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SpaceX/TNS/TNS

Overnight SpaceX national security launch could bring sonic boom to Central Florida

ORLANDO, Fla. — That bump in the night that might be heard in Central Florida in the wee hours of Thursday morning might be for national security.

That’s because a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket on the NROL-95 mission carrying a classified payload for the National Reconnaissance Office is set to launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s ...Read more

Judge allows federal land transfer to state of Alaska that will support Ambler Road and Alaska LNG

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A federal judge last week rejected a bid by conservation groups to stop the Trump administration from conveying land to Alaska to support development of the 200-mile Ambler Road that could open up access for mining in a remote Arctic region.

Alaska U.S. District Judge Aaron Peterson on Friday dismissed portions of the ...Read more

Simon Lehmann/Dreamstime/TNS

China's Moonshot AI passes funding goal to hit $35 billion value

Moonshot AI secured a $35 billion valuation after raising a larger-than-anticipated $3.5 billion in a just-closed round of financing, riding the momentum from a breakthrough Kimi K3 model that sent ripples through Silicon Valley.

The Beijing-based startup managed to secure far more than the $1 billion to $2 billion it initially targeted, people...Read more

Lionel Bonaventure/Getty Images North America/TNS

OpenAI bot's rogue attack rattles industry leaders, policymakers and consumers

What will happen to the world if artificial intelligence bots break free from our control and act independently?

While it's been a troubling conundrum addressed by AI experts and Hollywood science-fiction scriptwriters for decades, it may have just happened.

OpenAI said last week that it temporarily lost control of its AI in what some worry ...Read more

Dreamstime/TNS

Once high-flying PayPal becomes a takeover target as it attempts a turnaround

Digital payments giant PayPal was soaring high five years ago, riding the surge in online shopping after the COVID-19 pandemic reshaped people's buying habits.

Now the San José fintech company has reportedly become a takeover target as it tries to get more people to click on the PayPal button to purchase items amid fierce competition.

Stripe,...Read more

Growing avocados can contribute to water pollution, but there are ways to reduce the harm. Estúdio Bloom/Unsplash, CC BY

Better guacamole? How avocado import rules helped cut Mexico’s water pollution – it holds lessons for future US trade deals

At picnics and World Cup watch parties across the United States this summer, people have been reaching for bowls of chips and guacamole. Most of that guacamole is made from avocados grown in Mexico – on orchards that, in what might come as a surprise, contribute less water pollution today than they did a decade ago.

There’s a ...Read more

Record-breaking El Niño could gut California's crab and salmon fleets

LOS ANGELES — As the chances of a 'super' El Niño continue to rise — now 81%, according to federal scientists — researchers are looking back to 2015 and 2016, when a Pacific heat wave combined with a strong El Niño threw some of the West Coast's most important commercial fishing fleets into turmoil.

They say we could be looking at a ...Read more

Jim Rossman/Jim Rossman/TNS

Jim Rossman: What to do with your old hard drives?

A few weeks back I wrote about removing your hard drive before you donate or recycle an old computer.

Occasionally, a reader will send me a follow up question about a column, but every once in a while, several people will write to me to point out a mistake or omission.

Today, I woke up to five emails from readers asking the same question: �...Read more

IQUNIX/TNS

Review: IQUNIX MQ80 is a low-profile mechanical keyboard with top features

One of the rising trends in mechanical keyboards is the low-profile variants. These are lighter versions of the devices that act as a happy medium for the hobby. They have the joyous click of switches, but the portability, ergonomics and comfort of the membrane-style ones seen on laptops.

The one part holding back this category is that it isn...Read more

Anker/TNS/TNS

Gadgets: You'll get amped up about this power station

It might be hard to get excited about a portable power station since they're no longer a new or exclusive product category. But Anker's new Solix S2000 defies that expectation.

