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NASA will attempt to launch astronauts to the moon today. What to know and how to watch

On Wednesday, for the first time since 1972, NASA is attempting to launch astronauts to the moon.

The space agency is targeting a 6:24 p.m. Eastern time launch of the colossal Space Launch System rocket with four astronauts aboard. Once off the ground, the crew will fly past the moon (but not land on the lunar surface or enter its orbit) and ...Read more

Gregg Newton/Getty Images North America/TNS

Artemis II astronauts set for historic moonbound mission

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — NASA on Wednesday looks to send four astronauts on the most powerful rocket to ever launch humans, flying the Artemis II mission that will send them past the moon.

The Space Launch System rocket with the Orion spacecraft sits on Kennedy Space Center's Launch Pad 39-B awaiting liftoff during a two-hour window that opens ...Read more

Are there too many people here? It depends on your perspective. Michael Quinn/National Park Service

You’re not going to be alone in national parks this summer – enjoy the company

On a summer morning a couple of years ago, we went for a hike on the fabled Bright Angel Trail, one of the most popular trails in Grand Canyon National Park.

As scholars of tourism and outdoor recreation, our conversation inevitably turned to the visitor experience at the Grand Canyon and a question that has plagued the parks since ...Read more

In a good year, the West's mountain snowpack feeds streams and rivers well into summer. George Rose/Contributor/Getty Images News

Winter’s alarmingly low snowpack offers a glimpse of the changing rhythm of water in the western US

Winter is more than just a season in the western U.S. – it is a savings account to get farms and homes through the long, dry summer ahead. As the snowpack that accumulates in the mountains through winter slowly melts in late spring and summer, it feeds into rivers and reservoirs that keep communities and ecosystems functioning.

The ...Read more

Christina House/Los Angeles Times/TNS

It's not your imagination. This is a weird rattlesnake season. Here's what's happening

LOS ANGELES – Emily Taylor has lived in California for 20 years and has never gotten as many calls about rattlesnakes as she did last month.

Taylor owns Central Coast Snake Services, a serpent consulting business, directs the Physiological Ecology of Reptiles Laboratory at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo and is part of a network of volunteers who ...Read more

Gregg Newton/Getty Images North America/TNS

NASA set to launch astronauts to moon for first time in 50 years

NASA astronauts are poised to lift off Wednesday on a 10-day journey that will slingshot them around the moon, marking humanity’s return to the lunar vicinity for the first time in more than half a century.

The crew’s Lockheed Martin Corp.-built Orion capsule, perched atop the Boeing Co.-made Space Launch System rocket, is set to launch at ...Read more

Campfire/Campfire/TNS

Gadgets: A great audio company

Campfire Audio, based in Portland, Oregon, is an audio company that you need to be familiar with. I’ve tried many of their products over the years, and each impresses me from top to bottom. The last I tried were the Iris and Axion wired earbuds.

A little about Campfire Audio: They have been producing first-class audio products since 2015. ...Read more

CAPCOM/TNS

Preview: How ‘Pragmata’ changed my mind about its hacking and gunplay

With the “Pragmata” release date moved up to April 17, Capcom is making one last push to cast its new project in the best light. The publisher has offered hints of the gameplay and glimpses of the plot in short play sessions, but there has been little opportunity to experience a satisfying chunk of the campaign.

That changed at a recent ...Read more

Jim Rossman/Jim Rossman/TNS

Jim Rossman: Technology can be a great help, if you can keep up

I’ve been thinking a lot about aging and technology, and I can’t help but wonder how everyone handles navigating their personal digital lives differently.

“Aging in place” is the term for older people who are still living on their own, and technology can play a really big part in helping people remain independent.

The world revolves ...Read more

Leila Navidi/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

SkyWater CEO says US chip manufacturing poised to grow even faster

The case for domestic manufacturing of semiconductors “has never been stronger,” which means SkyWater Technology will continue to grow, the company’s CEO said.

Tom Sonderman said he outlined his case in an open letter in mid-March to reassure SkyWater’s employees and stakeholders as the company continues to negotiate a $1.8 billion deal...Read more

Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Why Disney still needs Epic Games

LOS ANGELES — It was just two years ago that Walt Disney Co. placed a massive bet on Epic Games.

