Science & Technology

/

Knowledge

A scientist prepares samples while doing research on PFAS at a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency lab. Understanding of chemicals’ risks has been built on IRIS assessments.
              AP Photo/Joshua A. Bickel

EPA is sidelining its independent chemical referee – and that endangers public health

For decades, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has relied on an independent scientific program to answer two basic questions when chemicals come up for review: Does the chemical pose a threat to human health? If so, how much exposure is necessary before it becomes a problem?

The scientists involved in that program, known as the...Read more

Carmen Mandato/Getty Images North America/TNS

How a SoCal native became one of NASA's most valuable assets

LOS ANGELES — One of NASA's most valuable assets is a Southern Californian.

Following the space agency's successful Artemis II mission around the moon last month, Victor Glover — who grew up primarily in the Inland Empire and has spent much of his career at Southern California's many military and aerospace hubs — is now the only pilot to ...Read more

JIM ROSSMAN/TNS

Jim Rossman: Should you go all-in on Apple?

This week a reader wrote in, “I am 74 and was always on top of most electronics as they evolved, but I have to say the rapid changes are hard to keep up with, and I find myself relying on a couple of my younger, more in-tune adult children when it gets to be too much!

"One of my major problems and 'strategies' has been to keep it simple ...Read more

Cosori/Cosori/TNS

Gadgets: Kitchen game changers

Cosori’s NutriLens smart nutrition scale and its Iconic 6.5-quart stainless-steel smart air fryer are kitchen game changers.

Testing these over several weeks of home-cooked meals—led by my wife—delivered impressive results. For example, in the past, we’ve made chicken Parmesan in a few different air fryers, and some turned out great; ...Read more

SteelSeries/TNS

Review: Arctis Nova Pro Omni is a gaming headset to rule the living room

For years, I’ve searched for one headset to rule them all, a set of cans that offers great sound quality, robust features and universal compatibility. Several devices have come close but fallen short in one area or another. A headset that could do everything seemed like a pipedream until SteelSeries came along with the Arctis Nova Pro Omni. ...Read more

'Dun-dun ... dun-dun.' The great white shark surge of 2026 and why it's good for SoCal

LOS ANGELES — As the early morning breeze tickles the top of the Santa Monica Bay, three scientists pack into a small whaler boat and push out to sea in pursuit of great white sharks.

Armed with a set of drones, a GoPro camera on a stick and a tracking device atop a spear, the team from the Cal State Long Beach Shark Lab has many questions ...Read more

Sebastien Bozon/Getty Images North America/TNS

Wall Street watchdogs pause some cyber exams after Mythos shock

U.S. regulators are pausing some cyber-related examinations of the largest banks, giving the lenders more breathing room as the firms dig into the risks exposed by Anthropic PBC’s new Mythos AI model.

The Federal Reserve and Office of the Comptroller of the Currency want to give banks time to bolster their systems against cyber threats ...Read more

Formula 1 drivers maneuver for position during the 2026 Miami Formula One Grand Prix in Florida. Chandan Khanna / AFP via Getty Images

Formula 1 racing shows the hard part of reaching net-zero carbon emissions isn’t the engineering

Formula 1 auto racing is one of the most energy-intensive and logistically complex sports on the planet. The events involve cars, of course, but also long-haul freight, international travel, temporary event infrastructure, and a global calendar that keeps people and equipment moving almost constantly.

Motorsports companies are not ...Read more

Jerry Jackson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Blue crab population booms in Chesapeake Bay by 100 million, report finds

BALTIMORE — After a hit to the blue crab population last year, the numbers have grown by over 100 million in 2026.

The blue crab population is estimated at 349 million in the Chesapeake Bay, compared to the 238 million last year, according to results from this winter’s annual dredge survey of the waterway.

Blue crab populations are highly ...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

As ocean temperatures spike, more dead sea birds are washing up on California shores

LOS ANGELES — For the last several months, wildlife experts have been alarmed by a large influx of dead and emaciated seabirds washing up on California beaches.

While experts had been recording high mortality rates for brown pelicans for several years now — the result of harmful algal blooms, or “red tides” — this die off appears ...Read more

Martin Graf/Dreamstime/TNS

It's not just white sharks: Massachusetts shark researchers 'closely monitoring' another shark species this season

This is just jaw-some.

