For the second time in the past two weeks, the U.S. Drought Monitor, a prominent national report, has classified 100% of California as being drought-free. That’s a rating that hasn’t occurred in 25 years.

Great news, right?

It’s not quite that simple. To be exact, the last time the report had California at 100% drought-free was the week ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Wildflower expert Naomi Fraga was excited about the prospect of an extraordinary bloom this spring, after a winter of near record rainfall, but this week's unseasonably hot, dry weather has dimmed her hopes for a superbloom year.

"Superblooms are not guaranteed every year, even after lots of rain," said Fraga, director of ...Read more

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — About 106,000 — or one in six North Carolina children — attend elementary schools where the risk for measles outbreaks run high, according to the best available state analysis.

Their schools are designated high risk because fewer than 90% of kids there are vaccinated. Nearly 18,000 of kids at the schools are not ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — As global officials confirm that 2025 was Earth’s third-hottest year on record, a new poll shows Americans are sharply divided over the role of science in the United States.

A report published Thursday by the nonpartisan Pew Research Center found that a majority of Americans want the U.S. to be a world leader in science, but ...Read more

NASA’s first medical evacuation from space went smoothly with the four members of SpaceX Crew-11 splashing down in the Pacific Ocean off the California coast early Thursday after an overnight departure from the International Space Station.

The crew of NASA astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke along with JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and ...Read more

NASA gave the go and the SpaceX Crew-11 mission departed the International Space Station on Wednesday, headed for an overnight splashdown back on Earth in the Pacific Ocean.

The four crew of NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, commander, and Mike Fincke, pilot, along with JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, both mission ...Read more

DENVER — Municipal utilities and electric cooperatives would have more time to cut their carbon emissions under legislation advanced by Colorado Springs-area lawmakers, who say the local electric utility will struggle to meet the 80% reduction target by the 2030 deadline.

The bipartisan bill announced Monday during a call with reporters would...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX is starting to get the ball rolling on its Florida launch card with its fourth mission of the year coming less than two days since the last launch, setting a record for its Cape Canaveral launch pad.

A Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-98 mission with 29 Starlink satellites lifted off at 1:08 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX is starting to get the ball rolling on its Florida launch card with its fourth mission of the year.

A Falcon 9 on the Starlink 6-98 mission with 29 Starlink satellites is targeting liftoff at 1:08 p.m. from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 during a launch window from 1:01-5:01 p.m.

This ...Read more

NASA gave the go for the SpaceX Crew-11 mission to depart the International Space Station on Wednesday headed for an overnight splashdown back on Earth in the Pacific Ocean.

The four crew of NASA astronauts Zena Cardman, commander, and Mike Fincke, pilot, along with JAXA astronaut Kimiya Yui and Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, both mission ...Read more

Apple Inc. announced a new subscription bundle of creative apps called Creator Studio, an attempt to give its photo- and video-editing software fresh momentum in the face of intensifying competition.

The bundle, announced Tuesday, includes Final Cut Pro, Logic Pro and Pixelmator Pro, among others, and will be available Jan. 28 for $12.99 per ...Read more

Who's going to pay for the artificial intelligence boom?

As tech titans invest billions into data centers and high-tech computer chips to fuel their AI ambitions, concerns are building over energy costs, especially in communities where data centers pop up.

Microsoft says it will pay its own way.

The Redmond-based tech giant on Tuesday ...Read more

In a matter of minutes, the whole atmosphere for my Sunday afternoon football watching turned for the better. That's what I got with the OXS SoundBar S21 sound system. And I’ll add a line I say often about soundbars: It is one of the most underrated accessories. Once you get one, you’ll understand.

The AC-powered OXS S21 2.1 Channel ...Read more

If your family is like mine, one person is likely in charge of doing the finances and paying the bills and because so much of our financial dealings happen online, that task will usually fall to one person.

If you happen to be that person for your family, have you thought about what kind of information your family would need to move forward ...Read more

Recently, while sailing with friends on San Francisco Bay, I enjoyed the sight of harbor porpoises, cormorants, pelicans, seals and sea lions — and then the spouting plume and glistening back of a gray whale that gave me pause. Too many have been seen inside the bay recently.

California’s gray whales have been considered an environmental ...Read more

For years, the water table has been dropping beneath thousands of acres of desert farmland in western Arizona, where a Saudi-owned dairy company has been allowed to pump unlimited amounts of groundwater to grow hay for its cows.

But the company and other landowners in the area will now face limits under a decision by state officials to impose ...Read more