NORTH MANKATO, MINN. — Shantelle Colum, a 33-year-old artist, loved supporting small local businesses, especially Seoul Foods, the newly opened Asian grocery store near her.

Then this summer, Colum noticed Seoul Foods’ ads on Facebook weren’t showing real pictures of delicious dumplings or spicy ramen noodles. Instead, she saw computer-...Read more

Qualcomm debuted two new processors this month, its latest step toward integrating intelligence into seemingly everything.

The Q-2390 and IQ-2390, which were unveiled Sept. 1, fall under the company’s Internet of Things, or IoT, business — one of Qualcomm’s fastest-growing sectors — building hardware and software that make things like ...Read more

One of the problems with how America deals with wildfires is thinking there is one primary strategy that can end the nation’s wildfire crisis. Whether that’s detecting and putting out every fire fast, increasing logging and forest thinning, or allowing fires to burn under safe conditions, the default choice today is to pour more money and...Read more

It’s been more than three years since California was in a drought. Reservoirs are above average levels. A strong El Niño is brewing in the Pacific that could bring soaking storms this winter.

But there’s a new endangered species across the state: grass. A broad new water conservation law will soon take effect in phases, banning the ...Read more

A facility at the Nevada National Security Site outside of Las Vegas has been used to perform testing on key components for very small nuclear reactors — a technology that some believe holds great promise for advancing energy production in the United States.

Several companies around the world are now racing to produce what are known as ...Read more

Over two days in the summer of 1910, wildfires roared across the bone-dry forests of the inland Northwestern U.S., the Rockies, and parts of British Columbia. Whole towns burned. The blazes scorched 3 million acres of forest, an area the size of Connecticut, and left behind a legacy that profoundly changed how the U.S. managed wildfires – ...Read more

Jose “Moke” Simon III recalls as a child in the ‘70s watching the creeks that flow into Clear Lake in Northern California turn black with fish — a fish found only in these waters — as they made their springtime run.

Someone would call from the neighboring reservation with the news: “The hitch are running!” Everybody would grab ...Read more

U.S. farmers will produce a record-breaking harvest of 4.52 billion bushels of soybeans in 2026, according to projections from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At 60 pounds to the bushel, that is roughly 800 pounds of soybeans for every American.

Most people don’t think of themselves as soybean consumers. Few sit down to a plate ...Read more

A sweeping bipartisan bill that seeks to prevent catastrophic wildfires and restore fire-ravaged forests has revealed a schism in the nation’s environmental movement as some conservation advocates find themselves allied with a longtime foe: loggers.

The Fix Our Forests Act, which Congress is close to passing, aims to speed up forest ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — Carlsbad declared a local emergency Wednesday to expedite repairs of coastal erosion that threatens to undermine Carlsbad Boulevard, also known as the historic Highway 101.

Early next week crews will begin placing boulders weighing 4 to 8 tons each on the beach beside the highway just north of the Encinas Creek outlet, city ...Read more

The Trump administration is seeking to revise a federal climate report published three years ago to recast worst-case climate scenarios as implausible and limit their use in federal decision-making.

The White House has proposed an “amendment and clarification” to the findings of the National Climate Assessment 5, published in 2023. National...Read more

California, home to the world's largest tech companies, is placing more guardrails around social media and artificial intelligence as child safety concerns escalate.

On Thursday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed more than 10 bills aimed at keeping young people safe online.

From suicides to sextortion, parents and their children are ...Read more

Amid an oppressive stretch of extreme heat and Florida-esque humidity that has been punishing much of California, consider, for a moment, the Ice Age.

For millions of years, Pacific mastodons — huge, hairy relatives of modern elephants — roamed a vast and lush range that included California, Oregon, the northern Rocky Mountains and parts of...Read more

The Tibetan Plateau may be on the other side of the world from California, but what happens on this high-altitude landscape in Asia can set off a chain of events that fuels powerful atmospheric rivers with flooding rainfall and heavy snow hitting the U.S. West Coast.

My team of atmospheric scientists discovered this connection, and we...Read more

As late summer fades into early autumn, garden care shifts from active harvesting to preparation and planning for the next growing season. Weeds can feel like an overwhelming management task as the summer species burst into flower and spread seeds.

However, late summer and early fall is the single best time for weed control that lasts...Read more

Pennsylvania has over 180 levees that span approximately 155 miles (255 kilometers) and keep its rivers from flooding. They protect about 158,000 people and US$26.2 billion in property across the state, according to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

However, those levees are aging, and funding to maintain and improve them is becoming ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The huge inland body of water that is the heart of California’s water system is under major stress.

That’s why state officials say they worked for years to come up with a plan to help halt the ecological decline of the San Francisco Bay and Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.

Now that plan is under attack from the Trump ...Read more

The Hawaiian Islands rarely see significant hurricane damage, but they just experienced the effects of their second hurricane in a year as Hurricane Lowell’s eyewall brushed Niihau, west of Kauai, on Sept. 8, 2026.

The hurricane brought heavy downpours, high surf and hurricane-force wind gusts that pounded both islands, knocking out...Read more

Apple Inc. unveiled the company’s first foldable smartphone during a wide-ranging event Wednesday, betting that a new category can energize growth for its biggest-selling lineup.

The device, called the iPhone Duo, will improve on rivals’ foldable models, newly appointed Chief Executive Officer John Ternus said, mocking competing handsets ...Read more

SEATTLE — Washington is among the states suing the federal government for changing rules around the Endangered Species Act.

Washington Attorney General Nick Brown is coleading two complaints with the attorneys general of California, Maryland and Massachusetts. The states argue that under the new rules it is easier for the government and ...Read more