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Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

White House unveils AI policy vision to spur US development

The Trump administration called for boosting artificial intelligence development in the U.S. by loosening regulations and expanding energy supply for data centers under new guidelines that also urged withholding funds from states that put burdensome rules on the emerging technology.

The so-called AI Action Plan, released by the White House on ...Read more

Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times/TNS

Tally of Microsoft victims surges to 400 as hackers exploit SharePoint flaw

The number of companies and organizations compromised by a security vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.’s SharePoint servers is increasing rapidly, with the tally of victims soaring more than six-fold in a few days, according to one research firm.

Hackers have breached about 400 government agencies, corporations and other groups, according to ...Read more

Don Lindich/Don Lindich/TNS

Sound Advice: A bargain-priced streaming device

Q. I have a Nebula Cosmos Max 4K projector that is several years old. It does not support Netflix unless you install some extra software, which I find cumbersome to use. I thought about upgrading to one of the other projectors you have written about, but some of them don't have built-in Netflix either. What do you recommend for around $1,000? ...Read more

Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Tesla's darkening outlook to test robotaxi vision pushed by Musk

Tesla Inc.’s core car-making business is facing a deteriorating outlook, providing a major test of Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s ability to lift the stock price with his vision of a self-driving future.

The electric-vehicle maker is expected to post the sharpest drop in revenues in more than a decade when it reports earnings on ...Read more

Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Apple launches $20-a-month AppleCare One plan covering up to three devices

Apple Inc. is launching a new product-insurance plan that bundles coverage for as many as three devices, part of a broader effort to drum up subscription revenue.

The new offering is called AppleCare One and costs $20 a month, the company said Wednesday. The service also includes battery replacements, all-hours customer support and coverage for...Read more

Best Buy/Best Buy/TNS

Jim Rossman: Yes, you can trust Geek Squad

This week, a reader writes, “I have a Best Buy/Geek Squad account and in the years past I have allowed their techs to take over my PC remotely to clean it up so that it runs faster. Do you think I am taking any kind of risk, e.g., stolen account data, when I do this?”

This is a good question, and any time someone outside your home or ...Read more

Handout/Acefast/TNS

Gadgets: Wi-Fi wherever you go

With the TravlFi JourneyGo 4G LTE Hotspot, you'll have Wi-Fi wherever you go.

The dark gray, pocket-sized (3.46 inches by 0.93 inches deep) travel-ready JourneyGo 4G LTE Hotspot ensures you have a secure internet connection at vacation destinations. It is designed to work virtually anywhere in the U.S., including on the road in an RV, in ...Read more

PlayStation/TNS

Review: In ‘Death Stranding 2,’ famed designer Hideo Kojima realizes game’s potential

The first time stepping into “Death Stranding” is bewildering. It’s a post-apocalyptic game without aliens, zombies or thermonuclear war. Rather than dealing with those familiar cataclysmic problems, it takes place in a world where the line between the living and dead have blurred with deadly consequences.

The human race is on the brink...Read more

Audrey Richardson/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Can artificial reefs in Lake Michigan slow erosion and boost fish population? Researchers aim to find out

Floating about 500 feet offshore of Illinois Beach State Park, Hillary Glandon tightened her scuba goggles, grabbed a small masonite plate from a nearby kayak and dove beneath the Lake Michigan surface.

The masonite plate, called a Hester-Dendy sampler, helps biologists like Glandon scrape algae off underwater rocks. Just a few feet below the ...Read more

Curtis Ewing/Cal Fire/Curtis Ewing/Cal Fire/TNS

These insects are endangering Sacramento's beloved oaks. Here's what you can do

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Invasive beetles might be boring through the valley oaks in your neighborhood.

Mediterranean oak borers were first identified in the city of Sacramento last July. They target oaks native to Sacramento, those trees with arching canopies that line the American and Sacramento rivers, and can kill an 80-foot giant in five ...Read more

Nathan Howard/Getty Images North America/TNS

AI boom leads to record costs on US grid and call for new plants

Businesses and households served by the largest U.S. power grid will spend a record $16.1 billion to ensure electricity supplies — a result that prompted immediate calls from utilities and energy groups to build more generation amid the AI frenzy.

