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

Even if you have never read it, you know the story of Mary Shelley’s second great work of political science fiction after “Frankenstein.” “The Last Man,” published in 1826 but set in the late 21st century, tells the tale of a lethal contagion spread by human conflict and war that sweeps the world and seemingly leaves one sole human ...Read more

Artificial intelligence has revolutionized weather forecasting in just a few years, with global AI weather models now able to produce forecasts that rival some of the world’s best physics-based prediction systems.

This remarkable progress has been driven by three factors: massive amounts of weather data, advances in AI models and ...Read more

Look around you, and you’ll see rare earth elements at work. A phone vibrates because a magnet moves a weight. Its screen was polished with cerium powder. Its connection to the rest of the world crosses oceans on cables amplified with erbium. If you drove today, a rare earth magnet helped you steer, and a cerium compound scrubbed the ...Read more

Computers continue to get smaller and more powerful, yet they often come with fewer ports for connecting accessories. That’s where EZQuest’s new USB 4 Dual Display 8-in-1 Pro Series Hub comes in, solving most port shortages for power users.

EZQuest did a smart thing with this hub: Since USB-C has become the dominant connector for new ...Read more

I had an email exchange with a reader over the last week or so that I think everyone could stand to hear.

The reader had purchased a magnetic power bank that I had recommended from a recent gadget roundup, but when it arrived at his house, it was non-responsive. It didn’t light up when he pressed the power button and it didn’t show any ...Read more

MINNEAPOLIS — Mature trees are dying. A bridge is swamped. Historic buildings are at risk.

The source of all the mayhem?

A colony of industrious beavers.

Their persistent dam-building is soaking the small town of Scandia northeast of the Twin Cities, causing floodwater to creep up behind City Hall and encroach on the Swedish immigrant ...Read more

MIAMI — Life in Florida was unbearable before the widespread adoption of two life-changing pieces of technology: air conditioning and mosquito control.

And while screen doors and a healthy (or, in hindsight, not-so-healthy) dose of DDT might have done the trick in the 1950s, nowadays, the war on skeeters has entered a new front. Here, the ...Read more

El Niño is coming! El Niño is coming!

Unless “El Niño” is a defenseless child who can be violently separated from his family and thrown into a detention center, President Donald Trump doesn’t want to hear about it.

We’re being treated to a“super” El Niño this year, creating a statewide emergency in California as declared by Gov...Read more

Another round in the legal battle between California and the Trump administration over offshore wind projects has commenced.

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and the California Energy Commission filed a 54-page lawsuit in federal court Tuesday, disputing what they claim was an unlawful buyout that took a major offshore floating wind ...Read more

One of the nation’s leading political voices favoring stricter federal regulations on AI said the technology must be monitored by independent technical experts who have no industry ties.

The core tension on artificial intelligence — whether it offers more help or harm to humanity — and who benefits from its development spilled into plain ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Sea turtles have been sighted laying eggs on the sand in Huntington Beach — the first known instance of a sea turtle of any species spontaneously nesting on the U.S. West Coast.

On Sept. 16, Huntington Beach Fire Department Marine Safety lifeguards were notified of a sea turtle sighting near Seal Beach. When they investigated,...Read more

The Trump administration is repealing federal rules that limit greenhouse gas emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants.

It says the changes will make electricity cheaper for Americans. What consumers pay will depend partly on the cost of keeping older plants running compared with building and operating new ones. Even if the ...Read more

The Trump administration’s top wildlife official issued a directive last week that expands a recent rollback of endangered species protections much further than the feds had told the public.

Individuals and industries may kill endangered animals in the course of logging projects, developments and other activities, it said — so long as the ...Read more

Meta Platforms Inc.’s new artificial intelligence agent, Muse, has quickly risen to the top of mobile app charts, a sign that the social media company is gaining traction in the increasingly crowded market for consumer AI assistants.

Muse is ranked the No. 1 free app on the U.S. Apple Inc. iOS App and Google Play stores as of Monday. The ...Read more

Artificial intelligence promises a vastly different future as it actively disrupts the present — but the problem, and fear, is that no one seems to know what that future will be.

There’s a world where AI does all the things humans desire:

A world where disease is eradicated as technology accelerates scientific breakthroughs. Where every ...Read more

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration began rolling out a new artificial intelligence tool that the agency said will help identify spots of potential congestion early on to help curb flight delays and cancellations.

The FAA began using this new tool, known as SMART, in a “limited mode” Monday in the airspace around Washington, the U.S. ...Read more

Amazon has launched what it calls one of the biggest corporate water conservation efforts for a single U.S. watershed with a pledge to invest $20 million into the Colorado River Basin.

Executives are calling the program the Colorado River Basin Collaborative. Participating companies, including supermarket giant Aldi and The Coca-Cola Foundation...Read more

This year’s El Niño has the potential to be one of the strongest in living memory, and the evidence is showing up around the world.

The U.S. just saw its hottest summer on record in the Lower 48 states. Drought is slowing shipping in the Panama Canal. The Pacific is experiencing an exceptionally busy hurricane season, while the ...Read more