ArcaMax

ORLANDO, Fla. — Richard Branson already saw the blackness of space traveling at nearly Mach 3 with his company Virgin Galactic. Now he’s going to take a slower approach.

The billionaire is investing in Space Perspective, the Space Coast-based space balloon venture, and will join its founders on the space tourism operation’s first human ...Read more

Long before colonialism brought slavery to the Caribbean, the native islanders saw hurricanes and storms as part of the normal cycle of life.

The Taino of the Greater Antilles and the Kalinago, or Caribs, of the Lesser Antilles developed systems that enabled them to live with storms and limit their exposure to damage.

On the ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Riley Rackliffe follows the stinky green blobs as they travel across Lake Mohave.

The aquatic biologist leads a two-man team for the National Park Service, dipping a long stick into the reservoir’s problem areas and sending off samples to the Southern Nevada Water Authority’s water testing plant in Henderson.

Algae can be ...Read more

Endangered Atlantic right whales are venturing to new areas, researchers have found in a recently released report, and many of those areas do not have speed limits on vessels.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare completed its survey in November to fill gaps in data about where whales were gathering, their habitats and what areas may need ...Read more

In a legal dispute between Elon Musk and the California Coastal Commission over the number of rockets the billionaire’s company can launch from the coast, Gov. Gavin Newsom has sided with Musk, saying over the weekend, “I’m with Elon.”

The comment by the governor is surprising because Musk, a staunch supporter of former President Donald...Read more

Georgia leaders are attempting to recruit a battery manufacturer to open an innovation center in Atlanta, a deal that could involve a Fulton County agency granting the company hundreds of thousands of dollars in tax incentives.

The Georgia Department of Economic Development is trying to woo a “state-of-the-art global innovation center” with...Read more

As public sentiment toward Big Tech sours in Silicon Valley and across the country, the industry nevertheless had a banner year dodging regulation in the California legislature.

Of some 60 bills to rein in the industry, fewer than 20 passed, many watered down, said David Harris, a Chancellor’s Public Scholar at University of California, ...Read more

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.

Is a zombie apocalypse caused by fungi, like the Cordyceps from “The Last of Us,” something that could realistically happen? – Jupiter, age 15, Ithaca, New York

Zombies...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Days after the administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency visited a Los Angeles public housing project with lead-contaminated water, the agency ordered drinking water systems nationwide to replace every lead pipe within 10 years.

“We’ve known for decades that lead exposure has serious long-term impacts for ...Read more

DURKEE, Ore. — Bert Siddoway heard the fire before he saw it, no seconds at all between the flash of lightning and the boom of thunder. The strike “shook the whole flipping town,” he said, and immediately ignited a wildfire in a hard-to-reach spot in the hills above the community where he is both a rancher and captain of the rural ...Read more

MIAMI — On a bayfront street in Miami Shores, water bubbled up from the asphalt. It surged up through a drain, covering the entire street in just a few hours despite a perfectly clear sky.

Saturday marked the peak of this season’s king tide, the highest tide of the year. Across South Florida, and along the east coast, salty water crept into...Read more

Less than two months after the removal of dams restored a free-flowing Klamath River, salmon have made their way upstream to begin spawning and have been spotted in Oregon for the first time in more than a century.

Biologists with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that they found a single fall-run Chinook on Oct. 16 in a ...Read more

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 did cockroaches survive the asteroid that led to the extinction of dinosaurs? – Kinjal, age 11, Delhi, India

When the rock now known as the Chicxulub impactor plummeted...Read more

SpaceX knocked out its 99th operational flight of the year with a Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday night.

A Falcon 9 with 20 Starlink satellites lifted off from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:31 p.m. Eastern time.

This was the 17th flight of the first-stage booster that made a recovery landing downrange in ...Read more

CHICAGO – A “supermajority” of young Americans across the political spectrum feel distressed about human-made climate change and want bolder action from the government and corporations, a new study has found. Experiencing the worsening effects of a rapidly changing climate throughout their youth and into adulthood, this crisis has become ...Read more

SpaceX is set to launch its 99th operational flight of the year with a Starlink mission from Cape Canaveral, Florida, on Friday night if the winds diminish.

A Falcon 9 with 20 Starlink satellites is aiming for liftoff from Canaveral’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 7:31 p.m. Eastern time with a backup option on Saturday at 7:06 p.m.

Space Launch...Read more

Earlier this year, OpenAI and other artificial intelligence companies wooed Hollywood studios with the futuristic promise of AI tools that they said could help make the business of creating movies and television shows faster, easier and cheaper.

What the tech companies wanted was access to troves of footage and intellectual property from series...Read more

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Exhausted, though relieved to have survived, is how Dr. Meghan Martin summarized her Hurricane Milton experience in her first post-storm update to her more than 2 million TikTok followers last week.

“These hurricanes, man, like, back to back like this,” she said as she ruffled her short, wavy hair and exhaled.

The ...Read more