The payouts to generators and other suppliers topped last year’s record $14.7 billion, ...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

The ocean is changing colors, researchers have found. Why?

Changing ocean hues could bring some environmental blues, according to a new study from researchers at Duke and Georgia Tech.

Using satellite data collected from 2003 to 2022, the researchers looked for changes in chlorophyll concentration, which can signal where large amounts of phytoplankton are, since they reflect green light.

Too much ...Read more

Eva Marie Uzcategui/Getty Images North America/TNS

SpaceX sends up satellites on 2nd launch attempt from Cape Canaveral

SpaceX got to within 15 seconds of a launch from Cape Canaveral on Monday, but a “hold, hold, hold” call from among the mission control team members forced an abort. They were back for another try Tuesday and pulled it off.

A Falcon 9 rocket on the mPOWER-D mission with two more communication satellites for Luxembourg-based SES lifted off ...Read more

Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times/TNS

Microsoft flaw 'opens the door' for hackers. It will be hard to close

Waves of cyberattacks are hitting a commonly used Microsoft product, compromising dozens of organizations around the world.

The hackers exploited a vulnerability in Microsoft SharePoint, an internet-based app primarily used by government agencies and private companies for internal documents and records. The company alerted customers to the ...Read more

Blocks all stacked for NASA's future Artemis tower at KSC

There’s still more than a year’s worth of work to do on NASA’s future Artemis launch tower at Kennedy Space Center, but all of the big pieces have been put in place.

The last of seven modular steel blocks that make up the bulk of the tower’s height was put into place on July 2 by the tower’s contractor Bechtel.

The block called Mod ...Read more

Christopher Furlong/Getty Images North America/TNS

Chicago's $1 billion quantum computer set to go live in 2028

The startup behind Chicago’s more than $1 billion quantum computing deal said operations are expected to start in three years, a win for Illinois Governor JB Pritzker, who backed the investment and is widely seen as a potential presidential candidate.

PsiQuantum Corp. will start construction at the state’s new quantum and microelectronics ...Read more

Daniel Linehan/U.S. Navy/TNS/TNS

Naval Postgraduate School launches sustainable buoy to advance research

MONTEREY, Calif. — Located about 3 miles offshore and 5 miles north of the Naval Postgraduate School is a first-of-its-kind ocean-sensing buoy. With 5G technologies and solar panels built in, the buoy has the capabilities to collect oceanographic and meteorological data 24 hours a day, seven days a week for the next three years.

NPS worked to...Read more

Handout/SpaceX/TNS

Evening SpaceX launch on tap from Cape Canaveral if weather holds

SpaceX has lined up an evening launch from Cape Canaveral on Monday, but the threat of thunderstorms could force a delay.

A Falcon 9 rocket on the mPOWER-D mission with two more communication satellites for Luxembourg-based SES is targeting liftoff from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 during a two-hour launch ...Read more

Anthony Souffle/Minneapolis Star Tribune/TNS

The Colorado River is officially contaminated with invasive zebra mussels. Can the state stop the spread?

Water managers and state wildlife officials last year hoped the discovery of a microscopic zebra mussel larva in the Colorado River was a one-time event, not a sign of a larger problem lurking beneath the surface.

It was the first time larvae from the destructive invasive species had been found in the river in Colorado. For nearly a year, ...Read more

Armando L. Sanchez/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Chicago activists urge Pritzker to pass law to make polluters pay for climate change damages

Young climate activists from Chicago called on Gov. JB Pritzker to enact legislation that would make the fossil fuel industry — instead of taxpayers — responsible for funding green, resilient infrastructure and disaster response in the face of climate change, following similar bills recently passed in Vermont and New York.

“Illinois can ...Read more