Science & Technology
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Many of Altadena's standing homes are still contaminated with lead and asbestos even after cleanup
LOS ANGELES — More than half of still-standing homes within the area the Eaton fire’s ash settled had significant lead contamination even after extensive indoor remediation efforts, according to new findings announced Thursday from the grassroots advocacy group Eaton Fire Residents United. Additionally, a third of remediated homes tested ...Read more
How Zone Zero, designed to protect California homes from wildfire, became plagued with controversy and delays
LOS ANGELES -- Late last month, California fire officials made a courtesy call to Los Angeles.
The state’s proposed Zone Zero regulations that would force homeowners to create an ember-resistant zone around their houses — initially planned to take effect nearly three years ago — had caused an uproar in the region. It was time for damage ...Read more
Commentary: Salmon's comeback pits nature against Trump administration
For the first time in more than a century, migrating salmon have climbed close to the headwaters of the Klamath River’s most far-flung tributaries, as much as 360 miles from the Pacific Ocean in south-central Oregon. The achievement is the clearest indication yet that the world’s largest dam removal project, completed on the river a year ...Read more
Bill Gates doesn't regret his controversial climate memo
LOS ANGELES — Last week, Bill Gates published a 17-page memo on his personal website that critics said pitted climate and public health efforts against each other, when they should instead be working in tandem.
Monday night, speaking at Caltech in Pasadena, Gates doubled down, brushing off the critiques that came from across the ideological ...Read more
Stuck in traffic? Google Maps has a smarter AI assistant for you
Drivers navigating traffic on their morning commutes will be able to do much more than just find directions and the nearest gas station on Google Maps.
In the coming weeks, Google will add its artificial intelligence-powered assistant Gemini into Google Maps, making it possible for drivers to get answers to more complex questions while they're ...Read more
SpaceX, ULA line up double launch night that would tie Space Coast record
ORLANDO, Fla. — While SpaceX has managed the lion’s share of launches this year, it’s set to be a team effort with United Launch Alliance as the two companies have lined up a pair of launches Wednesday that would tie the annual record for orbital missions from the Space Coast.
Both a SpaceX Falcon 9 and ULA Atlas V stand less than two ...Read more
Gadgets: Air duster makes itself invaluable
The Wolfbox MF100 Air Duster is one of those gadgets you don’t think you need — until you try it, and suddenly you wonder how you lived without it.
The MF100 Air Duster is an endless amount of compressed air packed into a handheld device. There are three adjustable speeds (slow, medium, high) to suit specific needs, ranging from light ...Read more
Review: ‘Pokemon Legends: Z-A’ is a refreshing ‘Yakuza’-inspired take on the franchise
In “Yakuza: Like a Dragon,” Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio poked fun of “Pokemon,” creating a spoof of the iconic scene in which Professor Oak asked the hero to choose a starting pocket monster before venturing out in the world. This “Sujimon” minigame nudged players to find all the different enemy types in the world and beat them all.
With...Read more
Jim Rossman: What should you do if you lose your phone?
I usually write about things that happen to others, but this week it was my turn to do something worth sharing.
I left my iPhone in the cart at the grocery store, and I didn’t realize it until I drove home.
I got that sick feeling in the pit of my stomach.
My wife and I share locations with each other, so I asked her to check my phone’s...Read more
From more meat to less waste: How food companies use AI
At a Cargill slaughterhouse in Texas, AI-equipped cameras scan every cattle carcass and let workers know when they’re literally leaving too much meat on the bone.
Even a 1% improvement in yield could produce millions more pounds of meat a year thanks to artificial intelligence.
“I do believe it’s the most transformative technology or ...Read more
For Amazon, Microsoft and other Seattle tech firms, it's AI and anxiety
In little more than five months, Amazon and Microsoft have announced they're collectively cutting more than 29,000 roles.
Microsoft has let go more than 15,000 workers since May, and Amazon announced last week it was cutting 14,000 roles. Artificial intelligence has taken some of the blame for the layoffs, but not in an obvious way.
The ...Read more
Inside the race to train AI robots how to act human in the real world
CHENNAI, India — Now that artificial intelligence has mastered almost everything we do online, it needs help learning how we physically move around in the real world.
A growing global army of trainers is helping it escape our computers and enter our living rooms, offices and factories by teaching it how we move.
In an industrial town in ...Read more
Blue Origin eyes 2nd New Glenn launch with Mars-bound NASA satellites
ORLANDO, Fla. — Blue Origin’s heavy lift New Glenn became the first commercial rocket to make it to orbit on its first try back in January. Jeff Bezos’ company is looking to repeat the feat while also nailing a return landing of its booster, something that didn’t come to fruition the first go-around.
The NG-2 mission carrying a pair of ...Read more
WA spent a billion in tax breaks to help tech dominate. Was it worth it?
Three decades ago, a promising young industry was taking hold in Washington.
The technology sector was robust and growing fast. Microsoft had made the Pacific Northwest home, while newer companies flocked steadily to the region.
State lawmakers wanted to keep them coming. So in 1994, the Washington Legislature passed a pair of tax breaks ...Read more
As feds' new stance against Canadian-sourced wolves throws wrench in Colorado's plans, what's next?
The recent roadblock thrown in front of Colorado’s voter-mandated wolf reintroduction by the Trump administration may force state wildlife officials to find a new source of wolves, just months before the next planned releases this winter.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife had contracted again with Canada for wolves to bring to the state after ...Read more
U. of Minn. researchers launch smoke-sensing drones that one day could fight wildfires
Plumes of smoke drifted up from a fire steadily taking over a 30-acre prairie at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve, north of the Twin Cities. Amid the haze, five black drones zipped around.
More than 150 feet below the flying robots, research student Nikil Krishnakumar raised the controller in the air.
“It’s all autonomous now,” he ...Read more
Colorado Rep. Jeff Hurd asks US Energy Department to order that coal plant stay open
DENVER — Colorado Rep. Jeff Hurd has asked Energy Secretary Chris Wright to issue an emergency order that the two units at the Comanche power plant keep operating because there’s a risk of an energy shortfall if the coal facility in Pueblo County is shut down when planned.
The Republican who represents Colorado’s 3rd Congressional ...Read more
SpaceX launch could bring overnight sonic boom to Central Florida
ORLANDO, Fla. — If you need a reminder to turn your clocks back at 2 a.m. Sunday, maybe the boom you might hear less than an hour before could assist.
A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is set to lift off on the Bandwagon-4 mission from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 targeting a 1:09 a.m. liftoff during 1-1:20 a.m. ...Read more
Los Angeles will nearly double recycled water for 500,000 residents
LOS ANGELES — In a plan that will reverberate more than 300 miles north at Mono Lake, Los Angeles city leaders have decided to nearly double the wastewater that will be transformed into drinking water at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant in Van Nuys.
Instead of treating 25 million gallons per day as originally planned, the L.A. ...Read more
Plan to kill 450,000 owls pushes past major obstacle with Republicans both for and against
LOS ANGELES — A controversial plan to kill one owl species to save another cleared a major hurdle.
The full Senate on Wednesday struck down a GOP effort to prevent the cull of up to 450,000 barred owls in the Pacific Northwest over three decades, ending a saga that created strange political bedfellows.
It’s a major win for environmentalist...Read more
Popular Stories
- Commentary: Salmon's comeback pits nature against Trump administration
- Stuck in traffic? Google Maps has a smarter AI assistant for you
- SpaceX, ULA line up double launch night that would tie Space Coast record
- Bill Gates doesn't regret his controversial climate memo
- Gadgets: Air duster makes itself invaluable





