JJ Apodaca sent the drone up over the ridge because he had to see for himself.

It had been a month since the remnants of Hurricane Helene brought torrential rain to the mountains of Western North Carolina, and the only road into Hickory Nut Gorge was gone.

Apodaca climbed the next mountain over, launched the drone, and watched the screen as it...Read more

Perfect Score, Director’s Select, Best of the Best and Leader of the Pack are just a few of the awards for Superlophus. I’m also reasonably sure you are thinking: What is a Superlophus?

Superlophus Sunglow is the official name botanically known as an Oenothera commonly called Texas primrose. That’s right: This golden yellow flower that is...Read more

TAMPA, Fla. — Years from now, it might not be so common to be the one controlling the steering wheel in your own car.

Or at least that’s what Elon Musk thinks.

“Ten years from now probably 90% of all distance driven will be driven by the AI in a self-driving car,” Musk, the Tesla co-founder and CEO, said this May.

Musk’s unmanned ...Read more

I don’t consider myself an acolyte of “Let Them,” a theory popularized by self-help guru Mel Robbins that invites you to protect your own peace by letting other people behave however obtusely they’d like — no skin off your back.

It’s a little reductive for my taste. A little conflict-avoidant. Healthy, probably, at times. Bordering ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I went on a date with a couple recently. I’ve been a unicorn before, so I’m not completely new to the experience, but I wasn’t sure whether it was something I still wanted — and, honestly, I’m still not sure. The date itself was fine! We had fun, and afterward I wanted to see them again, so told them as much. But now I’m ...Read more

As a new school year begins, some classrooms may use artificial intelligence tools to flag a student struggling with classwork, track attendance or try to raise reading scores.

But as school districts make decisions on which tools are safe and worth spending thousands or millions of dollars on, some officials feel overwhelmed by the array of ...Read more

How many times have you heard something like this?

“I don’t want to waste your time.”

“You’re too good for me.”

“I’m too old/young for you.”

“I’m too short/tall for you.”

“You’ll get annoyed with me trying to keep up.”

Generally, these lines are in response to an initial message on a dating app. For example, a...Read more

CHICAGO — Amanda Williams has been coloring the Chicago-area landscape for years. She’s painted condemned homes in areas long disinvested in, in hues that resonate with Black culture (like the bluish-green of Johnson Products’ Ultra Sheen conditioner and a prussian blue of George Washington Carver’s 1927 patent). Williams’ public ...Read more

Dear Kid Whisperer,

What are your thoughts on the "kid leashes" (the small backpack with a strap that the parent holds on to) I've seen people using out in public? I have three kids under the age of 7, and I've considered using one on my toddler when we are out in crowded places like amusement parks or airports. I have mixed feelings about them...Read more

Q: I told my ex's new wife that I was saving up to take my daughter to a concert that I knew she wanted to go to. The tickets were very expensive, but I had been saving for six months because I wanted to surprise her. Yesterday was my daughter's birthday. She came home from her dad's house with a ticket to the concert. Evidently, her dad and his...Read more

George Washington is literally in the “pages of history.” A book on the coffee table has money hanging out of it — not play money, real money, as in a $1 bill.

I know in an instant the book belongs to a 12-year-old granddaughter.

The girl is an avid reader. She won the “Reader Award” in her class three times last year which ...Read more

I am not a good enough athlete to have my own baseball card, and I am not animated enough to have my own Pokemon card, but I am a man of culture, which I get from yogurt, so I could have my own trading card.

That was the estimation of a friendly and knowledgeable guy named Daniel, who works at the card store where I went with one of my sons-in-...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Lynn Nguyen had just begun working at the Chinatown Branch Library in 2019, when she learned that Ai Hoa and G&G markets were shuttering. As the last two full-service grocery stores in Chinatown, these closures left a gap in food access in the neighborhood, where one in four residents are above the age of 65 and 30% of households...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Villanova astrophysicist Becka Phillipson wondered what a black hole might sound like.

She found an answer by translating X-ray data from a black hole system into musical notes.

The first time she listened to the audio, the cacophony reminded her of someone pressing every key on an organ at once.

After roughly 30 seconds of ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Trump administration has quietly let lapse a program for young leaders at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, The Times has learned. In its place, California will launch its own council for young people looking to get involved with environmental issues at the state level.

The California EPA’s Environmental Youth ...Read more

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — One day before the Illinois State Fair was scheduled to get underway, Gov. JB Pritzker and other state officials on Wednesday unveiled the 2026 Butter Cow sculpture, celebrating the 100th anniversary of Route 66 and highlighting the historic Mother Road.

This year’s Butter Cow, sculpted out of hundreds of pounds of ...Read more

Harvard University’s policy capping A grades among undergraduates doesn’t officially start for another year, but students heading back to school this fall are already fretting over the changes.

After Harvard’s Dean of Undergraduate Education urged faculty to start implementing the policy as soon as the coming semester, students who’d ...Read more

Many of you are familiar with the term "surprise lilies." This name is mostly attributed to members of the Lycoris genus. In the South the red Lycoris radiata and yellow Lycoris aurea are two of the most treasured surprise lilies. We are approaching their season of bloom.

If you aren’t familiar with the term surprise lily, here's why they ...Read more

UNDERWOOD, Minn. - Do you remember your first camping trip?

Mine was when I was 15. We camped on a spit of land along the St. Croix River and I didn’t bring enough to drink. Nearly 40 years later, I still remember the intense thirst.

A handful of St. Cloud, Minnesota, kids had their first camping experience this summer. Along with parents, ...Read more

Dear Anna,

I (31F) called off my engagement about a year ago and moved to a new city. A few months later I matched with a guy (26M) on an app — the second person I dated post-breakup. We hit it off immediately, but I wrote him off as relationship material: He’s five years younger, still finishing grad school, and had never had a serious ...Read more