Science & Technology

/

Knowledge

After a century of logging, lands along California's Klamath River returned to tribe

LOS ANGELES — Along the Klamath River in Northern California, where logging companies once cut ancient redwood trees, vast tracts of land have been returned to the Yurok Tribe in a years-long effort that tribal leaders say will enable the restoration of forests and the protection of a watershed that is vital for salmon.

The effort, which ...Read more

Handout/SpaceX/TNS

Axiom Space back on track for possible Space Coast launch next week

ORLANDO, Fla. — A leak in space and a leak on Earth have both been taken care of clearing the way for the next human spaceflight from the Space Coast.

A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket topped with a new Crew Dragon spacecraft looks to bring the four private astronauts on the Axiom Space Ax-4 mission on a trip to the International Space Station as ...Read more

Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Water flea population soared in South Side stretch of Chicago River after 2023 sewage release

CHICAGO — In the summer of 2023, strange things happened to the tiny creatures that swim and float in the Chicago River.

One type of water flea, Chydoridae, basically disappeared from the South Side stretch known as Bubbly Creek, while another, Moinidae, experienced a dramatic population surge.

“You could see them with your eyes — clouds...Read more

Offshore drilling threat resurfaces along Georgia's coast

SAVANNAH, Ga. ― Opening the Georgia coast to offshore drilling is again under consideration, and the public has until Monday to comment.

The federal agency that manages energy resources along the Outer Continental Shelf, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, is in the early stages of developing a schedule for offshore oil and gas leases that...Read more

NASA/TNS

Amid NASA cuts, popular social accounts for Mars rovers, Voyager going dark

President Donald Trump’s NASA budget plans look to cut its public relations funding by half, but already the agency is shuttering social media accounts that include those dedicated to popular missions including Mars Curiosity, Mars Perseverance and Voyager.

Those three in particular have quite the fanbase on X with Curiosity’s account ...Read more

SpaceX/SpaceX/TNS

SpaceX sends up Space Coast's 50th launch of the year

Florida’s 50th launch of 2025 had been planned to be a human spaceflight, but instead it ended up being another batch of Starlink satellites.

SpaceX and Axiom Space remain on hold for any attempt to launch the Ax-4 mission from Kennedy Space Center, which had several options to fly this week, but were stymied by weather and then a liquid ...Read more

Morning SpaceX launch would be Space Coast's 50th of the year

The 50th launch of 2025 was gearing up to be a human spaceflight, but instead it’s likely to be another batch of Starlink satellites.

SpaceX and Axiom Space are holding back on any attempt to launch the Ax-4 mission from Kennedy Space Center while NASA and Roscosmos check out repairs to an ongoing leak on the Russian side of the International...Read more

John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune/TNS

In unlikely relationship, endangered herons seek out Chicago zoo's red wolves for protection

CHICAGO — Small and stocky birds perch, hunched over, on the treetops and branches of Lake Okeechobee on the edge of Florida’s swampy Everglades for the better part of winter. The alligators swarming the murky waters below don’t faze the black-crowned night herons — in fact, the birds count on them for protection. And when some fly away ...Read more

Colorado Parks and Wildlife/TNS

Colorado's wolves have produced new pups, state agency confirms

DENVER — The wolves roaming the state have new pups that are being monitored by wildlife officials, Colorado Parks and Wildlife confirmed Thursday.

A spokesman for the agency declined to say how many pups have been spotted — or from how many litters — but said staff members had begun to tally the number of new additions to the state’s ...Read more

Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images North America/TNS

AI toys and games? Barbie maker Mattel teams up with OpenAI to create new products

Your next toy or game may be able to converse with you.

Mattel, the El Segundo toy maker behind Barbie and Hot Wheels, said Thursday that it’s teaming up with OpenAI, which created popular chatbot ChatGPT, to “bring the magic of AI to age-appropriate play experiences.”

