Hiking a picturesque valley or climbing a craggy gorge are some of the most exhilarating experiences in nature. As a geologist, I have hiked and climbed some of the most intense terrains in the world, including in the Andes, Middle Eastern deserts, the Balkans and the Appalachians.

I am particularly drawn to canyons that provide ...Read more

BALTIMORE — The deaths of two Assateague horses by vehicle strikes 12 days apart in August may have seemed sudden. But the danger posed by traffic to the island’s wild horses has been building for decades.

National Park Service records show that vehicles have killed 36 horses on Assateague since 1982. This summer, Dune Dancer Jolt and Susi ...Read more

The color of penguin poop, as seen from space, is offering a new window into how the ecology and the environment of Antarctica are changing over time.

Adélie penguins are one of the most abundant predators in the Southern Ocean. They rely on food sources in the ocean, but nest on rocky outcrops all around the Antarctic continent.

...Read more

WASHINGTON — Federal officials lifted a stop-work order Wednesday, Sept. 2, that had halted construction on a state-federal project in Joliet, Illinois, meant to block invasive carp from reaching the Great Lakes.

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s office said Wednesday it had been notified of the change by the White House and the U.S. Army Corps of ...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — Idaho has seen an increase in the number of bats that have tested positive for rabies this year, as well as the number of possible contacts between bats and humans or pets, prompting a warning from the Idaho departments of Health and Welfare and Fish and Game.

In a joint news release Wednesday, the departments said 24 bats ...Read more

California lawmakers have voted to shift a state forest system away from commercial logging and pave the way for tribal co-management, delivering a win to a movement rooted in the historic timber wars.

Managed by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire, the state’s 14 demonstration forests are required to ...Read more

Reports that the Trump administration is working to transfer part of Yosemite National Park to a private land developer have heightened concerns among park advocates and the public about privatization of public land.

The proposed deal, which a government spokesperson said has not been finalized, would involve a land swap: The ...Read more

Nvidia Corp. Chief Executive Officer Jensen Huang called on Group of 20 nations to accelerate their adoption of artificial intelligence as a way to enhance growth, urging the world’s largest economies to expand data centers and other infrastructure to support the emerging technology.

“Every single country needs to build infrastructure so ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The killing of mule deer on Catalina Island will go forward after a judge tentatively denied a request from hunting groups and concerned citizens to pause the controversial plan pending the outcome of a legal challenge.

The Catalina Island Conservancy was authorized to start killing deer Tuesday under a permit issued by the ...Read more

Buying a laptop is anything but easy sometimes — it’s a classic example of too many choices.

Do you want a smaller, lighter machine? Or one that has a larger screen and better battery life? How about a laptop fast enough for occasional (or frequent) gaming?

Do you want a touch screen? How about an OLED display? Need 4K graphics?

How does ...Read more

DETROIT — A foreign moth that could have stirred up trouble was intercepted for the first time in the United States at Detroit Metro Airport, officials said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers captured the potentially destructive winged bug, a straw crest moth — Mesophleps silacella — at the airport in January, representatives ...Read more

In grasslands across the American West, four-legged fire prevention crews are busy at work, helping keep wildfire risk under control. These cattle, goats and sheep stomp down tall grasses as they munch their way through plants that could otherwise burn, lowering the risk of catastrophic fires in the process.

When livestock are ...Read more

Last week a friend asked me for a recommendation for adding more USB ports to her laptop.

USB ports are added to a computer by adding a USB hub. Think of a USB hub like a plug strip that you’d use at home if you needed to plug in more devices at an electrical outlet.

There are a few factors involved in picking out the right hub.

Begin by ...Read more

Eufy’s new solar-powered Wi-Fi Wall Light Cam S4 is as versatile a security camera as there is. It features almost everything you need in a do-it-yourself unit, producing a 4K crystal-clear resolution. Its flexible design enable it to be mounted on walls, rooftops, fences, etc.

Highlighting the most important features isn’t easy, since it...Read more

Skating games offer a canvas of unbridled creativity. It’s a genre where players can string together moves and score high points by showing off their talents on a virtual skateboard, kickflipping around fictional warehouses or parks.

In “Denshattack!,” developer Undercoders takes concepts from games such as “Tony Hawk Pro Skater” ...Read more

SAN DIEGO — The San Diego County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to launch a new phase of the county’s fight against Tijuana River pollution, approving funding to plan a new treatment system to capture sewage from the river itself and to advance a permanent fix at a toxic air pollution hot spot in South County.

Supervisors voted 4-1 to ...Read more

DENVER — Voters will decide in November whether to dedicate state sales taxes collected on outdoor gear to conservation and wildfire prevention grant programs.

If approved, Proposition 137 would also exempt that sales tax revenue from falling under the state’s spending cap set by the Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights, the mechanism that ...Read more

When Hurricane Michael tore through the Florida Panhandle in 2018, a beach house called the Sand Palace was left standing, while more than half the buildings around it were destroyed.

Its owners had built it to withstand roughly double the wind speed that Florida’s code required, with reinforced concrete walls on 40-foot (12-meter) ...Read more