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Orcas covered in scars left by 'cookiecutter sharks' may be new population, study says

A group of killer whales spotted hunting off the coast of California and Oregon over two decades may actually be their own unique population of animals, a new study says.

When the notorious black fin of an orca emerges from the waves, it is almost always followed by another, and then another.

The social, family-oriented animals travel in pods,...Read more

Nvidia backs little-known upstart in India's biggest AI bet yet

It’s a sultry March evening in the suburbs of Mumbai and a group of men hovers anxiously at the back gate of a startup called Yotta Data Services. They pace, pause and fret. It’s approaching midnight, 10 hours late, when a truck pulls up with the precious cargo they’ve been waiting for: semiconductors from Nvidia Corp.

The company’s ...Read more

E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Illinois will soon be cicada central when 2 broods converge on state in historic emergence

When his youngest daughter was born early in the summer of 2004 in Washington, D.C., John Lill and his wife could hear cicadas singing from inside the hospital.

“That’s how loud it was,” he said. “So my daughter, who was just an infant at the time, didn’t get to experience it. She missed it. She was just a baby. But 17 years later, ...Read more

Scientists hack weather satellite data to quantify methane leaks

Satellites sitting more than 22,200 miles above the Earth’s surface have been capturing storms and weather data for decades. Now, scientists have essentially hacked the data coming back for another purpose: spotting methane emissions.

The innovation could have far-reaching consequences for fossil fuel operators unable or unwilling to halt ...Read more

Joe Cavaretta/South Florida Sun-Sentinel/TNS

Fort Lauderdale is looking at raising roads to battle rising seas

It’s a scary thought: Sea levels rising by as much as 2 feet, swallowing up land, homes and everything else not on high ground.

It could happen as soon as 2060, experts say.

Fort Lauderdale, with its overabundance of low-lying neighborhoods both inland and along the coast, is already looking at one drastic, “last-resort” option to help ...Read more

Irfan Khan/Los Angeles Times/TNS

California unlikely to meet landmark goals for reducing greenhouse gas emissions

LOS ANGELES — California is poised to fail to meet its ambitious greenhouse gas reduction goals by the end of the decade unless it can triple its efforts to reduce carbon emissions statewide, according to a critical new report.

Although the state has pledged to slash planet-warming emissions by 40% of 1990 levels by 2030, the state is not on ...Read more

Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Good news for gray whales: 'Unusual Mortality Event' declared over

It was a worrisome few years for North Pacific gray whales, with hundreds washing up dead on shorelines along the West Coast leading to an estimated 30% decline in their population.

But the gray whale population, which travels from Alaska where they feed to breeding grounds in Mexico, passing Southern California along the way, is now considered...Read more

Saul Martinez/Getty Images North America/TNS

SpaceX is building a spy satellite network for US, Reuters says

Elon Musk’s SpaceX is building a network of hundreds of spy satellites under a classified contract with a U.S. intelligence agency, Reuters reported, citing five people familiar with the program.

SpaceX’s Starshield business unit is building the network as part of a $1.8 billion contract signed in 2021 with the National Reconnaissance ...Read more

Rodrigo Arangua/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

The Panama Canal averts a crisis for now -- But at a cost to drinking water

The Panama Canal has avoided the worst of a shipping crunch that threatened to upend the global economy — but at a cost to marine life and the Latin American country’s supplies of drinking water.

After imposing strict limits on vessel traffic last year as drought left water levels languishing, the Panama Canal Authority is increasing the ...Read more

Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Apple must face lawsuit claiming AirTags are weapon of stalkers

Apple Inc. lost a bid to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that its AirTag devices help stalkers track their victims.

U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria in San Francisco ruled Friday that three plaintiffs in the class-action suit had made sufficient claims for negligence and product liability, though he dismissed the others.