Another shark species has the attention of local white shark researchers, who will be “closely monitoring” an additional apex predator this season as beachgoers return to the water.

Dusky sharks — which were spotted attacking seals off Nantucket in the past — have also been seen off Orleans’ Nauset Beach, where...Read more

California Department of Fish and Wildlife/TNS/TNS

A gray wolf has entered Sequoia National Park for the first time in a century

LOS ANGELES — A wolf known as BEY03F seems intent on making history over and over again.

The 3-year-old, black-furred wolf has become the first of her kind known to venture into Sequoia National Park in more than a century — after making similarly momentous visits to Los Angeles and Inyo counties.

By 7 a.m. Sunday, BEY03F had passed just ...Read more

One of NOAA's WP-3D Orion hurricane hunters, dubbed Miss Piggy, flies over Tropical Storm Idalia on Aug. 28, 2023. Nick Underwood/NOAA

Hurricane forecasts have improved dramatically, saving lives, but federal cuts threaten to stretch NOAA to the breaking point

The 2026 Atlantic hurricane season starts June 1, and while a developing El Niño might result in a tamer season than in the past few years, all it takes is one big storm hitting a populated area to make it a bad hurricane season.

Every year, Americans rely on accurate forecasts when hurricanes might be developing to know when to ...Read more

Xavier Mascareñas/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Golden mussels still a threat to California waterways. Here's what to know

As the summer boating season gets underway with Memorial Day weekend, golden mussels continue to pose a threat to California’s waterways, officials said.

The invasive mussels clog critical water delivery pipes, damage boats and outcompete native fish. They also spread rapidly, mostly via boats.

On Tuesday, Kern County supervisors declared a ...Read more

Kristian Carreon/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

New research has this San Diego County desert town at loggerheads on what to do about water

Just off Palm Canyon Drive in Borrego Springs, a dead honey mesquite tree remains rooted in the hot sand. It’s lifeless but not yet useless — not to the creatures that find shade under its branches or the plants that count on its nutrients.

Over the last year, mesquite has been at the heart of a growing water war in Borrego Springs, a tiny ...Read more

JASON CONNOLLY/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

The gray wolf's improbable California comeback continues as population hits modern record number

LOS ANGELES — After being hunted to extinction a century ago, gray wolves are continuing their remarkable comeback story in California, with state wildlife officials reporting a modern record number of the apex predators.

There were 55 wolves confirmed alive and nine wolf packs by the end of 2025, the majority of which are clustered in the ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA's ultra-urban rivers wash tons of trash out to sea. There's a plan to change that before the Olympics

LOS ANGELES — Rivers that wind through Los Angeles County have a trashy reputation. Literally.

In many stretches, you’d be hard-pressed to stroll along the banks of the San Gabriel or Los Angeles rivers without meeting abandoned water bottles, candy wrappers, golf balls, sad-looking teddy bears, even shopping carts.

On the rare occasion ...Read more

SpaceX/TNS

SpaceX launches space station resupply mission; booster recovery brought sonic booms

Weather cleared Friday for SpaceX’s third try to get a resupply mission to the International Space Station off the ground, launching on time and making a successful booster recovery back on land that brought sonic booms to parts of Central Florida.

Poor weather conditions knocked out both Tuesday and Wednesday attempts, but a Falcon 9 was ...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

Hackers armed with AI stoke fears for $130 billion crypto sector

The crypto hacks came a little over two weeks apart in April, netting the attackers almost $600 million in total while triggering an investor exodus from one major platform and causing another to fail.

But for all the damage the two exploits wrought, what most alarmed cybersecurity experts was how the hackers pulled them off. The attackers —...Read more

SpaceX/TNS

Sonic boom potential back again Friday as SpaceX tries for launch to space station

Weather looks much better for SpaceX’s third try to get a resupply mission to the International Space Station off the ground Friday with a planned booster recovery back on land that could bring sonic booms to parts of Central Florida.

Poor weather conditions knocked out both Tuesday and Wednesday attempts, but now a Falcon 9 is back aiming ...Read more