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Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Mystery deepens as another dead whale washes ashore in Southern California

LOS ANGELES — A dead 50-foot gray whale washed ashore in Huntington Beach on Friday, according to officials with the Pacific Marine Mammal Center.

The cause of death of the young adult female is not yet known, said Glenn Gray, chief executive of the Laguna Beach-based nonprofit. Employees of the center performed a necropsy of the body on ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump's order to expand US timber production includes all of California's national forests

LOS ANGELES — California’s national forests are on the chopping block — literally — in the wake of the Trump administration’s April 5 order to immediately expand timber production in the United States.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins issued an emergency declaration that ordered the U.S. Forest Service to open ...Read more

Colorado Parks and Wildlife/TNS

Second reintroduced Colorado gray wolf dies in Wyoming

DENVER — A male gray wolf collared by Colorado Parks and Wildlife was reported dead in Wyoming this week, according to the agency, which did not comment on the circumstances of the animal’s death.

The wolf was one of 15 relocated from Canada to Colorado in January and is the second of that group to die recently in Wyoming. Four weeks ago, ...Read more

Scientists say they 'de-extincted' dire wolves. Experts at La Brea Tar Pits are skeptical

LOS ANGELES — When news broke that scientists in Texas had succesfully reintroduced the long-extinct dire wolf to the modern world, more people than just "Game of Thrones" fans took notice.

Researchers at the Natural History Museum's La Brea Tar Pits, where a wall is decorated with hundreds of dire wolf skulls, had questions.

Namely, are ...Read more

Joel Saget/Getty Images North America/TNS

Ex-OpenAI staff oppose startup overhaul in Musk legal fight

A dozen former OpenAI employees are objecting to the startup’s plan to restructure as a for-profit as Elon Musk wages a high-stakes legal challenge to the overhaul.

In the latest turn in a showdown between the world’s richest person and one of the most valuable startups, the data scientists and technicians argued in a court filing Friday ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Texas oil company fined $18 million for unapproved work along California coast

SANTA BARBARA, Calif. — In an action cheered by state environmentalists, the California Coastal Commission has voted to fine a Texas-based oil firm $18 million for failing to obtain necessary permits and reviews in its controversial push to revive oil production off the Gaviota Coast.

After hours of public comment Thursday, the commission ...Read more

White House plans for Alaskan oil and gas face some hurdles – including from Trump and the petroleum industry

The second Trump administration has launched the next stage in the half-century-long battle between commerce and conservation over Alaskan oil and gas development. But its moves are delivering a mixed message to the petroleum industry.

The administration has opened – or reopened – large swaths of government land in Alaska to oil ...Read more

Companies will still face pressure to manage for climate change, even as government rolls back US climate policy

As the federal government moves to eliminate U.S. climate rules, companies still face pressure to be better stewards of the planet from their customers, investors, employees, local communities, lenders, insurers, global trading partners and many states.

Each of those groups knows it will face increasing costs from rising temperatures ...Read more

Hector Retamal/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Why Trump's dream of made-in-the-USA iPhones isn't going to happen

For U.S. President Donald Trump, there would be few bigger victories than having a domestically produced version of the iPhone, one of the most popular tech products in history. Such a prize would validate his tariff plan and campaign promise to bring manufacturing jobs back to America.

And the administration clearly feels this is an achievable...Read more

Jefferee Woo/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

What's contaminating Tampa Bay's fish? These scientists are angling for answers

IN A BOAT OFF APOLLO BEACH, Fla. — A slow morning on the water erupted into a frenzy when the line began whizzing out of Steve Murawski’s fishing rod.

“I’m on!” Murawski yelled, scattering the boat’s crew into action.

A tan fish launched from the glassy, shallow water tucked in this hidden pocket of Tampa Bay mangrove forest. It ...Read more

Prehistoric mammoth-ivory artifacts challenge experts to explain their use

Around 400,000 years ago, prehistoric people living in western Ukraine found remains of Mammuthus trogontherii, or steppe mammoths.

The Paleolithic titans were just one animal that made survival in Central Asia possible, along with cows, horses, deer, bears, big cats and wild boars.

When the animal remains were processed, whatever wasn’t ...Read more

Kirill Kudryavtsev/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

San Diego County seeks new policy to govern use of AI

With artificial intelligence already affecting nearly every aspect of people’s lives, San Diego County supervisors want a formal policy that spells out how staff will use — or avoid — the technology.

The Board of Supervisors directed top county officials Tuesday to study what policy changes should be enacted to contend with AI as the ...Read more

Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Google accused of harming kids by secretly grabbing data from school-provided tech products

Google is secretly using its education products, including those used in many Bay Area schools, to identify students individually, track their online activity including sites they visit and links they click, and “steal” their personal data for profit, a lawsuit filed by California parents and others claims.

According to the lawsuit filed ...Read more

Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Trump makes sweeping move to undercut state climate laws

LOS ANGELES — The Trump administration this week ramped up its efforts to erode nationwide climate progress with a sweeping executive order aimed at undermining states’ ability to set their own environmental policies.

In an order dated April 8, the president directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to identify and “stop the enforcement of” ...Read more

Jose F. Moreno/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

How a rainy day and finicky fish launched a Pennsylvania program dedicated to unpaved roads

PHILADELPHIA — Some unpaved roads reveal nature’s simple engineering, like the path deer chose in a forest centuries ago. Native Americans used the deer paths to travel, and those trails widened over time for horses and buggies to become dirt roads.

Pennsylvania is home to approximately 23,000 miles of unpaved public roads, and there are ...Read more

Aurzen/Aurzen/TNS

Gadgets: Tri-fold projector

When handheld trifold 3-in-1 chargers came out, I thought they were so cool and efficient. Now, I can hold a projector. I'm referring to the Aurzen Zip tri-fold ultra-portable projector, which transforms any space into your personal cinema by mirroring your smartphone, tablet or computer.

Aurzen claims to have created the world's first tri-...Read more

Leon Neal/Getty Images North America/TNS

California lawmakers tackle potential dangers of AI chatbots after parents raise safety concerns

When her 14-year-old son took his own life after interacting with artificial intelligence chatbots, Megan Garcia turned her grief into action.

Last year, the Florida mom sued Character.AI, a platform where people can create and interact with digital characters that mimic real and fictional people.

Garcia alleged in a federal lawsuit that the ...Read more

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images North America/TNS

Coalition urges California attorney general to halt OpenAI's for-profit restructuring

A coalition of California nonprofits, foundations and labor groups are raising concerns about ChatGPT maker OpenAI, urging the state attorney general to halt the artificial intelligence startup's plans to restructure itself as a for-profit company.

More than 50 organizations, led by LatinoProsperity and the San Francisco Foundation, signed a ...Read more

Leila Navidi/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

New type of electric engine powering Graco's latest round of innovation

While flying one day in 2018, a Graco engineer read a short article in a trade journal about a small company developing a new kind of electric engine.

It was a lightbulb moment.

While the engines were being used for larger industrial fans, Dave Thompson, the engineer who is now president of Graco’s contractor equipment division, saw how ...Read more

United Launch Alliance/United Launch Alliance/TNS

ULA sets up for 1st launch of year on landmark Amazon satellite mission

United Launch Alliance has not had a rocket lift off since last fall, but its first one of 2025 is set to open the gates for dozens planned to proliferate Amazon’s internet satellite constellation Project Kuiper.

An Atlas V rocket is targeting liftoff at 7 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41 on the Kuiper ...Read more