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.

Are people on the South Pole walking upside down from the rest of the world? – Ralph P., U.S.

When I was standing at the South Pole, I felt the same way I feel anywhere on ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX has not launched from Florida since mid-September, but is planning two big missions on the same day next week with the launches of Crew-13 to the International Space Station and the NROL-97 mission on the powerhouse Falcon Heavy.

With both missions targeting Oct.1 liftoffs, it would also mark a first for the Space Coast...Read more

BOISE, Idaho — It was a bad year for Bogus Basin.

By New Year’s Eve, the Boise-area recreation area had received only about 2 feet of natural snowfall, forcing it to increase its production of artificial snow by 120% compared with the previous season. Amid high temperatures, most winter precipitation fell as rain instead of snow — and the...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For years, Amtrak's Pacific Surfliner has been portrayed as the civilized way to travel to and from San Diego.

No gridlock on Interstate 5. Glorious views of the Pacific Ocean. Even the chance to grab a drink and relax.

But the iconic rail line connecting Orange County to San Diego is under threat thanks to coastal erosion —...Read more

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The White House this month issued an executive order to support the sportfishing industry by, among other things, paving the way for increased harvests of sharks and pinnipeds, including sea lions and seals.

The order specifically aims to help saltwater anglers, offshore boaters and charter operators — an industry in ...Read more

A federal appeals court in Washington rejected Anthropic PBC’s challenge to a Trump administration designation of the artificial intelligence company as a supply-chain risk to U.S. national security, but an earlier ruling by a judge in California that lifted a government ban appears to remain in place for now.

The 2-1 decision on Friday from ...Read more

A federal appeals court in Washington rejected Anthropic PBC’s challenge to a Trump administration designation of the artificial intelligence company as a supply-chain risk to U.S. national security, but an earlier ruling by a judge in California that lifted a government ban appears to remain in place for now.

The 2-1 decision on Friday from ...Read more

The people of northern Virginia have been living with data centers for many years. The area is home to the world’s largest concentration of data centers. In a survey we conducted, we found northern Virginians support development restrictions that could make data centers more transparent and accountable to the public. But they care about ...Read more

Anthropic PBC has signed an $11.6 billion, seven-year contract with Akamai Technologies Inc. for computing power, adding to the AI developer’s growing list of data center deals.

Akamai will supply Anthropic access to central processing units, or CPUs, a type of generalist chip that’s seen renewed demand in data centers where it’s helping ...Read more

A dolphin that was part of an international rescue effort to transfer 30 whales and four dolphins from a Canadian marine park has died at an aquarium in Spain, according to a statement. Four beluga whales also have died since the moves began in July, including one at the Spanish facility and three at the Shedd Aquarium. A fifth beluga that had ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The next phase of a highly successful satellite mission led by NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory has burned through its rainy day fund and now risks cost and schedule overruns, according to a new report.

One of the culprits: the 2025 Eaton fire, which came within a mile of the La Cañada Flintridge research facility.

The ...Read more

DENVER — Metro Denver and the northern Front Range this summer documented one of the worst ozone pollution seasons of the past 30 years, jeopardizing the region’s standing under federal air quality standards and possibly placing a higher financial burden on businesses.

The nine-county region logged 66 days during which ozone pollution ...Read more

DENVER -- A tropical bird never before seen in Colorado drew dozens of Front Range birders to a lake on the Eastern Plains this weekend – and helped one birder become the first person known to spot 500 different species in the state.

Catching a glimpse of the piratic flycatcher, a migratory bird from Central and South America, this far north ...Read more

Meta Platforms Inc. unveiled a palm-sized, dedicated gadget for using Muse, the company’s popular new artificial intelligence assistant, pushing deeper into the AI devices market with a surprise announcement.

The product, unveiled on stage by Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, was born out of the company’s new design lab led by ...Read more

An OpenAI model hacked an Australian government website earlier this year, marking one of the first known cyberattacks by AI on a government database.

The company took three months to notify Canberra that its AI system gained unauthorized access to files on a website for reporting healthcare statistics, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said ...Read more

The Environmental Protection Agency has agreed to permanently restore about $19 million in University of California research grants — including studies into wildfire-smoke health effects and water management — it had previously canceled, according to a settlement filed in federal court Wednesday.

The settlement would resolve one part of a ...Read more

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said an OpenAI agent hacked a government website, with the artificial intelligence firm taking three months to alert the government about the breach.

Albanese said he had spoken with OpenAI’s Chief Executive Officer Sam Altman on Wednesday in New York to express “extreme concern about this incident...Read more

California Gov. Gavin Newsom has vetoed a bill aimed at deprioritizing commercial logging in a unique state forest system, arguing the measure would jeopardize the ability to test best management practices.

At issue are the state’s 14 demonstration forests — managed by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or Cal Fire �...Read more

LOS ANGELES — California is moving forward with plans to link its signature climate program, cap-and-invest, to that of Washington state, a major step officials say will cut more pollution and increase revenue for key state programs.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the move at Climate Week in New York City, where he is meeting with international ...Read more

SAN DIEGO -- Construction crews working on an Oceanside, California, water department project this month uncovered the fossilized remains of what could be a “thunder beast,” a large, hoofed mammal that lived about 45 million years ago.

Contract paleontologist Joseph El Adli had just walked onto the job because the project’s regular state-...Read more