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Deborah Vankin/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Do mosquito repellent patches work? Experts weigh in on the buzz

LOS ANGELES — You may have seen them passed around at the playground or park — tiny, candy-colored stickers, often bearing bright cartoony faces, hearts or flowers, meant to repel mosquitoes. Hikers and urban walkers are wearing them on socks and jacket collars; parents are tacking them onto kids’ hats and backpacks. Forget Skittles — ...Read more

Eileen T. Meslar/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois River tagging effort to count invasive carp and help protect Lake Michigan

CHICAGO — The fish, caught in a net with dozens of others like it, had just been brought to the boat ramp and placed in one of several large, water-filled tubs, where it patiently waited its turn.

Soon enough, it was whisked up and away in a catch net, weighed in at 10.14 pounds, the same as a 12-pack of soda, measured at 25.7 inches, or ...Read more

PAUL KITAGAKI JR./The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Global carbon emissions set to dip in 2026 after Iran war oil surge

Global carbon emissions are falling this year, a drop explained more by the recent oil shock than by countries’ gradual transition to clean energy.

Carbon dioxide pollution from burning fossil fuels will decline by 0.4% in 2026, to 38.2 billion metric tons, this year’s Global Carbon Budget estimates. The main driver is the U.S.-Israeli war...Read more

Barry Williams/New York Daily News/TNS

NYC Ferry to use vessels as marine science classrooms in the off-season

NEW YORK — Starting this off season, a portion of New York City’s ferry fleet will be temporarily reinvented as science classrooms on the waterways.

On Monday, NYC Ferry, the Economic Development Corporation, and an educational oyster-reef restoration nonprofit plan to announce the launch of the “Floating Classroom,” a 90-minute, twice ...Read more

Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

NASA needs more astronauts, and applications are now open

NASA has only 32 active astronauts right now, and the agency wants more.

“There is no single résumé that makes somebody an astronaut,” said NASA Deputy Administrator Matt Anderson, standing in front of a gaggle of blue-suited space veterans at this weekend’s Max Power air show at Kennedy Space Center.

It included some who had flown on...Read more

Parts of the Grand Staircase National Monument were removed from federal protection under the Trump administration, opening the way for mining and drilling. David McNew/Getty Images

How protection of public land shapes political strategies in the American West

Public lands are intricately woven into the fabric of America. Years of data confirms that a majority of Americans, regardless of their political beliefs, want public lands to remain in federal hands – though not everyone agrees on how exactly those lands should be managed. And while it’s not clear that public lands were a crucial factor ...Read more

Advisers for COP30 President Andre Correa do Lago, center, talk after a Colombia delegate's request to speak was overlooked at the U.N. summit in 2025. Pablo Porciuncula/AFP via Getty Images

5 ways countries stymie climate negotiations without actually saying ‘no’

Nearly every country in the world has acknowledged that climate change is a serious problem. It’s hard to ignore, as billions of people suffer through increasingly destructive storms and extreme heat.

In response, most governments have promised repeatedly to cut greenhouse gas emissions that are driving global temperatures higher. ...Read more

Luis Robayo/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

What to watch at COP31 as midterms, Brazil deliver climate boost

Turkey will host climate negotiators from nearly 200 countries for annual talks, just weeks after the United Nations warned the world is all but certain to blitz past a target of limiting planetary warming to 1.5 Celsius.

Yet as tens of thousands of delegates prepare for two weeks of debate from Monday at the U.N.’s 31st Conference of the ...Read more

Sean Gallup/Getty Images Europe/TNS

Global climate talks open with big questions and shrinking goals

Climate negotiators from almost 200 countries will spend the next two weeks at an annual United Nations summit under a dark cloud of waning ambition to tackle rapidly rising global temperatures.

The negotiating agenda at COP31, starting Monday in the resort city of Antalya, Turkey, is narrower than at any other major climate conference in the ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Record water levels caused by tides, El Niño are giving a stark preview of future sea level rise

SAN DIEGO — A highly unusual combination of warm water and king tides is damaging animal habitats in Mission Bay and providing a stark preview of how the bay might look if sea levels rise as much as predicted in coming decades.

