WASHINGTON — A series of forest fires burned 3 million acres in Idaho, Montana and Washington over two days in 1910, prompting a new firefighting era.

After those fires, which charred a region a bit smaller than Delaware, it became federal practice to stop the use of human-set fires to cull excess fuel. In 1935, the Forest Service set policy ...Read more

California Attorney General Rob Bonta has a message for big tech companies, including those in the state: he’s going to take action when they violate laws.

“This is priority space for me: To hold big corporations, Big Tech specifically, accountable,” Bonta, 50, said in an interview Thursday. “You should expect to see more.”

When he...Read more

Federal aviation regulators have concluded that new 5G wireless broadcasts can be conducted closer to airports than previously thought without interfering with sensitive aircraft equipment.

The Federal Aviation Administration on Friday issued a statement saying that wireless companies can add additional cell towers nearer to airports without ...Read more

A federal judge this week ordered Seattle-based Zillow to pay nearly $2 million as the result of a copyright infringement case from an Illinois-based photography company.

The case stems from Zillow's 2014 use of images on a home improvement section of its website, known at the time as Zillow Digs. The site allowed homeowners to price home ...Read more

CANBERRA, Australia — Australia has pledged A$1 billion ($700 million) in funding to help protect the Great Barrier Reef as the government looks to burnish its green credentials ahead of a national election due by May.

The package will help support an attraction that employs 64,000 workers and brings in A$6.4 billion in tourism revenue every ...Read more

The gas-burning stoves loved by cooks leak so much methane across the U.S. — most when the appliances are not even in use — that they have the same impact on our atmosphere as half a million cars, according to a Stanford University study.

Stanford researchers analyzed indoor levels of both heat-trapping methane and nitrous oxides — ...Read more

If you've ever tried to start your vehicle on a cold morning only to hear the dreaded clicking noise, you know the importance of getting a quick jump. This once meant relying on the kindness of strangers or calling a tow truck, but fortunately now there's also another option available: the portable jump starter.

Car battery chargers and jump ...Read more

CHICAGO A new smart sensor that measures face mask fit may come in handy for workers who need to know their masks are working, Northwestern University researchers say.

FaceBit, as it is called, also measures heart rate and respiration, similar to the fitness wearable Fitbit, but with special attention to mask fit.

The quarter-sized device ...Read more

Kratos has never looked better than he does right now.

"God of War" is a 4-year-old game, one that was released in 2018, way back in the PlayStation 4 era. And boy, was it magical at the time. It pushed the bounds of Sony’s then-ultra-powerful console as it told a story of a different Kratos, an older man and an emotionally distant father ...Read more

Online game lets teams of three take down alien hordes through slow-paced tactical confrontations

“Rainbow Six Siege” brought intriguing concepts to the tactical shooter. Walls could be broken to create new passages or lines of sight. Drones could be used to scout adversaries. Ropes could offer a way to rappel down, opening up new avenues...Read more

The latest iHome product to get my body on (keep reading, it will make sense) doesn’t have speakers, sound or an LED display with a clock. Instead, iHome has launched a new iHome massager with the Powerglide (iWMG18) deep tissue percussion massage.

The handheld massager is powered by a rechargeable battery, which is suitable for about six ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday took steps intended to phase out oil drilling in the city, moving to address the legacy of of environmental and health problems caused by an industry that helped create modern Southern California.

The council voted unanimously to support a ban on any new oil wells and ordered a study ...Read more

If you're an RCN cable customer, you'll soon see a new name on your monthly bill.

The Princeton-based TV and internet provider, which serves customers in parts of the Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley regions, is rebranding itself as Astound Broadband. The new name will put RCN and its sister regional services under one national brand after ...Read more

General Motors is looking to recruit the top software developers around the world this year.

GM will hire 300 to 400 software specialists as it builds its Ultifi platform and designs in-vehicle apps and other technology for it.

Ultifi is GM's software platform that will support future apps and services to customers over the air in both ...Read more

SEBASTOPOL, California — Ford Motor Co. on Wednesday announced the launch of a pilot program that will equip winegrowers in northern California with electric pickup trucks, cargo vans and software services in a bid to boost EV and technology adoption among farmers and other commercial customers.

The automaker also announced the launch of Ford...Read more

IRS criminal investigators see cryptocurrencies and nonfungible tokens as ripe for fraud, including money laundering, market manipulation and tax evasion — and even celebrities could get caught up in the agency’s probes.

Digital assets have been a growing concern for government agencies as they’ve become more mainstream, with regulators ...Read more

Q: I don't like it when Dropbox, Microsoft OneDrive and Google Drive take data off my computer and store it online instead. How can I get my data back without losing anything?

—Dan Behnke, Eau Claire, Wisconsin

A: While it may look as if the online services took data off your PC and transferred it to the cloud, I don't think they really did....Read more

Activision Blizzard Inc. will release at least the next three games in its hit video game franchise "Call of Duty" on Sony Group Corp.’s PlayStation, even after the publisher was bought by rival Microsoft Corp.

Before news of the $69 billion acquisition broke last week, Activision had already committed to make the next few "Call of Duty" ...Read more

From actors to athletes to influencers, celebrities can't seem to stop talking about their enthusiasm for all things crypto. Never one to sit out a trend, on Monday, "The Tonight Show" host Jimmy Fallon was eager to show off his acquisition of a pricey digital collectible — even if it meant flouting an ethics policy that governs most ...Read more

Bills on corporate carbon emissions and air quality regulation will demonstrate whether the Legislature and its current leadership intend to act with urgency in addressing climate change this year. As important, their handling of the bills will signal whether Democratic legislators have the backbone to prioritize climate action over political ...Read more