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Last week Japanese newspaper Nikkei Asia reported that the Ministry of Defense is hoping the successful development of a fast and accurate railgun will not just destroy missiles in flight, but will be so effective that it can deter the launch of those missiles in the first place. “The Japanese Defense Ministry will develop a means to intercept hostile missiles using magnetically powered projectiles,” reports Nikkei Asia, “as the nation scurries to respond to the hypersonic weapons being developed by China, North Korea and Russia....

“Seeing as the majority is blue candies, they should guess blue,” says Amalia Bastos, a PhD student in comparative psychology at the University of Auckland. Statistically, it’s more likely that if you dive your hand into bowl #1, you’ll score a blue M&M than if you go for the 50/50 route in bowl #2. That might sound like painfully simple statistics, but that’s only because you’ve known it for a long time....

Even if you’re in the latter category, the influence Fortnite has had on pop culture is huge. Lady Gaga may not know what it is, but hundreds of millions of active players do. And the idea of large-scale in-game events that happen across multiple media channels will certainly stick around for a while to come. Whether you were wrapped up in Fortnite drama this week or simply distracted by all the new Google news that happened, here’s a recap of the stuff you may have missed....

Create a portable workspace by building your own folding saw horses I was working on top of two garbage cans and a corrugated cardboard box in my garage before I built these foldable saw horses. They’ll provide a solid base for your work surface (though I do not recommend a cardboard box), and don’t take up much space when it’s time to stow them away. That matters when your workshop is also where your car lives....

This article was originally published in the April 2015 issue of Popular Science.

Vinegar is a living ingredient created through the process of fermentation. The final product will contain elements of the original stock, which add a depth of flavor that differentiates a naturally fermented vinegar from a manufactured one. The term “vinegar” actually refers to the two-step process of fermentation from a carbohydrate to an alcohol to an acetic acid. Sugar is converted into alcohol, which is then fermented into vinegar. Not all acetic acids are vinegar, although all vinegars are made from acetic acid....

Curiosity is currently on its way to a line of dunes called the Bagnold Dunes, located on the northwestern side of Mount Sharp on the eastern side of the planet. Once it arrives, the rover will scoop up some sand for testing, and will dig into the interior of the two-story dune with its wheels. “These dunes have a different texture from dunes on Earth,” Nathan Bridges said in a statement....

Scientists recently presented a theory that the moon is slowly being pulled apart by Mars’s gravity, and could cease to exist within the next 30-50 million years. The research was presented at the Meeting of the Division of Planetary Sciences of the American Astronomical Society. The researchers posit that the long linear grooves on the moon’s surface are indications that the moon is slowly coming apart. Previous theories held that the lines were a result of a huge meteorite hitting the surface, or smaller impact craters....

All of these microorganisms work their magic by breaking down milk proteins into smaller amino acids, sugars, and fatty acids—it’s these molecules that we taste and smell in the final cheese product. There’s a lot more to cheese-making than just these microbes, of course. Each variety requires a specific humidity, temperature, and salinity, all of which control the extent of bacteria growth and the texture of the resulting wheel. But none of it is possible without the living things inside....

OSIRIS-REx will spend another two years with its celestial dancing partner. While circling Bennu, which is about as wide as the Empire State Building is tall, the spacecraft will snap photos of the asteroid while 3-D mapping its surface and measuring temperature, rock mineral content, and x-rays emissions. OSIRIS-REx won’t ever land on its rocky target. But in July 2020, it will also reach out a mechanical arm and tap the asteroid’s surface to take a physical sample of whatever it finds there....

The new paper “shows that what happens during migration or the winter can have these carryover effects that constrain or enable responses to climate change,” says Julie Heath, a professor of biological sciences at Boise State University who was not involved with the research. In recent decades, many bird species have become less abundant across North America. A study published last fall in the journal Science found that the adult bird population has dropped by nearly 3 billion since 1970, with migratory species hit particularly hard....

Now scientists have identified a new mutation in the fruit’s genes that may help make lychee a snack beyond those hot months. A study released this week in Nature Genetics has revealed that lychee might have been domesticated by humans from wild populations twice in separate regions of China, each with different flowering times. By genetically selecting varieties with different flowering times, the new research could help steer lychee breeders in cultivating crops that yield fruit at different times of the year....

Now let’s say you’re doing the same with a robot— what’s the best way to tell it what to do, and when? Roboticists at MIT have created a mechanical system that can help humans lift objects, and it works by directly reading the electric signals produced by a person’s biceps. It’s a noteworthy approach because their method is not the standard way that most people interact with technology. We’re used to talking to assistants like Alexa or Siri, tapping on smartphones, or using a keyboard, mouse, or trackpad....

“The fact that the parade is returning is a sign that we have survived,” says Rikki Redd, a New Orleans resident and the first Black trans woman to grand marshall the festival’s main parade. “We’re dedicating this parade to the people of New Orleans for their resilience—and now the community is trying to come back.” But the global spread of monkeypox this summer has presented a new challenge. The virus has sickened more than 16,000 Americans so far, and the outbreak is still growing in Louisiana....

To recap: a gargantuan dust storm swelled over the red planet last summer, effectively blotting out the sun. NASA chose to move Opportunity, a solar powered rover, into an energy-saving mode, keeping it technically on, but shutting down its scientific operations and most of its instruments. This way, the rover could run enough power to keep its heaters on and protect itself from cold temperatures that could do irreparable harm to its parts....

Specifically, a browser game launched on June 2 puts players in control of NASA’s next-generation space telescope. A team of developers at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center created Roman Space Observer, designed to inform users about the upcoming Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope mission. Named after Nancy Roman, NASA’s first chief of astronomy, the infrared observatory is set to launch in the mid-2020s. Once in operation, Roman’s mission will be to aid astronomers in answering key questions about exoplanets and the evolution of the universe—including whether our pale blue dot is the only place where life has thrived....

The researchers were most interested in a gene called Axin2; mutations in this gene have been found to cause craniosynostosis, a condition in which a baby’s skull fuses together too early, inhibiting the brain’s growth. In the study, the researchers modified the Axin2 gene in mouse embryos to give them craniosynostosis. They wanted to monitor the cells that were moving to close up the skull fissures, so they used a biomarker to identify cells that strongly expressed the Axin2 protein generated from the mutated gene....

Before long, the doctor deduces that this nightmarish affliction is transmitted by . . . eating the brains of dead relatives as part of a funeral ritual. (I haven’t quite figured out how to work this detail discretely into the script—I’m writing a classy screenplay, after all, not Silence of the Lambs IV.) Coincidentally, the government has recently outlawed funerary cannibalism and as the native people stop eating human brains, the disease gradually disappears....