app’s available safety features, just in case you need to use them. Uber It’s in Uber’s best interests that you stay safe while traveling, and its app includes features that will help you do so. When you’re using the app, tap the Safety button on the journey panel. From there, you can call emergency services, share your trip status with a friend, contact the Uber Safety Line for help, and report a crash....

The megacopter is a drone with 48 propellers clustered into 8 groups. The drone took 18 months to design and build, and it’s body is made of aluminum and plywood. Megacopter was built as part of a project to promote science and engineering education. While it set its record with a 134 pound payload, it’s designed to carry up to 330 pounds, so it may even surpass its own record someday–in the category it created, to set a record....

A big part of Apple’s popularity is its devices are designed to be incredibly easy to use, especially for people who may not be exactly tech-savvy. The older generation seems to gravitate towards the iPad, as the device lets them do their favorite things with no trouble, including watching shows and movies, looking up recipes, playing another round of Candy Crush, and more. With Mother’s Day coming up, you may want to treat your mom with an iPad....

In a new paper, ecologists reviewed more than 400 existing studies and concluded that giraffes have complex social dynamics comparable to those of elephants. Researchers found that they organize their communities around mother-daughter lines, with matrilineal relatives helping one another raise the herd’s young. This helps explain why female giraffes live long after the close of their reproductive window—about eight years, which is around 30 percent of their lives. During those last eight years, those elderly giraffe “grandmothers” are critical community members, helping to rear their herds’ calves and allowing younger females to breed more prolifically....

Fortunately, GPS makers are finally playing nice with the Web. Google Maps now has a “send” button that exports a destination of your choosing to your TomTom or Garmin unit, where it shows up alongside preprogrammed points of interest (“POIs” in GPS-speak). A site called takitwithme.com goes further, letting you export a group of POIs made with Google’s My Maps tool to Garmin units. You can put together your own itinerary or, since many My Maps are public, pull a list of, say, a local’s favorite lobster-roll joints before that drive to Maine....

I’m OK with the idea of headphones jacks going away on smartphones. It’s not ideal, but it’s clearly the future and the sooner everyone embraces wireless Bluetooth headphones—or slides sadly into a life dependent on dongles—the smoother the transition will go. Buttons, however, still have a place on gadgets, despite manufacturers’ quests to turn everything to touch. In fact, if Google’s new Pixel Buds headphones had a button or two, I may not have had moments where I wanted to ball them up and throw them into the murky depths of the East River....

Fighting the shakes GoPro is using digital image stabilization, which means it does not rely on moving parts inside the camera in order to counteract shakiness. Like any kind of shake-reduction, digital image stabilization requires a set of internal sensors including an accelerometer to determine how fast the camera is moving, as well as a gyroscope to observe the camera’s rotation. The camera’s processors then interpret that data to get a clear picture of how the camera is moving through space....