Popular Science Spring 2022

I STILL REMEMBER my first oxymoron. I was sitting cross-legged on the living room floor watching The Joy of Painting on PBS when Bob Ross uttered the phrase “happy accidents.” I cocked my 5-year-old head to one side, puzzling over the implication that I could somehow feel good about spilled milk, scraped knees, and broken eyeglasses. But watching him wield a palette knife to scrape the shape of a stream over some rough, low-lying shrubs, I soon understood what he was getting at: that we can find ways to turn our mistakes into gold. There’s just one problem with the bushy-haired painter’s catchphrase: The accident itself isn’t what’s making happiness. We’re the ones who embrace the error and make something splendid happen—be it by turning a clumsy brushstroke into a…

I used to love polishing old silver as a kid. The chemicals were dangerous enough to be exciting, and I got the immediate gratification of tarnish turning to shine. —Rachel Feltman, executive editor My favorite part of playing video games where you collect items is tidying up inventory. I’ll take it all, lug it back to my base, and sort or sell it as required. —John Kennedy, DIY editor My dog loves a good mess—a run in the river or a dig in the woods. He’s less fond of baths, but I don’t mind washing him—he’s adorable when he’s cranky. —Sara Kiley Watson, assistant editor Every Friday, I clean my laptop. First digitally—clearing the cache, deleting old files, emptying the trash—and then by wiping the screen and keyboard. —Chuck Squatriglia, digital edition…

LEFT TO THEIR OWN DEVICES, most children won’t hesitate to, say, lick a doorknob or wipe snot with their sleeve. But is there any truth to the idea that their affinity for getting dirty can be beneficial to their health? That theory dates to the 1800s, when European doctors realized that farmers suffered fewer allergies than city slickers. However, it didn’t gain widespread attention until 1989, when British epidemiologist David Strachan discovered that youngsters with older siblings were less susceptible than other kids to hay fever and eczema. Strachan suggested that early childhood infections “transmitted by unhygienic contact” helped foster a robust immune system. His theory, called the hygiene hypothesis, provides a convenient explanation for why allergies and asthma, as well as autoimmune disorders like multiple sclerosis and Crohn’s disease,…

THE IDEA THAT you swallow eight arachnids each night is a load of malarkey popularized by a list of random “facts” that went viral in the early days of the internet. Still, there is a reason this stomach-churning urban legend persists: Humans unknowingly gulp down all manner of disgusting detritus each day, from random animal parts during lunch to their own pearly whites while sleeping. You’re usually none the worse for ingesting this stuff—as long as you don’t think too much about how nasty it is. Here are some of the grossest, and strangest, things that go down your gullet without your knowing it.   Countless arthropods swarm your sustenance, leaving traces as it moves from field to market. The Food and Drug Administration says everything from macaroni to wine…

IT ALL STARTED with a broken beaker in St. Paul, Minnesota. 3M chemist Patsy Sherman was working on a synthetic rubber meant to endure the frigid temperatures aircraft encounter at high altitude when her assistant let the substance slip. The polymer splashed all over the technician’s sneakers, and nothing would remove it. Intrigued, her boss suggested applying the chemical to fabric. Sherman discovered that H20 and solvents flowed right off anything treated with the stuff, making it both waterproof and stain-resistant. In 1956, after three more years of experimentation, 3M introduced Sherman’s discovery under the brand name Scotchgard. The genius of the unexpected lies in its ability to spur researchers and inventors to reconsider their work just enough to drive innovation. Many of science and technology’s most famous discoveries have…

OUR ENTIRE SOCIETY runs on garbage, at least in a manner of speaking. Eons-old junk—coal and oil that began as ancient plants and dinosaur remains, among other dreck—has powered our electric grid since the beginning of the industrial age. Of the 3.8 trillion kilowatt hours of electricity the United States used in 2020, most came from fossil fuels. The problem is that this trash isn’t meant to keep lights on or charge up EVs; it’s supposed to stay deep beneath the surface, locking away the gases that now flood our atmosphere and cause disastrous warming. The good news—and bad news—is that we’re making new batches of carbon-rich refuse all the time. In 2018, the average American generated an unsavory 4.9 pounds of waste every day. Could these fresh trash heaps…