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Marijan Murat/dpa/TNS

Children can evade online age checks with fake mustache, study shows

LONDON — A British online safety monitoring organization has found that children are able to slip by proof-of-age verification on some platforms by pulling faces or even scribbling mustaches on themselves.

Around half the controls covered in the survey were easy to get around, according to Internet Matters, which found that children showed ...Read more

Rossman, James/JIM ROSSMAN/TNS

Jim Rossman: What exactly does your firewall do?

This week we tackle another reader question, “I’m still confused and often aren’t sure whether or not to allow my firewall to disarm. And does it reinstate alone or what should I do next?”

A firewall is a security system that monitors your computer’s network traffic and decides what to allow or block based on rules.

Generally, you ...Read more

ibreo/ibreo/TNS

Gadgets: Father's Day gift ideas

Father’s Day is right around the corner, and this is the perfect time to find a gift that reflects your dad’s personality, hobbies or everyday needs. If you’re drawing a blank, here are some great suggestions.

The ibreo N5 mini S3 Neck and Shoulder Massager ($63.99) is a must-have, producing endless hours of relaxation. There is no ...Read more

Microsoft/Microsoft/TNS

Review: ‘Forza Horizon 6’ brings a Japanese ethos and world to players

The Japanese concept of “kaizen” could be used to describe the evolution of the “Forza Horizon” franchise. It’s a series that began with a simple concept. Playground Games wanted to build an open-world racer that was truer to life than its peers using, the ForzaTech engine.

It’s a game that offered the realism of a sim but livened...Read more

Greta Kaul/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Evan Ramstad: We've been through massive physical tech investments before, but not like this

MINNEAPOLIS -- It’s still the earliest days of artificial intelligence usage and understanding, yet AI companies are gobbling capital like a hippo’s maw and soaring in market valuation.

Everyone in business these days seems to be searching for a tale from history to meaningfully describe the growing importance of AI. I personally think it ...Read more

K.C. Alfred/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Clean energy boom spurs pushback. 'Cumulative impacts are being ignored.'

SAN DIEGO — As San Diego County races to meet green energy targets, sprawling developments are transforming backcountry communities — and residents of those areas want a voice in the process before their homes are reshaped by solar, wind and battery storage projects.

Two projects in the Sonoran Desert not far from the U.S.-Mexico border ...Read more

NASA/Getty Images North America/TNS

Editorial: Climate alarmists call worst-case scenario 'implausible'

Questioning apocalyptic climate forecasts is now the conventional wisdom.

For years, radical climate activists have painted a bleak view of the future. Most scientists believe that burning fossil fuels releases greenhouse gases, which remain in the atmosphere, and that these gases trap additional heat, which warms the planet. This has led to ...Read more

Alex Brown/Stateline/The Pew Charitable Trusts/TNS

Washington forest parcel saved by a unique effort

SEATTLE — Advocates with the Elwha Legacy Forests Coalition have raised $32,000 to prevent the logging of 2 acres west of Port Angeles.

The deal, which took place without input from the Department of Natural Resources, which owns the land, appears to be the first of its kind. Public donations have effectively saved trees, that had already ...Read more

Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

US to provide plutonium from atomic bombs to fuel nuclear plants

WASHINGTON — The U.S. is planning to distribute plutonium left over from Cold War-era weapons to commercial nuclear developers as part of the Trump administration’s efforts to accelerate the rollout of new reactors.

The Department of Energy has selected Oklo Inc. and four other firms for advanced negotiations to participate in the Surplus ...Read more

NASA/NASA/TNS

NASA announces lunar rover, other moon base mission providers

NASA announced which two companies would be tasked to build lunar rovers for its future moon base — as well as the company that will fly them there — among other plans during an event from its Washington headquarters Tuesday.

Blue Origin’s uncrewed Blue Moon MK1 lander, which will launch from Cape Canaveral atop a New Glenn rocket, was ...Read more

Handout/Amazon MGM Studios/TNS

New James Bond video game '007 First Light' launching this week

The end of May isn’t just for movie studios to release their blockbusters. A video game publisher is also releasing a huge franchise on Wednesday, May 27. IO Interactive and Amazon MGM Studios are launching “007 First Light,” a new James Bond game on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S and PC.

