Discover the latest in technology, engineering, and tools with Popular Mechanics. Plus, get essential advice on your home and car, useful DIY ideas, in-depth explanations on how things work, and more!
Some Silliness
POPULAR WISDOM • What we’re up to beyond these pages
POPULAR MECHANICS • SINCE 1902
LARGE PHOTO OF THE MONTH
Flying • You’ll get to control the plane for a few minutes on your first time up. That’s how they get you.
GOING FOR SMOKE
Tiny Device Can Detect Nuclear Armageddon • A new sensor—small enough to fit in pockets and cheap enough to fit in budgets—will help law enforcement locate dangerous materials before terrorists can use them.
If you were cloned, would the clone have the same sense of humor as you?
Philadelphia • For the century following the Civil War, Philadelphia was known as the Workshop of the World, not only for the scale of its industrial infrastructure, but for the unmatched diversity of its manufacturing factories and neighborhood smokestack plants. Today a similar range of production is the engine of Philadelphia’s modern maker movement, a hyper-local community of doers and entrepreneurs turning out everything from textiles to technology.
Typewriter Repairman Writes 3,000-Page Book, Wins Pulitzer! • Historian Robert Caro has 11 identical typewriters. To finish his life’s work, he may need more.
HISTORY GOES DIGITAL
GEAR UP, GET OUT, GIVE BACK WITH POPULAR MECHANICS ON NATIONAL TRAILS DAY®
ASK ROY
Fine Spirits, No Carbon Footprint • A zero-waste distillery saves four million gallons of water per year—and makes delicious stuff.
The Life-Saving Rubber Band • A former Green Beret rethinks the standard-issue tourniquet.
THE 78TH ANNUAL • FATHER OF THE YEAR AWARDS
Make Yourself Less Trackable • Targeted ads creeping you out? Same. Here’s how I keep the algorithms at a comfortable distance without hurting my internet experience.
PLEASE BUCKLE YOUR SEAT BELT. THE FUTURE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN • THE FIRST SIGNS OF OUR TRANSPORTATION FUTURE
PORSCHE SURFACE COATING
OTHER EXCITING ADVANCES 2019 EDITION
THE MOST POPULAR VEHICLE YOU DIDN’T KNOW EXISTED
How to Hit the Junkyard • The world is dotted with fields full of components that will fix or upgrade your car for cheap. You just need some tools. And a plan.
The All-Wheel-Drive Originator
What Your Brush Pile Says About You • And how to get rid of it—the right way—in a single weekend.
The Best Way to Paint Tricky Railings
How to Cut Onions
Save Your Sawdust • That stuff in the dust collector may be a waste product, but it need not be wasted. Here’s a few ways to use it.
The Customized Mechanical Keyboard • It’s durable, completely personalized, and, unlike standard keyboards, a joy to use.
The Mechanics of Salad • Five easy steps to turning the most unportable of meals into a thrilling desk-side lunch.
Why You Should Be Wearing Coveralls • You like working on projects. You also like not ruining your clothes. You can easily do both.
Glue Guns • You can use hot glue for repairs or crafts, or even something like a piece of trim, when you don’t have room to use a clamp.
Race Day at the Woodshop • He’s a professional woodworker. No, he’s a cyclist shooting for the Olympics. No, he’s a professional woodworker and a cyclist shooting for the Olympics.
THE SHOPPABLE LIFE
OFF THE GRID
HOW TO POWER YOUR HOME • You have three main options. Which you use depends on your environment.
THE ENERGY NEEDS CALCULATOR • Check off each of the following items that you can’t live without. Then tally your score to find out how much power...