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Where we go from here

Popular Science • WINTER 2020

Contributors

In remission

Hungry hungry hippos

Fermented delights

Pedal pushers

National pleasures

Why should people care about sharing? • LEAVING PLASTIC BEHIND • LENDING A HAND • LEARNING BETTER • LIVING ON THE EDGE

Could we fix our bodies by fixing our guts?

Explain extemophiles like I'm 5

Can humans breed themselves to perfection? • When you’ve been publishing for a century and a half, some off-base ideas are going to creep into your pages. We’re diving into the archives to give you a fresher take on “popular science.”

What's the secret to better schools?

Why save dying languages?

Where will all the plastic go?

Do we ever stop learning?

The go-anywhere machine

Droplet stoppers • COVID-19 MADE FACE MASKS A CRUCIAL PART OF EVERY OUTFIT, AND WE’RE LIKELY TO DON THEM IN THE FUTURE WHEN WE FEEL ILL. FORTUNATELY, THERE’S A STYLE FOR EVERY NEED.

Breathe easy

Bug appétit • CRUNCHY CRICKETS ARE 65 PERCENT PROTEIN BY WEIGHT, WHICH HELPS MAKE THE NUTTY-TASTING BUGGERS A SURPRISINGLY ECO-CONSCIOUS SUBSTITUTE FOR MEAT-BASED NUTRITION.

Grab ’n’ go • IT MAY SEEM OVERLY PARANOID TO PACK A BAG YOU HOPE TO NEVER USE. BUT, IF DISASTER STRIKES, THE TIME SPENT PREPPING A WELL-STOCKED EMERGENCY KIT CAN GET YOU TO SAFETY IN A HURRY.

Waste watchers • YOU CAN TURN FOOD SCRAPS INTO FERTILIZER IN ALMOST ANY CONTAINER. THESE BINS USE THEIR OWN METHODS TO ENCOURAGE THE PROCESS, BUT BOTH KEEP BUGS AND STINK AT BAY.

Sweat suit • YOUR MUSCLES DESERVE BETTER THAN YOUR RATTY OLD WORKOUT GEAR. DECK YOURSELF OUT IN THE RIGHT DUDS AND YOU’LL UPGRADE BOTH YOUR PERFORMANCE AND YOUR STYLE.

Home stretch • A HARD WORKOUT SHOULDN’T LEAVE YOU WITH LINGERING PAIN. THE RIGHT RECOVERY TOOLS WILL HELP INCREASE BLOOD FLOW AND FIGHT FATIGUE TO SOOTHE YOUR ACHES.

Sitting pretty

Voices of their ancestors • A Black community in Louisiana fights a new chemical facility that threatens their health—and the sanctity of their long-hidden past.

The needs of the few • DESIGNING WITH THE MARGINALIZED IN MIND CAN IMPROVE ALL OF OUR LIVES.

Life on the line • ON THE WESTERN edge of Borneo, a novel conservation-minded health-care model could provide the world with a blueprint to STOP THE NEXT PANDEMIC before it starts.

The switch • WHEN A NEW YORK CITY POWER PLANT SWAPS ITS DIRTIEST GENERATORS FOR BATTERIES, THE SURROUNDING NEIGHBORHOOD WILL BREATHE EASIER.

They might be giants • A photographer-and-ecologist team are on a mission to document the forests’ mightiest members.

Inside and out • In an overcrowded system, can prisons keep inmates healthy and ready to reenter society?

Dynamic duo • HUMANS AND EARTH ARE OFTEN AT ODDS, BUT WHEN DISASTER STRIKES, THEY CAN COMBINE THEIR POWERS TO BRING NEW LIFE TO LANDSCAPES.

Landing a lifeline • FOR THOSE WHOSE LIVELIHOOD DEPENDS ON THE OCEAN, A COVID-SPURRED INTERRUPTION IN THE SEAFOOD MARKET MIGHT SPEED PROGRESS TOWARD A MORE SUSTAINABLE FUTURE—FOR THEM AND FOR FISH.

What the world kneads now • ROB DUNN, PROFESSOR OF APPLIED ECOLOGY AT NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY

Benjamin button, but a jellyfish • MARIA PIA MIGLIETTA, PROFESSOR OF MARINE BIOLOGY AT TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY AT GALVESTON

The little rovers that could • MATT KEUNEKE, MARS EXPLORATION ROVER MISSION OPERATIONS MANAGER AT NASA

No place like home • MELISSA ILARDO,...