What is RSS?

RSS is a free web service that allows you to subscribe to your favorite sites and receive their content directly as soon as it's posted, either via a desktop newsreader or an online service (such as Bloglines or Google Reader).

Need a desktop newsreader? Popular readers include Feed Reader for Windows, NetNewsWire for Mac OS X, and Straw for Linux.

For more general information about RSS and newsreaders, see the Wikipedia entry for RSS.

RSS Feeds on PopSci.com

Here on the new PopSci.com, we're practically swimming in RSS feeds. As you can see, we're now cataloging our content both by category (what you see in the black bar on every page) as well as by keyword, or tag. This way, it's possible to subscribe to any and all content that may interest you. Only want to read about robots? Simply click on the 'robots' tag anywhere on the site, then click its orange RSS button on the robots page to subscribe. Easy!

Below are a list of general feeds you can subscribe to, but keep in mind that wherever you see an orange RSS icon () there is a feed to subscribe to.

Main Site Feed

Main Category Feeds:

Cars

Gear & Gadgets

DIY

Military, Aviation & Space

Entertainment & Gaming

The Environment

SciTech

Podcast Feeds

You can subscribe to the PopSci Podcast—featuring great 5-Minute Project Videos along with weekly episodes of our new show, "Cocktail Party Science," in which host Chuck Cage sits down with PopSci editors and writers for the behind-the-scenes scoop on the stories you read here on PopSci.com as well as a rundown of the science and technology headlines of the week.

You can subscribe to the PopSci Podcast via the iTunes Store (it's free) or via our Podcast RSS feed. Note: You'll receive both 5-Minute Project video podcasts and the Cocktail Party Science audio podcast from the same feed.

Custom Search Feeds

Once you've created an account (which also lets you comment on content, post forum threads, and rate your favorite articles and galleries), you can create custom RSS feeds based on one or more search terms. Simply search for the type of content you're interested in ("NASA rockets" for instance) - then click on the "Searches" tab in your profile (accessible in the top left portion of every page). There you'll find a direct link and an RSS feed for any search you run on the site.