Four factors came together last month to create record water levels in Mission Bay: the king tide phenomenon that ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

A UC Riverside scientist skied deep into the Sierra to track microplastics in snow

LOS ANGELES — Microscopic shards of plastic have been found everywhere scientists have looked, from the depths of the ocean to the clouds above.

Now a UC Riverside environmental scientist with a particular set of outdoor and laboratory skills has found them in remote mountain snows reachable only on skis. In a new paper, she and 13 colleagues...Read more

Nelvin C. Cepeda/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Mexican ambassador to the US pledges during San Diego visit to work on Tijuana River pollution crisis

SAN DIEGO — Since becoming the Mexican ambassador to the U.S., Roberto Lazzeri has been confronted with many pressing cross-border issues, ranging from trade deals and border security to immigration.

But he said there’s one in particular that comes up constantly in his many meetings in Washington — the Tijuana River Valley’s pollution ...Read more

Luke Johnson/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

'The pollution hides itself': Tijuana River sewage travels underwater to La Jolla before becoming airborne, study finds

SAN DIEGO — The sewage-tainted water from the Tijuana River is traveling farther north than previously suspected, suggesting communities beyond Imperial Beach may face potential health risks, according to a new study.

University of California, Riverside researchers, in cooperation with scientists from University of California San Diego’s ...Read more

Luke Johnson/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

'The pollution hides itself': Tijuana River sewage travels underwater to La Jolla before becoming airborne, study finds

SAN DIEGO — The sewage-tainted water from the Tijuana River is traveling farther north than previously suspected, suggesting communities beyond Imperial Beach may face potential health risks, according to a new study.

University of California, Riverside researchers, in cooperation with scientists from University of California San Diego’s ...Read more

Arthur Maiorella/Chicago Tribune/TNS

IBM unveils its first quantum computer in Illinois at Hyde Park Labs

CHICAGO — IBM unveiled its first quantum computer in Illinois Friday at Hyde Park Labs, ushering in an era of potentially transformative technological advancement, with Chicago at the center of development.

Initially installed at the University of Chicago’s commercial research and development facility, the IBM Quantum System Two will ...Read more

Blue Origin pushing New Glenn return to launch into 2027, report says

Blue Origin’s plans to launch New Glenn on its rebuilt Cape Canaveral site are getting delayed into the new year, according to a report from Reuters.

Reporter Joey Roulette posted an internal memo about the delay on X from Blue Origin CEO Dave Limp that said, “Rebuilding at pace hasn’t been easy. For those of you who live or visit the ...Read more

A South Shore park may hold the key for Chicago birder aiming to spot 300 different birds this year

CHICAGO — As light mist obscured the far-off Chicago skyline, only the faint sounds of metal cranes clanging and construction vehicles beeping in the distance broke up the quiet morning at Park 566 in South Shore.

Peeking around tall patches of grass and peering through binoculars at Lake Michigan, Tarik Shahzad, a birder from the Norwood ...Read more

A South Shore park may hold the key for Chicago birder aiming to spot 300 different birds this year

CHICAGO — As light mist obscured the far-off Chicago skyline, only the faint sounds of metal cranes clanging and construction vehicles beeping in the distance broke up the quiet morning at Park 566 in South Shore.

Peeking around tall patches of grass and peering through binoculars at Lake Michigan, Tarik Shahzad, a birder from the Norwood ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

This is where a Southern California railway is about to fall into the sea. What is being done to save it

LOS ANGELES — A major sand replenishment is headed to the San Clemente beach along the long-imperiled railway line, part of a large shoreline work package aimed at fortifying the vulnerable railroad while also protecting the area's shrinking beaches.

The California Coastal Commission on Thursday approved an extensive permit that railway ...Read more

Roger Simmons/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Lunar rocket launch tore 'hole' in Earth's atmosphere, disrupted GPS, study finds

A NASA rocket launch for a lunar mission may have punched a hole in Earth’s atmosphere, potentially disrupting GPS signals, a new study found.

The Artemis II mission launched April 1 from Florida, carrying astronauts around the moon on humanity’s first lunar mission since the Apollo program ended in 1972, NASA said.

Atmospheric ...Read more