With 104 matches in 16 stadiums across Canada, the United States and Mexico, the 2026 FIFA World Cup will be soccer’s biggest event ever.

It’s our job as turfgrass researchers hired by FIFA, the game’s governing body, to make sure those pitches feel the same for players and that the grass thrives.

That’s not so simple....Read more

The market for oil is global, which is why events like the war in Iran affect oil prices – and prices of the wide range of products made from oil – literally everywhere. Federal data shows that the price at the primary crude oil hub in the U.S. was US$66 a barrel in late February 2026 – before the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran – and $...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Methane, the second-biggest contributor to climate change, is spewing into the atmosphere from the oil and gas industry, landfills and dairy farms. It’s also coming from another lesser-known source: reservoirs.

As plants break down underwater, they form methane, which then bubbles to the surface. California doesn’t monitor ...Read more

The multitude of water managers tasked with overseeing the drying Colorado River system stand at a dire crossroads.

As a yearslong stalemate in negotiations persists between the seven states that share the river, it’s become increasingly likely that the federal government will impose its own long-term plan, choosing from a range of proposals ...Read more

Three Philadelphia scientists won a $3 million Breakthrough Prize for developing the first FDA-approved gene therapy for a genetic disease, prize sponsors announced Saturday.

Their work created a scientific and regulatory road map for gene therapies, paving the way for more than a dozen similar approvals to follow.

The awardees — Jean ...Read more

Blue Origin’s flagship New Glenn rocket launched to space on its third flight, reusing a booster for the first time but failing to correctly place the satellite it was carrying into its intended orbit.

The rocket took off from the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida at approximately 7:25 a.m. local time, and its reusable first stage returned...Read more

The Potomac River was named the most endangered river in the United States in a new report by American Rivers, which pointed to a massive sewage spill this winter and the growing footprint of data centers in Maryland and Virginia.

The report cited the Jan. 19 collapse of the Potomac Interceptor, which state and federal agencies have said ...Read more

Blue Origin’s flagship New Glenn rocket launched to space on its third flight, reusing a booster for the first time but failing to correctly place the satellite it was carrying into its intended orbit.

The rocket took off from the launchpad at Cape Canaveral, Florida at approximately 7:25 a.m. local time, and its reusable first stage returned...Read more

Five years ago, a tragic and depressing environmental story unfolded when thousands of giant sequoia trees, an iconic California species that tower 300 feet high and can live for 3,000 years, were killed during multiple large wildfires that roared across the southern Sierra Nevada.

The fires in 2020 and 2021 at Sequoia National Park, Sequoia ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin is set to join Elon Musk’s SpaceX in the club of commercial companies to ever launch, land and re-fly a rocket booster during a mission aiming for liftoff early Sunday.

It’s a club SpaceX has been the lone member of for more than nine years.

But only on its third flight ever, a New Glenn rocket ...Read more

The Trump administration will soon offer leases to oil and gas companies in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, angering critics who say efforts to drill there will face court challenges.

The Bureau of Land Management said in a statement Friday that it will sell leases for tracts in the refuge’s 1.6-million-acre coastal plain. The bids for ...Read more

Days after their capsule splashed down in the Pacific, the four astronauts of Artemis II have had time to contemplate the gravity of their historic mission around the moon — but they still haven’t fully weighed what it all means.

“Where I keep coming back to is what kept grabbing my attention when the lighting was right and we were ...Read more

Teeth are like tiny biological time capsules. They tell stories about ancient diets and environments long after their owners have died and landscapes have changed.

After bones break down, tooth enamel stays hard and unchanged, even in fossilized teeth that have been buried under sediment and rock for millions of years and are now ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — An increase in deaths of seabirds along California’s coastline, including San Diego, is believed to be from starvation that many believe is linked to a persistent ocean heat wave.

SeaWorld San Diego said it is receiving multiple calls a day as beachgoers come across dead or dying birds on San Diego County’s beaches, including ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Twin Metals Minnesota got a major boost on Thursday with the Senate vote to roll back a Biden administration ban on mineral leasing near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

The 50-49 vote on April 16, paves the way for Twin Metals to move forward on its multibillion-dollar proposal for a copper-nickel mine near the BWCAW....Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Environmental advocates and opponents of a proposed mine near the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness vowed to continue fighting after the U.S. Senate voted on Thursday, April 16, to repeal a mining ban near the protected wilderness.

The vote allows for companies such as Twin Metals, owned by Chilean mining giant Antofagasta, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — An extreme marine heat wave is simmering the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California, and experts are warning that it could affect coastal weather and ecosystems for months.

The ocean heat wave started forming at the end of last year but has worsened in recent weeks, according to readings from the Scripps Pier in La Jolla, ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — L.A. Mayor Karen Bass released a new plan Thursday setting goals for the city to combat climate change and adapt to a warmer future.

Bass’ Climate Action Plan calls for doubling local solar power in Los Angeles by 2030 and reducing the use of fossil fuels in buildings and city buses.

It outlines how the city intends to reduce...Read more