American farmers are expected to plant several million fewer acres of corn in 2026 than they did in 2025, as the closure of the Strait of Hormuz throttles a key fertilizer trading corridor, along with the energy and raw materials needed to produce and transport fertilizer.

The closure is disrupting deliveries of about one-third of the...Read more

I woke up this morning to a thunderstorm.

I sleep with a CPAP machine for sleep apnea, and if the power goes out, I wake up pretty quickly when the machine stops working.

A while back I started plugging my CPAP into a portable power station, which stays plugged into the wall so if the power goes out, the power station’s battery will keep my ...Read more

Take-Two Interactive Software Inc. will sell the standard version of "Grand Theft Auto VI" at $80, locking in a more traditional price for the video game after speculation that the company would raise the cost of what’s expected to be one of the biggest entertainment launches of all time.

"Grand Theft Auto VI," an open-world crime game ...Read more

CHICAGO -- Maureen Cleary likens the love lives of the African penguins at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo to a soap opera. Pilchard and Maynard would probably be the couple starring in such a drama, said the zoological manager of birds.

The same-sex duo arrived in 2016 as additions to the zoo’s newly opened penguin habitat, Cleary said. Maynard, ...Read more

It’s hard to say what is my favorite product review of all time, but if I had a top 10 list, the Spyra water blaster (or water gun, as I still call it) would be at or near the top.

Spyra, known for its innovative and impressive water blasters, has launched its latest model: the SpyraFour. Spyra touts it as their most advanced and innovative...Read more

The “Sword Art Online” franchise has come full circle with “Echoes of Aincrad.” Game Studio is working on an action role-playing game that brings the fictional video game at the heart of the series to life. It’s a bit meta, but it’s also a dream for the fans of the anime and web novel.

They’ll experience events in the series, ...Read more

A few weeks back I answered a reader question about smart TVs and if their streaming apps would get too old to work well.

My advice was yes, older smart TVs can fall behind on their software updates, and my main advice was to bite the bullet and spend the money on a new TV.

I should have gone a bit deeper and made a few other recommendations...Read more

LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday unanimously advanced an ordinance to halt new oil and gas drilling and phase out all existing production over the next 20 years. L.A. is home to more than 2,000 active oil wells.

The measure revives a similar ban passed in 2022, which was struck down by a judge following legal challenges ...Read more

Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown filed an amicus brief Tuesday in three lawsuits opposing a decision by the Trump administration to allow oil and gas development in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.

The three lawsuits specifically have to do with the coastal plain of the refuge and were filed by Alaska Native villages and ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Attorneys general in seventeen states are suing California over its landmark single-use plastic law, which went into effect on June 1.

The lawsuit comes after a coalition of environmental groups sued the state over the same law this month, arguing the new final regulations create loopholes so large they gut the law.

The states ...Read more

The United States is one of only a handful of countries that allows companies to hold patents on plant varieties. As a result, a small number of corporations can – and do – suppress competition in the seed industry, stifle innovation and turn taxpayer subsidies intended for farmers into corporate profits.

The U.S. Department of ...Read more

Most people know that heat waves can be dangerous. What they may not realize is that the heat indoors can be much worse than outdoors.

When the power goes out and air conditioning stops, a house starts to function like a greenhouse. Heat enters through windows and walls and has nowhere to go. Air stagnates.

Within hours, ...Read more

In the latest chapter of a long battle between California and President Donald Trump over environmental rules, California on Monday sued the Trump administration to preserve the state’s strict emissions standards that require more electric cars and trucks, and also ban the sale of new gasoline-powered garden tools — from leaf blowers to ...Read more

In May, newly drafted Pittsburgh Steelers offensive guard Gennings Dunker amused Pittsburgh residents during a news segment, asking whether it was OK to swim in the rivers or eat the fish he planned to catch.

The live reaction – surprise, laughter and more than a little uncertainty about the right answer – revealed something the ...Read more

Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Day kicks off this week. So does the annual game of guessing just how many billions of dollars the online giant has taken in the summer bargain bonanza. For the sake of its investors, not to mention economists trying to gauge the health of the U.S. consumer, Amazon should release sales figures after the four-day event ...Read more

The two major reservoirs on the Colorado River face dire outlooks that will likely spur federal officials to restrict the amount of water flowing downstream — and decrease hydropower generation — in the coming months, even after they ordered recent emergency measures.

Projections released last week by the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation show ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were backup crew for Apollo 8. Their next flight made them the first two men to step foot on the moon.

The role of backup has traditionally set up astronauts to be named prime crew for successive NASA’s missions, something that bodes well for Air Force Col. Bob “Farmer” Hines, who was ...Read more

When NASA unveiled the four-person crew of its Artemis III mission last week, it didn’t take long for the general public to notice a common feature of the group: all four astronauts were men.

NASA said the selection was not political. But it triggered a wave of disappointment from former NASA officials, space industry insiders and enthusiasts...Read more

The first rule of spycraft, we learn early on in “007 First Light,” is to always do the unexpected. The thing is, “First Light,” an origin story chronicling how James Bond becomes a 00 agent, is full of what you’d expect from a Bond story: quippy one-liners, endless charisma, highly competent people romping around stunningly ...Read more