Science & Technology
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Earth has overshot key 'planetary boundaries,' scientists warn
Human activity is imperiling eight of the planet’s critical life-support systems and seven of them have already passed into a danger zone, according to a massive review of Earth science conducted jointly by more than 60 researchers and published Wednesday in The Lancet Planetary Health.
Looking at necessities of a livable Earth — including...Read more
Study finds toxic metals in tampons: FDA launches investigation
The Food and Drug Administration announced it has started a research project examining the possible effects of toxic metals in tampons, sparking concerns about products used by millions of women in the U.S.
A recent study found a variety of metals — including mercury, arsenic and lead — in more than a dozen brands of tampons.
The FDA said ...Read more
Veteran NASA astronaut on Russian launch sets off-world record for people in space
NASA astronaut Don Pettit is on his way to the International Space Station with two Russian cosmonaut crewmates who have helped set a record — they’re among 19 people in orbit at the same time.
Pettit, who was part of the 1996 NASA class of astronauts, made his fourth trip to space Wednesday joining Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and ...Read more
Meta's home county backs call for warning labels on social media posts
San Mateo County, California, home to tech giant Meta, urged Congress to pass legislation requiring social media companies to add labels to their platforms warning people about their potential to harm users’ mental health.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday, the same day 42 state attorneys general, including ...Read more
SpaceX snaps Earth shot during Polaris Dawn high-altitude run
ORLANDO, Fla. — The four passengers on the Polaris Dawn mission that launched from Kennedy Space Center early Tuesday reached their goal of flying farther away from Earth than anyone since the last Apollo mission.
SpaceX early Wednesday posted video taken from Crew Dragon Resilience of the event that included the audio exchange from its ...Read more
Coastal cities’ growing hurricane vulnerability is fed by both climate change and unbridled population growth
Warm water in the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico can fuel powerful hurricanes, but how destructive a storm becomes isn’t just about the climate and weather – it also depends on the people and property in harm’s way.
In many coastal cities, fast population growth has left more people living in areas at high risk of flooding....Read more
Making fuels from plastics in Newaygo, Michigan, would be controversial – here’s why
Humans generate a lot of plastic waste – more than 400 million metric tons a year.
To bring this fact a bit closer to home, the U.S. produced an average of 0.75 pounds (0.34 kilograms) of plastic waste per person each day in 2010, which is equivalent in weight to an unopened can of soda.
Plastic products have been propelling...Read more
Gadgets: Magic Cable
Just because a USB charging cable has the right connections doesn't mean it will give you optimum performance. There's a big difference in how much power they can carry, which translates into how fast they can charge your power-hungry device, and whether they are able to deliver the proper USB Power Delivery standard to power and run a laptop....Read more
Review: Ignore the negativity, ‘Star Wars Outlaws’ is fun and refreshing non-Jedi adventure
The best way to enjoy Star Wars is to ignore the franchise’s fans. The community is cancerous and its toxicity has metastasized through social media with a rabid irrational hate over most projects. With that bias, it makes any online criticism about Star Wars shows and video games hard to trust.
When it comes to “Star Wars Outlaws,” the...Read more
Jim Rossman: When is it time for a new phone?
I got a really simple question from a reader this week. It read, “I presently have an iPhone 13. Should I upgrade to iPhone 16?"
This is the exact question that I will be asking myself quite soon, so let’s take a look.
My phone is currently the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which was introduced with the other iPhone 13 models in September of 2021. ...Read more
Amid Boeing's Starliner troubles, WA space industry thrives
It’d be reasonable to think Washington’s space economy has a lot riding on Boeing’s Starliner, the spacecraft that left two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station and headed back to Earth with an empty cabin Friday.
The astronauts were scheduled to return on Starliner in June after a week on the ISS, but thruster failures ...Read more
How Ford is using AI, augmented-reality and 3D printing to improve quality
Artificial intelligence-powered photographic inspections, 3D-printed tools and augmented-reality training headsets are part of Ford Motor Co.'s strategy to improve vehicle quality, something that has continued to plague its financial results.
The Dearborn automaker in the second quarter was slammed with a more than 5% decline year-over-year in ...Read more
Has a California lab discovered the holy grail of plastic recycling?
Despite the planet’s growing plastic pollution crisis, petroleum-based polymers have become an integral part of modern life. They make cars and airplanes lighter and more energy efficient. They constitute a core material of modern medicine by helping to keep equipment sterile, deliver medicines and build prosthetics, among many other things. ...Read more
Commentary: A summer of extreme heat and wildfire shows the cost of human folly
As Greece attempts to recover from the recent destructive wildfires around Athens, Southern Californians facing our own heat wave should take note of the pattern that enabled them. It should be well-known by now: sprawl into the urban-wildland interface where development collides with nature, the corresponding replacement of grass, shrubs and ...Read more
Why are sharks coming to Boston Harbor? Researchers believe it's a nursery ground: 'A really cool success story'
This is not your parents’ Boston Harbor.
Once unthinkable when the harbor was nasty and polluted, today’s cleaner waters have actually become a desirable shark habitat as young sharks migrate here yearly.
Shark researchers at the New England Aquarium report that they’ve been coming across the rebounding sand tiger shark population in ...Read more
Endangered species rebounds in California a century after being wiped out. 'Inspiring'
All on its own, an endangered species is making a fierce comeback in California, newly published state wildlife data show.
The state’s gray wolf population doubled in one fell swoop with 30 pups born across five of the seven packs this spring, bringing the total number of wolves to more than 60, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife�...Read more
New England leaders hold private clean energy talks as Massachusetts pursues more offshore wind
BOSTON — Top elected leaders from the northeastern parts of Canada and the United States urged their colleagues Tuesday morning to embrace renewable energy initiatives just as Massachusetts is attempting to spearhead a new round of offshore wind energy procurements without a key player.
At the outset of a regional conference hosted in Boston,...Read more
SpaceX launches Polaris Dawn spacewalk mission taking billionaire to space for 2nd time
KENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Fla. — Billionaire Jared Isaacman is back in space, but this time he’s planning on taking a historic walk outside the spacecraft as SpaceX found a hole in the weather to get the Polaris Dawn mission off the ground early Tuesday.
A Falcon 9 topped with the Crew Dragon Resilience skipped over the initial 3:38 a.m. target...Read more
Apple, Google lose multibillion dollar court fights with EU
Apple Inc. lost its court fight over a €13 billion ($14.4 billion) Irish tax bill and Google lost its challenge over a €2.4 billion fine for abusing its market power, in a double boost to the European Union’s crackdown on Big Tech.
The EU’s Court of Justice in Luxembourg backed a landmark 2016 decision that Ireland broke state-aid law ...Read more
Whales are recovering from near extinction, but industrial fishing around Antarctica competes for their sole food source
The Southern Ocean encircling Antarctica is the world’s largest feeding ground for baleen whales – species like humpbacks that filter tiny organisms from seawater for food. In the 20th century, whalers killed roughly 2 million large whales in the Southern Ocean. Some populations, like the Antarctic blue whale, were reduced by more than 99...Read more
Popular Stories
- Has a California lab discovered the holy grail of plastic recycling?
- Gadgets: Magic Cable
- Making fuels from plastics in Newaygo, Michigan, would be controversial – here’s why
- Review: Ignore the negativity, ‘Star Wars Outlaws’ is fun and refreshing non-Jedi adventure
- SpaceX snaps Earth shot during Polaris Dawn high-altitude run