About three dozen women ...Read more

Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times/TNS

3rd time's the charm as SpaceX finally manages Kennedy Space Center launch with record-tying booster

ORLANDO, Fla. — After two days of scrubs, SpaceX pulled out some Friday night lights sending up another batch of Starlink satellites from Florida's Space Coast using a first-stage booster for a record-tying 19th time.

A Falcon 9 rocket lifted off from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 8:21 p.m. carrying 23 of SpaceX’s internet ...Read more

Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/TNS

Pebble sues EPA to revive Southwest Alaska copper and gold mine prospect

ANCHORAGE, Alaska —The company behind the giant Pebble copper and gold mine project in Southwest Alaska filed suit against the Environmental Protection Agency on Friday to overturn its decision last year to halt the mine.

Also, the company and the administration of Gov. Mike Dunleavy on Thursday filed separate takings claims with a federal ...Read more

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images North America/TNS

Biden officials mull quicker death for US coal power plants

WASHINGTON — U.S. coal-fired power plants could be forced to shut down two years sooner than envisioned under a Biden administration plan to stifle pollution from the electricity sector.

The potential change being seriously considered now by administration officials would accelerate the required retirement date for coal plants that opt ...Read more

Stefanie Kaiser/Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute/TNS

'Atypical' gathering of 'rare' deep-sea predators spotted for first time in Panama

Deep underwater, a group of elusive predators gathered off the coast of Panama. The gathering was “atypical” and a first of its kind for the area.

It didn’t go unnoticed.

Scientists in a submarine spotted the “rare” sea creatures and identified them as prickly sharks, according to a study published March 8 in the peer-reviewed ...Read more

Tampa Bay Times, St. Petersburg, Fla./Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Tampa's fall nights are getting hotter. Here's why researchers worry

TAMPA, Fla. — Florida’s summer heat is sticking around later into the year.

A new study from researchers at Embry–Riddle Aeronautical University found temperatures are rising during the fall months across the biggest cities in the state. And Tampa is getting the worst of it.

Last fall and summer, Florida experienced a cycle of record-...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

EPA tells Terumo plant in Colorado to slash emissions of cancer-causing gas by 2026

A Lakewood business that sterilizes medical equipment with cancer-causing ethylene oxide must slash its air emissions after the Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday told all companies that use the toxic gas to cut their pollution by 90% within two years.

Terumo Blood and Cell Technologies manufactures equipment used in blood donations ...Read more

KAREN BLEIER/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Is grizzly bear reintroduction 'a death sentence' or restoring nature? Idaho comments are torn

BOISE, Idaho — A proposal to reintroduce grizzly bears to part of Central Idaho has roiled tensions, with advocates saying the action is decades late and critics claiming it’s a step toward gruesome maulings.

Earlier this year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed options to reintroduce grizzlies in the Bitterroot ecosystem of Idaho ...Read more

Hector Amezcua/The Sacramento Bee/TNS

Republican Kevin Kiley, other advocates push to extend Lake Tahoe restoration for another decade

Against the backdrop of the U.S. Capitol, Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and other local advocates called on Congress to extend funding to support environmental preservation in the cherished Lake Tahoe region for another decade.

The bipartisan group was advocating for an extension of the Lake Tahoe Restoration Act, which allocates ...Read more

Erin Hooley/Chicago Tribune/TNS

EPA moves to set stricter rules for Sterigenics, other sterilization companies using cancer-causing ethylene oxide

CHICAGO — Nearly two decades after federal scientists concluded ethylene oxide is far more dangerous than previously thought, President Joe Biden’s administration is moving to dramatically reduce emissions from a small but important industry sector that relies on the cancer-causing gas to fumigate medical products and spices.

Regulations ...Read more

Chandan Khanna/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

SpaceX's 3rd Starship launch makes it to space without exploding, but lost on reentry

SpaceX’s powerful Starship and Super Heavy rocket completed a more successful third orbital test flight from Texas on Thursday morning with no explosive endings on the way up that marred the first two test flights in 2023.

The way down, though, still saw more destructive ends as the first-stage booster came in at more than 600 mph hitting ...Read more