In a time of political polarization, it’s easy to forget that the vast majority of Americans of all backgrounds and beliefs – 80% or more, depending on the poll – value environmental conservation. However, this support is not easily or often translated into successful, popular initiatives.

One success story is the Great Lakes ...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com.

How hot does it get in the desert? – Henry, age 5, South Bend, Indiana

When you think of a desert, you probably imagine giant waves of sand dunes beneath a blazing Sun. You...Read more

Lake Jesup, one of Central Florida’s largest water bodies, is also one of its sickest.

Urban runoff filled with a noxious brew of fertilizers, stormwater and sewage has flowed into the Seminole County lake from as far as Orlando, Winter Park and Altamonte Springs for decades.

Even the state’s Department of Health regularly alerts the ...Read more

Casey Fiesler suspects she wound up in the federal government’s crosshairs for attempting to combat misinformation.

The U.S. National Science Foundation awarded the University of Colorado Boulder information science professor a $268,428 grant in the fall of 2024. The funds were slated for a project teaming up CU media and communication ...Read more

With two swoops of his pen, President Donald Trump again razed a decades-long push by tribes and conservationists to preserve two cherished national monuments, dramatically shrinking them in size by about 90%.

Trump, flanked by Utah Republicans on Monday, falsely claimed during the signing that national monument protections have hindered open ...Read more

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida wildlife officials repeatedly searched personal driving records as they secretly investigated at least a dozen outspoken environmental activists who opposed the state’s efforts to revive bear hunting and enshrine hunting and fishing rights in the state constitution, records obtained by The Orlando Sentinel show.

...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A California airman died Thursday after the heavy machinery he was operating rolled down an embankment at a military base, officials said.

Airman 1st Class Cedric Eneluna was a member of the 30th Civil Engineer Squadron Pavements and Equipment Flight at Vandenberg Space Force Base in Santa Barbara County. He was part of the “...Read more

New findings about an alien asteroid are out, and it’s all thanks to a New Jersey couple after an uninvited hazard crashed into their home two years ago.

In July 2024, a meteorite shot through the sky. Observers across the Northeast said they witnessed a fireball at the time.

Before reaching Earth, the asteroid had a mass of 115 pounds, ...Read more

International Business Machines Corp.’s warning this week that its sales are falling well short of expectations highlights a growing divide between artificial intelligence winners and everyone else in the tech universe.

On Tuesday, IBM said it failed to predict that its customers would shift their spending away from the company’s products ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In the middle of what experts expected to be a “very sharky” summer, a program that tracks great whites and helps beachgoers stay safe will soon run out of money.

Since 2018, the California Beach Shark Safety program at Cal State Long Beach has tagged great whites in local waters and shared their locations with lifeguards. ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A major Southern California water agency has struck a deal with federal officials to boost water levels in Lake Mead, part of a broader effort to keep the country’s largest reservoir from reaching critically low levels — at least for a while longer.

The Metropolitan Water District of Southern California’s board of ...Read more

The Trump administration has decided that destroying the habitat of endangered species is not harmful.

Think about that.

Habitat loss is the No. 1 reason species become endangered. Red-cockaded woodpeckers need mature long-leaf pine forests to reproduce. Endangered western monarch butterflies depend on pesticide-free milkweed ...Read more

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Rattlesnakes can be found all over California, especially in hotspots such as Lake Berryessa, Carrizo Plain National Monument and the San Joaquin Valley.

In California, a number of animals hunt and kill rattlesnakes — including a particularly ravenous kind of reptile.

Certain snakes “will eat anything,” Cal Poly ...Read more

Wildfire smoke has been pouring across the northern U.S. from fires in Canada and Minnesota, turning skies an eerie shade of orange in several states in July 2026. In the West, smoke has also been spreading into communities in Colorado and neighboring states as more wildfires burn in hot, dry conditions.

University of Colorado ...Read more

SpaceX tried to get its 13th suborbital test flight of its Starship and Super Heavy rocket off the ground from Texas on Thursday, but its engines had an automatic shutdown just as they were beginning to fire with the countdown clock hitting zero.

“We’re not going to be launching today. We got all the way down to startup, triggered a hold on...Read more

SpaceX is set for the 13th suborbital test flight of its Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Texas on Thursday as it drives toward its goal of beginning operational missions from Florida.

The massive rocket looks to launch during a 90-minute window that opens at 6:45 p.m. from the company’s Starbase site on the southeast Texas coast. SpaceX ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX is set for the 13th suborbital test flight of its Starship and Super Heavy rocket from Texas on Thursday as it drives toward its goal of beginning operational missions from Florida.

The massive rocket looks to launch during a 90-minute window that opens at 6:45 p.m. from the company’s Starbase site on the southeast ...Read more

The artificial intelligence boom in the United States is being matched by a data center building boom. There are more than 3,000 data centers in the U.S. and another 1,500 in development, according to a Pew Research Center analysis.

While President Donald Trump has promoted AI advancement, calling it crucial to economic and national ...Read more