To mark the occasion, the team released the ...Read more

Lezlie Sterling/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

OpenAI skeptics ask Calif. AG Bonta to investigate execs' ties to semiconductor company

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Advocacy coalition EyesOnOpenAI is asking Attorney General Rob Bonta to investigate a recent contract between OpenAI and semiconductor company Cerebras Systems that the group says bolsters its earlier arguments that OpenAI has abandoned its philanthropic mission.

EyesOnOpenAI, a coalition of AI-skeptical groups, previously...Read more

Natural selection can efficiently explore a range of options, some obvious and some less so. Justin Paget, DigitalVision via Getty Images

How natural selection helps design antennas, cancer treatments and adhesives

NASA had a big – and little – problem. For a small satellite, the agency needed a tiny antenna, with very specific communication capabilities and very strict limits on size and weight. The agency gave the problem to a design team adept at simulating the way natural selection engineers solutions.

Design using natural selection is ...Read more

In heavy downpours, it can be harder for water to sink into the ground. John Leyba/The Denver Post via Getty Images

The US is seeing stronger storms, so why are droughts getting worse?

About two-thirds of the U.S. is in some stage of drought in late spring 2026, yet at the same time the country has been seeing more intense downpours. It might seem contradictory, but both are symptoms of rising global temperatures.

The reason has to do with the water cycle.

Water influences every aspect of our lives through a...Read more

Chinook salmon try to jump a closed gate at a fish hatchery.  Supercaliphotolistic/iStock Images Plus via Getty Images

California’s salmon fishery is reopening after a population crash and 3-year closure, but that doesn’t mean all is well

Along the California coast, from Bodega Bay to Morro Bay, commercial fishing boats have started pulling in salmon for the first time in three years, and local salmon are once again appearing on restaurant menus and in seafood markets across the state.

California’s commercial ocean salmon fishery began reopening in May 2026 for the ...Read more

Theo Wargo/Getty Images North America/TNS

Commentary: Why we can't cut earth science to fund the next mission

We love space, but not as an abstraction. For my twin sons, it is a tradition. Their birthday themes have evolved from “Two the Moon” for their second birthday, featured on NASA.gov, to “From Space to the Farm,” with the boys in those iconic orange astronaut suits, standing in a cornfield. In the year of Inspiration4, we went all in with...Read more

Myung J. Chun/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Southern California could get 85% of its water locally and avoid Delta tunnel, groups say

LOS ANGELES — A coalition of conservation groups wants Southern California to get 85% of its water locally, up from the 50% it gets now, by 2045, and says a new plan shows how.

It’s urging state leaders to scrap plans for a 45-mile tunnel beneath the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and consider asking voters to approve a bond measure to ...Read more

Turtle Island Restoration Network/Turtle Island Restoration Network/TNS

Plastic pellets are small in size, but a much bigger headache for the environment

In 10 minutes, volunteers collected nearly 700 nurdles at Rotary Park in Carlsbad earlier this month. Nurdles are tiny, pre-production plastic pellets about the size of a lentil or a fish egg, and they’re a problem.

“They are the raw material used to manufacture virtually every plastic product in existence. We’re talking water bottles, ...Read more

Anthony Souffle/The Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Minnesota scientists are unraveling the mystery behind the state's walleye strains

Working in a darkened laboratory, Laurel Sacco dips a cup into a large tank of water and scoops up dozens of young walleye. She pours one into a petri dish and examines it under a microscope.

The fry has been harvested from Pine River near the headwaters of the Mississippi River, where the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has ...Read more

Key West Police Department/TNS/TNS

200-pound sea creature found dead on NC beach was likely hit by boat, team says

An increasingly rare loggerhead sea turtle was found dead on the eastern end of North Carolina’s Emerald Isle over the Memorial Day weekend, according to the Emerald Isle Sea Turtle Patrol.

The discovery was reported Saturday and comes as sea turtle nesting is nearing a seasonal peak along the Southeastern U.S.

“Sadly the huge turtle had ...Read more