Inspiration for video games can sprout from anywhere. A slice of pizza turned into “Pac-Man.” Trouble driving up a hill in the snow inspired a key mechanic in director Hidetaka Miyazaki’s “Souls” series. When it comes to “Keeper,” the latest game from Double Fine Productions, creative director Lee Petty took inspiration from the ...Read more

I often refer to my gadget columns at this point of the year as "this, that and the others." It's a bunch of great products I just haven't gotten to this year. Nevertheless, they are great last-minute gifts or perfect for using a gift card on yourself.

The BotsLab G980H 4-channel dashcam covers 560 degrees of angles. It's designed to see in ...Read more

I was recently talking to a friend who asked me if she should change her cell phone provider. She was happy enough with the service except for a few places in her house that never seem to get more than one bar of service.

Before changing service, it’s a good idea to know which network you are using. In this country, there are only three –...Read more

Florida’s first statewide black bear hunt in a decade is more than halfway over but state wildlife leaders have offered no information on its progress, not even a death count.

“Are we overkilling like in 2015?” asked Joe Humphrey, a Seminole County resident who described himself as a hunter at odds with the Fish & Wildlife Conservation ...Read more

A swarm of at least a dozen earthquakes reaching up to magnitude 3.9 rattled San Ramon near San Francisco, the U.S. Geological Survey reports.

The other quakes in the Saturday, Dec. 21, swarm ranged from magnitude 1.3 to 3.0, according to the USGS.

San Ramon earlier was hit by a swarm of more than 90 quakes starting Nov. 9, The Sacramento Bee ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — A 400-mile blanket of fog has socked in California’s Central Valley for weeks. Scientists and meteorologists say the conditions for such persistent cloud cover are ripe: an early wet season, cold temperatures and a stable, unmoving high pressure system.

But take a stroll through X, Instagram or TikTok, and you’ll see not ...Read more

President Donald Trump signed an executive order that aims to return astronauts to the moon through NASA’s Artemis space program with an eye toward building a permanent lunar presence.

The directive reinforces NASA’s current plans for sending Americans back to the moon by 2028 and for Americans to begin establishing the outpost by 2030. It ...Read more

The Trump administration is moving to dismantle one of the world’s leading climate and weather research institutions, the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, in a decision experts say will undermine U.S. scientific competitiveness and leave millions vulnerable to worsening climate hazards.

Russell Vought, director ...Read more

LAS VEGAS — Federal officials gave the clearest timeline yet for when a breakthrough could come in closed-door negotiations over the water supply of 40 million Americans.

On Wednesday, Assistant Secretary of Water and Science Andrea Travnicek said the public will have another document to review as early as the end of this year. It will come ...Read more

Robots from around the world converged on Silicon Valley to provide a glimpse of a potential future.

Two robots picked up T-shirts with orange-tipped claws, then neatly folded and piled them. A cute companion robot with bright eyes used its mechanical hands to make a heart. A small robot wearing a bear hat threw punches and a blue-green robot, ...Read more

DENVER — The Trump administration plans to shut down and dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, a global leader in climate and Earth systems research — a move that drew sharp rebuke from elected officials in Colorado.

“This facility is one of the largest sources of climate alarmism in the country,” Russ ...Read more

I’ve got Amazon Echo devices in a few of my rooms at home as the gateway to my smart home system.

I started with one Echo Dot in the living room, but added a new Dot with a clock to the bedroom and the bathroom.

Once I learned what I could do with some additional equipment, I added some smart bulbs and smart plugs to a few of my lamps and ...Read more

With so many projects vying for attention, it’s difficult for indie developers to break through the noise. That’s where Day of the Devs comes in. The nonprofit pores over hundreds of submissions and highlights some of the best.

Even with that filter, the number of games shown during the presentation can be overwhelming. Here are the ...Read more

Just like that, we're in the homestretch for holiday shopping, which can lead to stress and impulse buys. To help out — and hopefully cut down your time in return lines — here's a simple list to spark ideas for fun tech gadgets, including popular and practical picks. Choose a few favorites and you'll be wrapped up in no time.

Divoom's ...Read more

With “Sid Meier’s Civilization VII” a disappointment, “Anno” has an opportunity to snag the strategy game spotlight. The Ubisoft franchise has been in the shadow of Firaxis’ long-running classic, though it takes a different approach when it comes to mixing history and video games.

Whereas “Civilization” focuses on nation-...Read more

In a move that reverses nearly a decade of practice, California wildlife officials have quietly begun to allow killing mountain lions in order to protect another iconic native — bighorn sheep.

Though limited to the Eastern Sierra — the steep, rugged home of a rare type of the wild sheep — it marks a sea change for California, where ...Read more

Lake Mead may be facing historic shortages, but officials from the Colorado River state that uses the most water are celebrating unprecedented water savings.

At a briefing for reporters at Tuesday’s Colorado River Water Users Association conference at Caesars Palace, leaders from California’s biggest water districts said the state is on ...Read more

Wildlife managers have significantly pared back their efforts to find three juvenile gray wolves who are the last remaining members of a pack that had established itself in the Sierra Valley ranch lands north of Truckee, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said Tuesday.

Three adult wolves and one juvenile from the same group, the ...Read more