Science & Technology

/

Knowledge

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

Jim Rossman/Jim Rossman/TNS

Jim Rossman: Several ways to move content from your iPhone to a Windows PC

This week a reader writes, “Please help me with this. I have done it before but forgot. I want to send pictures and documents from my iPhone SE to my PC to print.”

There are several ways you can move photos and documents to your Windows PC.

First, let’s talk about moving your photos.

The first method involves connecting the iPhone to...Read more

Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Gray whales are dying off the Pacific Coast again, and scientists aren't sure why

LOS ANGELES — Gray whales are dying in large numbers, again.

At least 70 whales have perished since the start of the year in the shallow, protected lagoons of Mexico's Baja California peninsula where the animals have congregated for eons to calf, nurse and breed, said Steven Swartz, a marine scientist who has studied gray whales since 1977. ...Read more

Ranchraven/Dreamstime/TNS

Trump slashes protections for Ruby Mountains as Nevada senator vows fight

Though little evidence exists suggesting northeast Nevada’s Ruby Mountains hold potential for oil production, the Trump administration canceled a Biden-era effort to rule out new leases there for 20 years.

It had only been about three months since protections were proposed when President Donald Trump issued Executive Order 14154. The order ...Read more