The companies are planning to unveil their first product later this ...Read more

Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times/TNS

Trump cancels landmark Columbia River agreement with tribes, Washington, Oregon

SEATTLE — A sweeping Biden-era initiative to restore Columbia Basin salmon runs, boost tribal energy development and provide a pathway for dam removal on the Lower Snake River has been canceled by President Donald Trump.

A presidential memorandum issued Thursday revoked the 2023 Resilient Columbia Basin Agreement, which Trump stated “placed...Read more

Courtesy SpaceX/TNS/TNS

ULA's retired Delta IV launch tower demolished as SpaceX eyes Cape Canaveral site for Starship

With SpaceX champing at the bit to begin construction of a new Starship launch site at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, demolition began Thursday to remove structures used by the previous tenant, United Launch Alliance.

ULA used Space Launch Complex 37 for its Delta IV class of rockets, but the last Delta IV Heavy mission flew in April 2024 ...Read more

SPACEX/TNS

Space station leak investigation prompts NASA, Axiom Space to postpone launch

An ongoing leak on the Russian side of the International Space Station has prompted an indefinite postponement of a planned human spaceflight from Kennedy Space Center, according to NASA.

Axiom Space was aiming to launch its Ax-4 mission with four private astronauts this week atop a SpaceX Falcon 9 from KSC’s Launch Pad 39-A, and had already ...Read more

Renee C. Byer/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Carpenter bees can chew through your California home. How to get rid of them

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Notice giant black bees buzzing around your backyard?

That could spell trouble for your deck or fence, according to David Headrick, Cal Poly professor emeritus of entomology and pest management.

Those enormous insects you’ve spotted are carpenter bees, he said.

Carpenter bees use their powerful jaws to burrow into ...Read more

Kenny Fletcher/Chesapeake Bay Foundation/TNS/TNS

'Extremely distressing' Chesapeake Bay blue crab populations call for curtailing harvest, experts say

NORFOLK, Va. — Blue crab populations in the Chesapeake Bay took a sizable hit in 2025, marking a need for more cautious harvest regulations, some environmentalists say.

Each winter, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources and the Virginia Institute of Marine Science at William & Mary cooperate on a dredge survey to record the population ...Read more

STEFANI REYNOLDS/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

College grads are lab rats in the great AI experiment

Companies are eliminating the grunt work that used to train young professionals — and they don’t seem to have a clear plan for what comes next.

AI is analyzing documents, writing briefing notes, creating Power Point presentations or handling customer service queries, and — surprise! — now the younger humans who normally do that work ...Read more

Man smuggling exotic protected birds in cardboard box is detained in California, feds say

A California man arrived to the U.S. from Mexico with a commercial amount of alcohol, candy, snacks and soda in his car — as well as seven exotic, protected birds inside a cardboard SKYY vodka box, according to court documents.

Juandaniel Medina, 24, of Lindsay, planned on breeding or reselling the live Amazon parrots he smuggled into ...Read more

Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS

18th gray whale washes up dead on California coast -- and experts are stumped

A body of a gray whale found on a San Francisco Bay Area beach marks the 18th death of 2025 for the marine mammals in the region, experts reported.

The dead male gray whale washed up at Lands End on Saturday, June 7, the California Academy of Sciences said in a June 9 news release.

No necropsy was performed, so the cause of death remains ...Read more

Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Nvidia CEO sees tenfold boost to Europe's AI computing power

Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang projected that Europe’s artificial-intelligence computing capacity will increase by a factor of ten over the next two years, with more than 20 so-called AI factories in the works.

“Europe has now awakened to the importance of these AI factories,” said Huang, whose company is supplying ...Read more

Eugene Gologursky/Getty Images North America/TNS

Venture capital investment is rising in Los Angeles -- and not just for AI startups

Early this year, private equity firm Blackstone bet big on the future of artificial intelligence by investing $300 million in a Los Angeles company that’s been around for more than two decades.

The company, DDN, helps businesses store and manage the massive trove of data that powers AI systems — the lifeblood needed for chatbots, self-...Read more