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 many ice ages has the Earth had, and could humans live through one? – Mason C., age 8, Hobbs, New Mexico

First, what is an ice age? It’s when the Earth has cold ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Prosecutors have alleged that the 1996 slaying of rapper Tupac Shakur — the subject of a long-awaited, ongoing trial — was a Las Vegas crime involving gang-connected players from Los Angeles.

But the fatal shooting did not occur in a vacuum.

Multiple former law enforcement officials who worked on Las Vegas gang cases in the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — With its top-tier schools, large residential lots and quiet living, generations of wealthy Chinese families have seen Arcadia as an ideal location to build a life in the United States.

The influx of investment and dedicated citizenry has helped the San Gabriel Valley suburb flourish economically and culturally, earning it the ...Read more

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Diablo Canyon doesn’t look like a nuclear power plant that’s getting ready to retire.

Beneath its twin concrete domes here on the edge of the Central Coast, neutrons slam into uranium atoms billions of times each second, workers respond to blinking lights in a seafoam-green control room, and thunderous turbines ...Read more

Families who believe local officials prematurely ruled their loved ones’ deaths suicides or accidents — rather than investigating whether domestic violence played a role — are pushing lawmakers in a growing number of states to require additional scrutiny.

Advocates call the deaths “hidden homicides” — killings they say may be staged...Read more

Switzerland will soon go to the polls on the issue of food, in yet another test of voters’ appetites to answer big questions at the ballot box.

The popular initiative up for consideration on Sept. 27, alongside another one on neutrality, will be the 28th of its kind since 2020. It will ask citizens if more of their food supply should be ...Read more

The governor of Mexico's Sinaloa state announced Saturday he is once again taking leave — a day after returning to office following a months-long absence after being indicted in the United States on drug-trafficking and other charges.

In a social media post, Sinaloa Gov. Rubén Rocha Moya said he had requested another leave of absence ...Read more

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Saturday signed legislation that allows workers and volunteers at organizations that aid immigrants to shield their home addresses from public records, and makes it illegal to post their personal information online with the intent to incite violence against them.

Assembly Bill 2624, by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, a Democrat, ...Read more

Reform UK is struggling to professionalize its insurgency against the British political establishment, with infighting over its direction spilling into the open just as Nigel Farage’s party seeks to convince voters it’s an enduring electoral force.

The right-wing outfit has appointed a slew of issue-specific spokespeople since the start of ...Read more

India‘s External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar will visit Russia and co-chair the 27th India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission meeting on trade, science, technology, and culture.

During the two-day visit beginning Sunday, Jaishankar will also meet his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov, to discuss regional and global issues, the Indian ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A Santa Monica police officer shot and killed an armed person Saturday afternoon in Palisades Park, city officials said.

Police said the shooting took place after officers arrived at the 1400 block of Ocean Avenue to respond to a reported domestic violence incident.

"While officers were interviewing witnesses, an unrelated ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — For 6,895 days, Guy Miles sat behind bars for a crime he didn't commit.

He lost years of freedom, along with the opportunity to watch his son grow up.

But now, authorities have officially exonerated him — acknowledging his innocence in the 1998 Fullerton heist that robbed him of nearly two decades of his life.

"I always knew...Read more

BALTIMORE — Baltimore City Public Schools open Monday, welcoming back tens of thousands of students under the leadership of new CEO Jermaine Dawson.

Dawson took the reins from CEO Sonja Brookins Santelises, who ran the district for a decade. Although Santelises presided over years of test score growth, Baltimore continued to trail state test ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center on Saturday increased the odds a tropical wave headed for the Atlantic could develop into the season’s next tropical depression or storm. It was one of three systems being watched for development.

As of the NHC’s 8 p.m. advisory, the forecast expects the tropical wave to move into the eastern ...Read more

FORT WORTH, Texas — U.S. Rep. Kay Granger’s legacy as a leader in North Texas and Washington was honored at a Saturday funeral service.

The pews of First United Methodist Church of Fort Worth were filled with family, friends and former colleagues as Rev. Danny Tenney delivered a homily outlining the congresswoman’s life’s work — her ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A visually stunning stretch of Highway 1 in Big Sur has reopened to travelers after a 12-day closure, even as firefighters continue to battle the persistent Timber fire.

"Highway 1 has been fully reopened," even as public safety workers continue to make road improvements, Cal Fire said Saturday afternoon.

The fire started Aug. ...Read more

Trade talks between the U.S. and Canada collapsed Friday in part amid a last-minute standoff over cutting U.S. tariffs on Canadian medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, people familiar with the matter said.

Both countries had the outline of a deal, which would have lowered U.S. sectoral tariffs on autos, steel, aluminum and lumber, and were locked ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — The National Hurricane Center on Saturday increased the odds a tropical wave headed for the Atlantic could develop into the season’s next tropical depression or storm. It was one of three systems being watched for development.

As of the NHC’s 2 p.m. advisory, the forecast expects the tropical wave to move into the eastern ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A Los Angeles jury awarded $28 million to a motorcyclist whose leg was crushed by a city fire truck, the latest eye-popping sum carved out of city coffers for alleged reckless driving by a city employee.

Robert Danbom was heading northbound on Vermont Avenue in East Hollywood on Sept. 2, 2021, when a city fire truck traveling ...Read more