If I had to describe it in just two words, they'd be "necessary" and "efficient." But limiting it to two words hardly does it justice. I'd also call it user-friendly, ...Read more

MIGUEL RIOPA/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Commentary: Major news outlets and Democrats are pretending weather isn't affected by climate

Along with ongoing coverage of the latest bombings and missile and drone attacks in Iran and the oil-rich Gulf states, extreme weather events are also providing lead segments on evening news programs this summer. What you don’t see in much of the TV coverage, at least not since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term as ...Read more

MARTIN LELIEVRE/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Parlay bets are burning gamblers as market takes off on Kalshi

Retail bettors are piling into long-shot multi-leg bets on prediction-market platforms, opening up a lucrative opportunity for sophisticated traders taking the other side.

Combo wagers, known as parlays in sports gambling, let users bundle multiple outcomes into a single bet. One popular combo for the World Cup final had Spain leading at ...Read more

Thomas Fuller/SOPA Images/Zuma Press/TNS

How small nuclear reactors could help ease Maryland's energy crisis

As Maryland grapples with soaring electricity demand and rising energy costs, a Rockville-based nuclear company is betting that a new generation of small reactors could eventually help power the state — even as its first projects are being developed hundreds of miles away.

X-Energy Inc., with a Rockville headquarters and Frederick testing ...Read more

Sargassum littered beaches in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in spring 2023, making a mess during spring break. Joe Raedle/Getty Images

Sargassum, the smelly nemesis of beach vacations, has become a self-sustaining disaster that will keep coming back

You’ve been planning your dream beach vacation for months, only to arrive and find the shoreline covered in large piles of smelly, brown seaweed, with even more floating offshore. It’s disappointing, for sure – and increasingly common.

Since 2011, summer scenes like this have played out on beaches in South Florida and throughout...Read more

A worker stands at a TotalEnergies refinery in northwestern France. Lou Benoist/AFP via Getty Images

French climate lawsuit offers a window into the next round of the global legal fight

A recent decision by a French court requires a major European oil and gas company to report not only its own climate-warming emissions and those of its contractors but also those of its customers, who burn the oil and petroleum products the company sells.

The court’s ruling against TotalEnergies, under a French law passed in 2017, ...Read more

L.E. Baskow/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Lake Mead inches from new record four years after historic low

LAS VEGAS — Four years ago, Lake Mead hit a historic low, a harbinger of the threat facing Southern Nevada’s primary water source.

Lake Mead reached its record low of 1,040.58 feet above sea level on July 27, 2022. As Lake Mead’s water level continues to trend downward over the past 20 years, conditions this year have stressed its supply ...Read more

In the months of March, April, May and June 2026, Pennsylvania saw a total of 852 reports of severe weather. SeanPavonePhoto/iStock via Getty Images Plus

Severe storms battered Pittsburgh twice as often as usual this spring – a meteorologist explains why

It’s no secret: This year has been a bad one so far for severe thunderstorms around Pittsburgh. In fact, it has been quite an active season throughout the Ohio Valley and a large part of the Midwest.

How bad has it been? In the months of March, April, May and June 2026, Pennsylvania saw a whopping 852 reports of severe weather. By ...Read more

Birding is a good way to practice mindfulness, psychologists report.  Jennifer Andrews

Flocking together – how a birding hobby may boost your mental health and build community

If you’ve ever found yourself stuck in a rut while cooped up all day at a nine-to-five job, or just felt stressed about work, school or life in general, you’re not alone. Hearing “just go outside” might sound like trivial advice, but researchers have been investigating a new, unconventional strategy to boost mental health: Seeking the...Read more

D.A. Varela/Miami Herald/TNS

Lawsuit claims government isn't doing enough to protect Florida's Queen Conch

MIAMI — The Queen Conch, a giant sea snail and unofficial mascot of the Florida Keys, was listed as endangered on Valentine’s Day, 2022. Once a species is listed under the Endangered Species Act, the federal government has to identify and protect the “critical habitat” essential to its recovery.

That still hasn’t happened.

The ...Read more

Lou Benoist/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Palantir's infamy opens doors for French challenger

The latest transatlantic technology brouhaha unfolded on Instagram.

During a week in June when the leaders of the Group of Seven descended on France and Paris held its flagship technology conference, French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu took to the platform better known for aspirational travel content to announce his government was seeking...Read more