At the time, the Burbank media giant announced a “games and entertainment universe” with the “Fortnite” developer to expand the reach of Disney’s franchises, particularly among the young people who play the online game. Disney also made ...Read more

Stacey Wescott/Chicago Tribune/TNS

Editorial: Cool it on piling extra energy regulations on new home construction

The Chicago suburb of Naperville already has an extensive system of building codes and inspections, so when it began to consider adding another layer earlier this year, area homebuilders were alarmed.

Adopting a “stretch” energy code that goes beyond existing conservation requirements would add thousands of dollars to the cost of a new home...Read more

DREAMSTIME/TNS

An AI agent leaked Instagram and Facebook user data. This San Diego startup is building the fix

You didn’t press send. You didn’t authorize the wire transfer. You didn’t even know it happened. An AI agent did it for you.

They work autonomously by reading files, analyzing photos and sourcing your personal data. But once they’re running, they can multiply and access things they were never meant to, without you even knowing.

...Read more

XThings/XThings/TNS

Tech review: These two gadgets are all about compatibility

Smart home equipment can work with various home automation ecosystems.

What does that mean?

There are plenty of devices, like smart deadbolts, cameras, light bulbs and smart plugs, and a host of other gadgets, but unless you’re buying them from the same company, getting them to work together used to be a hassle.

Then some larger players, ...Read more

Kristian Carreon/The San Diego Union-Tribune/TNS

Feds visit Imperial Beach to assess economic toll of Tijuana River pollution crisis

SAN DIEGO — William Briggs, deputy administrator of the U.S. Small Business Administration, traveled to Imperial Beach on Tuesday to hear directly from small business owners about the economic impact of the ongoing Tijuana River pollution crisis, framing the visit as a fact-finding mission ahead of potential federal action.

Briggs convened a ...Read more

Sarah A. Miller/Idaho Statesman/TNS

'We're at a tipping point': Idaho lawmakers pitch last-ditch rat control bill

BOISE, Idaho — “Coming soon to a canal bank near you”: rats.

That was Middleton Republican state Sen. Tammy Nichols’ warning to the Idaho Senate Agricultural Affairs Committee on Tuesday if the Idaho Legislature doesn’t take action to curb the spread of the pest that’s already snowballing across the Treasure Valley.

So far ...Read more

Dirk Shadd/Tampa Bay Times/TNS

Trump administration exempts Gulf oil and gas drilling from endangered species protections

Convening a rarely used committee for the first time in more than three decades, top Trump administration officials voted Tuesday to exempt oil drilling in the Gulf of Mexico from requirements that protect endangered species.

It’s a striking move that advocacy groups say could further imperil gulf wildlife like the Rice’s whale, one of the ...Read more

Ricardo Ramirez Buxeda/Orlando Sentinel/TNS

Artemis II's lunar quartet of astronauts break the Apollo mold

Every single person who has flown to the moon has been a man. All of them have been white. Each one has been an American.

That’s about to change.

The crew of Artemis II, gunning for a launch from Kennedy Space Center on Wednesday evening, features what would be the first Black man, first woman and first person from a country other than the ...Read more

Aubrey Whelan/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

Meet the Pennsylvania man who hunts meteorites for a living

PHILADELPHIA -- Brett Joseph Cohen was manning the only meteorite stall at the Philadelphia Mineralogical Society‘s annual trade show Sunday morning. Chunks of asteroids and lunar rocks glinted on his table.

He’d affixed a hand-lettered sign to one display: “This meteorite fell 12 days ago and was recovered by me in Northern Ohio.”

And...Read more

Before catalytic converters, starting a gas-powered vehicle could choke the surrounding area with smog. Bettmann via Getty Images

How California’s war on smog and its ambitious car pollution rules made everyone’s air cleaner

Cars on the road today are 99% cleaner than they were in 1970. Air quality in the United States is much, much better as a result. In Los Angeles, where I live, lead levels in the air were 50 times higher in the 1970s than today, and the amount of lead in kids’ blood has plummeted.

What made that drop possible is arguably the most ...Read more