Popular Science USA – July-August 2019

CONTENTS

cover photograph by The Voorhes / infographic by Sara Chodosh POPSCI.COM•FALL 2019 5

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Each star

represents one story.

Its distance from center is our

algorithm-generated out-there score.

The first article in each section is at

12 o’clock; move clockwise from there.

The bold man and the

sea p. 48

FEATURES

Messages to future

civilizations p. 60

Reading astronauts’

secret diaries p. 66

How fl at-Earthers

reshape beliefs p. 74

Seven predictions sci-fi

got right p. 82

Living off the land,

Martian edition p. 84

Archaeology has a new

prime directive p. 90

Constructing the big-

gest telescope yet p. 96

I WISH SOMEONE

WOULD INVENT...

Safe space, resurrector,

Earth shade p. 130

HEAD TRIP

Otherworldly games

and illusions p. 117

Super-sensory animal
powers p. 12

The likeliest locales to
spot UFOs p. 10

CHARTED

Our fi rst glimpse of a
black hole p. 13

Oysters could save
coastal cities p. 15

Fringe language pat-
terns spread online p. 14

GOODS

THE BIG Q

Are we alone in the
universe? p. 42

IN PROFILE

The engineer building a
drone for Mars p. 26

Six technologies to
upgrade humanity p. 16

Is the universe shaped
like a Pringle? p. 18

Science and sewage at
the South Pole p. 20

These constellations show how ‘out there’ each story is.

How conspiracy theo-
ries take hold p. 24

Scouring 8,000 exo-
planets for life p. 22

Climbing gear for your
fi rst high ascent p. 32

A watch you could wear
on the moon p. 30

Explore the depths
with this diving kit p. 33

Zooming in on hidden
worlds p. 36

Take these dehydrated
morsels into orbit p. 34

Enhance your view with
these binoculars p. 38

The best telescopes for
looking skyward p. 39

This cheap rocket fl ies
a mile high p. 40

Four ways to stargaze
indoors p. 41

Octopuses on ecstasy

feel the love p. 108

The time I was hit by a

car on purpose p. 107

TALES FROM

THE FIELD

Searching for life on the

ocean fl oor p. 108

A two-week, 430-mile

Arctic foot race p. 112

What we discover at

the fringes p. 110

I sleep on cliffs 10,

feet up p. 112

Serendipitous discovery

of supertasters p. 114

How to edit a photo

from Mars p. 115