LOS ANGELES — Anytime it rains, trash comes flushing through storm drains and gutters, into rivers and downstream straight into the ocean and onto beaches.

The picturesque beaches that Southern California is known for look more like landfills as piles of debris blanket the landscape. Trash fills the Pacific Ocean, threatening marine life and ...Read more

Florida’s wildlife commission voted Wednesday to end a controversial policy that allowed the capture of wild manta rays — a federally threatened species — for overseas aquariums.

But the commission will still allow U.S. companies to seek approval from Florida’s wildlife officials if they want endangered marine wildlife for their ...Read more

Job cuts are hammering the tech industry as companies ramp up investments in artificial intelligence.

This week, San José-based tech company Cisco said it was cutting fewer than 4,000 jobs or less than 5% of its workforce. Cisco announced the layoffs the same day that the company reported that it grew its revenue to $15.8 billion and net ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Two toxic air contaminants present in California’s ambient air, acrolein and ethylene oxide, appear to be much stronger carcinogens than previously known, California environmental health officials announced Thursday.

The draft finding from the state’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment found that the chemicals ...Read more

NASA announced it would forgo using the same upper stage used on the first two Artemis flights for next year’s Artemis III mission since it won’t be heading to the moon.

The mission will be headed for a low-Earth orbit and won’t need the interim cryogenic propulsion stage (ICPS) built by United Launch Alliance that helped propel the ...Read more

Talk of a “super El Niño” developing in 2026 is gaining momentum, with concerns rising that this climate pattern could bring extreme rainfall, heat, drought and destructive flooding around the world.

The signals appear to be in place: The tropical Pacific is warming along the equator, and computer models point toward extreme ...Read more

ABOARD THE MOLLY B, on the Salish Sea — They are big. They are beautiful. And they are back.

The return of the humpback whale to greater numbers than observed in decades is part of a larger revival of marine mammals in the Salish Sea. It is an astonishing sight of life rebounding, with exception of the endangered southern residents orcas.

On...Read more

Poor weather conditions Wednesday forced another scrub of a launch attempt by SpaceX on its latest resupply run for NASA to International Space Station, which will have to wait until at least Friday for a backup attempt that could bring a sonic boom to parts of Central Florida.

Bad weather had already forced a scrub of a Tuesday attempt called ...Read more

United Launch Alliance is running short on usable hardware this year, having to rely on its dwindling supply of Atlas V rockets while it continues an investigation into what went wrong on the last launch of its successor rocket Vulcan.

Its next two launches will be the final Atlas V rockets set aside for commercial customer Amazon.

The first ...Read more

Microsoft Corp. has spent more than $100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI, a sum that underscores the significance of the software maker’s role in the AI company’s growth.

That figure includes Microsoft’s original investments in OpenAI, as well as the costs of building infrastructure and hosting OpenAI’s computing, Microsoft deals...Read more

In 1926, director Cecil B. DeMille hired hundreds of workers to build a set of Jerusalem inside the DeMille Studios in Culver City for the classic silent film "The King of Kings."

A century later, Jon Erwin filmed his biblical epic 'The Old Stories: Moses,' starring Ben Kingsley, on the same studio lot now owned by Amazon MGM Studios.

Except ...Read more

The day before Valentine’s Day, rumors surfaced about a San Diego company’s plans to raise a billion dollars.

Executives at the company didn’t respond to requests for comment. Industry insiders wouldn’t speak on record about the raise — but they didn’t display doubt about the deal either.

The billion-dollar buzz came to fruition a ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — When state wildlife officials euthanized "Blondie" the bear over the objections of local elected leaders in March, it was unclear if her two orphaned bear cubs would ever be able to live in the wild again.

The tiny furry creatures weighed just 5.8 and 7.6 pounds. They required spoon-feedings four times a day. And they could not ...Read more

Beginning in July 2026, Detroiters will be paying higher water and sewer bills.

That’s because The Great Lakes Water Authority, or GLWA, voted unanimously on Feb. 25, 2026, to increase water rates by 5.8% and sewer rates by 4.26% for its customers. GLWA raised rates by similar amounts in 2025.

Residents at GLWA’s last rate...Read more

This week I received a question about spam emails, “For some time, I am getting emails showing an invoice for services about to be charged to my credit card. Other than ignoring them, do you have any suggestions on how to handle these messages? I’ve not had any charges to a credit/debit card or withdrawal from bank accounts. So far, I’ve...Read more

How annoying is it to get in your vehicle and your check engine light or other alerts suddenly flash in your face? The BlueDriver Pro Scan tool will tell you almost instantly what the problem is, and potentially keep you ahead of a breakdown.

This pocket-sized diagnostic tool does big things. Just plug it into your car’s OBDII port to get ...Read more

We are in the midst of graduation season, and I’ve been testing some gadgets that would make for great graduation gifts.

Cash is a traditional gift for graduates, but I know a lot of people who like their gift to be a bit more personal.

Fender Elie 6 Portable Bluetooth Speaker ($299.00, fender.com)

Fender is well-known for their guitars and...Read more

From the Rockies to the Cascades to the Sierra Nevada, mountainsides across the West are sparsely covered by the snow that usually blankets the high country well into the summer.

That snowpack is like a savings account that the West draws on when the hot, dry months arrive. It moistens the landscape as it melts, lessening the risk of severe ...Read more

Poor weather conditions forced a scrub of a Tuesday night launch attempt by SpaceX on its latest resupply run for NASA to International Space Station, with a Wednesday backup attempt on tap that could bring a sonic boom to parts of Central Florida.

A Falcon 9 on the CRS-34 mission looks to send a cargo Dragon spacecraft filled with 6,500 pounds...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Marta Segura, the first chief heat officer for the city of Los Angeles, was quietly fired from her position last month, the Los Angeles Times has confirmed.

Segura stepped into the new role in 2022 amid a marked increase in climate-fueled heat events. Her appointment by then-Mayor Eric Garcetti came with much fanfare, as it made...Read more