Science & Technology
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Weather clears as SpaceX launches European satellite
SpaceX was facing a poor forecast for its Tuesday launch attempt of a European satellite on the Space Coast, but the skies cleared and the rocket lifted off right on time.
A Falcon 9 on the MTGS1 mission carrying the second of EUMETSAT’s third generation of weather satellites took off from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39-A at 5:04 p.m. ...Read more

Trump administration shuts down US website on climate change
LOS ANGELES — The Trump administration on Monday shut down a federal website that had presented congressionally mandated reports and research on climate change, drawing rebukes from scientists who said it will hinder the nation’s efforts to prepare for worsening droughts, floods and heat waves.
The U.S. Global Change Research Program’s ...Read more

Switch is building 'AI factories' in Las Vegas
Las Vegas data-center owner Switch is expanding its big presence in Southern Nevada with a new kind of facility: so-called AI factories.
Switch is developing a project at the southwest corner of the Jones Boulevard-215 Beltway interchange in the southwest Las Vegas Valley, near its existing cluster of data centers. Plans for the new site have ...Read more

Wolfspeed files for bankruptcy in effort to turn around NC chipmaker
The 38-year-old Durham, North Carolina, semiconductor supplier Wolfspeed filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy Monday, officially starting a reorganization the company says will allow it to shed billions in debt.
The filing in the Southern District of Texas comes eight days after Wolfspeed publicized a restructuring agreement that will give its ...Read more

Weather dicey for planned SpaceX launch of European satellite
SpaceX has more than a two-hour window Monday evening to try to launch a European satellite, but weather may not cooperate.
A Falcon 9 on the MTGS1 mission carrying the second of EUMETSAT’s third generation of weather satellites is targeting liftoff during a 150-minute launch window that opens at 5:04 p.m. from Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad...Read more

Massachusetts' Nantucket is testing wastewater for cocaine, fentanyl, meth: 'Very helpful for both residents and first responders'
BOSTON — The illicit secrets are in the sewage.
Just like how wastewater testing helps communities learn when COVID surges, cities and towns are able to see what drugs are spiking in real time from their wastewater.
Nantucket is the latest community to start testing its sewage for drugs — partnering with a Cambridge firm that analyzes ...Read more
Apple weighs using Anthropic or OpenAI to power Siri in major reversal
Apple Inc. is considering using artificial intelligence technology from Anthropic PBC or OpenAI to power a new version of Siri, sidelining its own in-house models in a potentially blockbuster move aimed at turning around its flailing AI effort.
The iPhone maker has talked with both companies about using their large language models for Siri, ...Read more

Wild orcas have been trying to feed people, new research shows
SEATTLE — Wild orcas on more than 30 occasions in four oceans have attempted to share their prey with people, potentially to develop relationships with humans, researchers have found.
In each of the instances recorded over two decades, orcas approached a person within a length of the orca’s body, and dropped freshly hunted prey in front of ...Read more

Largest group of flamingos in a decade spotted in Florida Everglades
The largest group of American Flamingos seen in Florida in more than a decade was recorded late last week.
Mark Ian Cook, a wildlife and scientific photographer, posted on Facebook that he saw a group of 115 flamingos along the coastline of Florida Bay in the Everglades on Friday.
Cook was taking part in an aerial bird survey via helicopter ...Read more

Meteorite hunters chase treasures after fireball streaks across Georgia
McDONOUGH — It only took Ed Albin a few steps Sunday to spot it as he wandered onto an empty construction site in Henry County about 45 minutes southeast of Atlanta.
“Oh my God,” he said, crouching down to take a look at his find, “Oh my God.”
Perched on the dirt like it just fell from the sky isn’t just any old rock. It’s a ...Read more

Crop of 23 peregrine falcons and juvenile bald eagles have flown the coop but are begging their parents
The formerly endangered peregrine falcon produced a bumper crop of at least 23 juveniles this year in the Pittsburgh region.
That's a lot of young birds that will add to an already busy landscape with more peregrine nests than volunteer monitors can confirm.
Now is when raptor juveniles take to the Pittsburgh skies to learn to fly and hunt, ...Read more

How robotic hives and AI are lowering the risk of bee colony collapse
Lifting up the hood of a Beewise hive feels more like you’re getting ready to examine the engine of a car than visit with a few thousand pollinators.
The unit — dubbed a BeeHome — is an industrial upgrade from the standard wooden beehives, all clad in white metal and solar panels. Inside sits a high-tech scanner and robotic arm powered ...Read more

Why warring Colorado River states could be headed for 'divorce'
LAS VEGAS — Deadlocked for months in tense, closed-door meetings, Colorado River states may be one step closer to an agreement.
Representatives from each of the seven Western states have agreed to discuss a new path forward — one that could more firmly ground Colorado River policy in hydrological reality as snowpack fails to deliver, ...Read more

How AI is revolutionizing ATL's international terminal
For a U.S. citizen arriving in Atlanta these days, there’s a world in which you might not even need to pull out your passport.
The process of a Customs and Border Protection officer manually reviewing American passports at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport has been replaced with tablets that capture a passenger’s image and ...Read more

Federal judge denies OpenAI bid to keep deleting data amid newspaper copyright lawsuit
NEW YORK — A federal judge has upheld a ruling directing OpenAI to preserve logs and data slated for deletion after news outlets including the Daily News suing the technology giant accused the company of hiding evidence of copyright infringement.
The new ruling, issued Thursday in Manhattan Federal Court, denied the company’s objection to ...Read more

Nvidia breakout puts $4 trillion market value within reach
Two years after Nvidia Corp. made history by becoming the first chipmaker to achieve a $1 trillion market capitalization, an even more remarkable milestone is within its grasp: becoming the first company to reach $4 trillion.
After the emergence of China’s DeepSeek sent the stock plunging earlier this year and stoked concerns that outlays on ...Read more

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signs oil drilling ban for Apalachicola River area
Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law Thursday evening to ban oil drilling along the Apalachicola River in northwest Florida, delivering a win for both environmentalists and fishermen who said the ban was essential to protect their way of life.
This spring, state lawmakers of both parties overwhelmingly approved House Bill 1143. The Florida ...Read more

Farewell to the US as the world's top science nation
When I asked John Savage, the retired co-founder of the Department of Computer Science at Brown University, what the essential ingredient in research is, he responded with one word: “Passion.”
It is passion that keeps scientists going, dead end after dead end, until there is a breakthrough. It is passion that keeps them at the bench or ...Read more

Colorado's wet spring could mean more rattlesnake bites this summer
DENVER — A relatively wet spring in Colorado could mean a more severe than usual snake-bite season, but at least half of bites are preventable, one expert said.
Most snake bites in Colorado happen between May and October, after which cold temperatures push rattlesnakes to curl up and reduce their activity, said Dr. Kennon Heard, a professor ...Read more

After a 5-year secret probe, Philly is the first district in the country to be criminally charged with environmental violations
PHILADELPHIA — A secret, sweeping five-year probe of the Philadelphia School District’s compliance with federal asbestos regulations entered a new phase Thursday as the school board signed off on a deferred prosecution agreement to avoid criminal charges.
The agreement makes a national example of Philadelphia: it’s the first time ever ...Read more
Popular Stories
- Wild orcas have been trying to feed people, new research shows
- Weather dicey for planned SpaceX launch of European satellite
- Massachusetts' Nantucket is testing wastewater for cocaine, fentanyl, meth: 'Very helpful for both residents and first responders'
- Wolfspeed files for bankruptcy in effort to turn around NC chipmaker
- Trump administration shuts down US website on climate change