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Sam Morris/Las Vegas Review-Journal/TNS

Las Vegas leaders are banking on trees for cooling. The science is complicated

As extreme heat claims more lives during ruthless summers in the region, Southern Nevada is upping the ante in its tree planting efforts. But a new study suggests trees alone may not be enough to make a meaningful difference in the daytime.

While Las Vegas’ trees can cool surrounding air temperatures up to nearly 35 degrees at night and shade...Read more

Bryant Turffs/The Florida Manta Project/TNS

Florida allowed capture of threatened giant manta ray for overseas aquarium

ORLANDO, Fla. — Denis Richard watched five men heave a giant manta ray from the waters off Panama City Beach and plop it into a pool on their boat deck.

“Let him go,” he yelled. “You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.”

Richard, a dolphin tour boat operator, was outraged that a threatened species often called the “angel of the sea�...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

LA may not have flying cars, but more food delivery bots are coming

The robot invasion is coming to Los Angeles neighborhoods.

Coco Robotics, a startup born on the UCLA campus, is about to carpet-bomb the city with hundreds of additional adorable delivery bots recently enhanced with some of the same AI that powers ChatGPT.

The company has been testing bots around the city for years, and it is at last confident...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Rare purple sea creature found on SoCal beach. Could warming waters be why?

LOS ANGELES -- Oceanographer Anya Stajner was recently enjoying a sunset walk along the La Jolla Shores beach when a vibrant violet pop of color caught her eye in the sand.

She got down on her hands and knees and was astonished to realize she had stumbled upon a rare species of sea snail, Janthina janthina.

These creatures, more commonly ...Read more

Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times/TNS

EPA commits to '100% cleanup' of chronically polluted Tijuana River in memo of understanding with Mexico

Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin committed the Trump administration to “a permanent, 100% solution to the decades-old Tijuana River sewage crisis” in a new agreement signed with Mexico on Thursday.

“I smelled for myself that foul smell that so many residents of Southern California have been complaining about for so...Read more

Gary Coronado/Los Angeles Times/TNS

State board backs California Gov. Gavin Newsom's plan to give water agencies more leeway in meeting rules

California regulators are supporting a controversial plan backed by Gov. Gavin Newsom — and opposed by environmental groups — that would give water agencies more leeway in how they comply with water quality rules.

The Newsom-backed approach is included as part of a proposed water plan for the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, released by ...Read more

Colorado Parks and Wildlife/Colorado Parks and Wildlife/TNS

Colorado's wolves roam farther into northwest corner of state, new map shows

DENVER — At least one of Colorado’s collared wolves moved deeper into the northwest corner of the state in July, a new map released by state wildlife officials shows.

The wolf or wolves traveled broadly in Moffat County, from watersheds near the Wyoming border to the dry, rolling hills northwest of Craig along U.S. 40, according to the ...Read more

RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post/TNS

Groups escalate fight against Trump administration's order for west Michigan coal plant

Environmental groups have escalated their fight against the U.S. Department of Energy's order requiring Consumers Energy to extend the life of the coal-fired J.H. Campbell power plant in west Michigan.

Nine environmental groups led by Sierra Club and the nonprofit law firm Earthjustice filed a petition for review Thursday at the U.S. Court of ...Read more

NASA/NASA/TNS

With delay until 2026, Boeing Starliner next flight may not carry humans, NASA says

As SpaceX prepares to send up its 19th Dragon spacecraft with humans on board, the Boeing Starliner — which has only completed half of a crewed mission to date — remains in fix-it mode.

Its next launch is scheduled for no earlier than 2026, and then maybe not even one with crew, according to NASA.

In a press conference for the SpaceX Crew-...Read more

Georgia Tech/Georgia Tech/TNS

Georgia Tech is building a $20 million AI supercomputer

Georgia Tech has received a $20 million federal grant to build a powerful new supercomputer in Midtown that will harness artificial intelligence to boost the work of scientists across the nation.

Researchers hope the supercomputer, which Georgia Tech is calling Nexus, can lead to scientific breakthroughs like designing quantum materials and ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

Tech companies want to move fast. Trump's 'AI Action Plan' aims to remove 'red tape'

The Trump administration on Wednesday laid out a plan that aims to make it easier for companies to quickly develop and deploy artificial intelligence technology.

The initiative shows how Silicon Valley tech executives who backed Trump during the election are shaping federal policy that will impact their businesses as they compete globally to ...Read more

JIM ROSSMAN/TNS

Tech review: Big sound, small package

My wife is a preschool music teacher, and a big part of her curriculum is playing music in class.

She used to carry a small boombox about the size of a cigar box to play music from CDs.

Today she carries all her music on her phone and plays it wirelessly through a speaker connected via Bluetooth.

As the wife of a tech reviewer, she is my main...Read more

Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times/TNS

Tally of Microsoft victims surges to 400 as hackers exploit SharePoint flaw

The number of companies and organizations compromised by a security vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.’s SharePoint servers is increasing rapidly, with the tally of victims soaring more than six-fold in a few days, according to one research firm.

Hackers have breached about 400 government agencies, corporations and other groups, according to ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump urges looser rules, wider energy access in AI policy plan

The Trump administration called for boosting artificial intelligence development in the U.S. by loosening regulations and expanding energy supply for data centers under new guidelines that also urged withholding funds from states that put burdensome rules on the emerging technology.

The so-called AI Action Plan, released by the White House on ...Read more

Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images North America/TNS

White House unveils AI policy vision to spur US development

The Trump administration called for boosting artificial intelligence development in the U.S. by loosening regulations and expanding energy supply for data centers under new guidelines that also urged withholding funds from states that put burdensome rules on the emerging technology.

The so-called AI Action Plan, released by the White House on ...Read more

Kevin Clark/The Seattle Times/TNS

Tally of Microsoft victims surges to 400 as hackers exploit SharePoint flaw

The number of companies and organizations compromised by a security vulnerability in Microsoft Corp.’s SharePoint servers is increasing rapidly, with the tally of victims soaring more than six-fold in a few days, according to one research firm.

Hackers have breached about 400 government agencies, corporations and other groups, according to ...Read more

Don Lindich/Don Lindich/TNS

Sound Advice: A bargain-priced streaming device

Q. I have a Nebula Cosmos Max 4K projector that is several years old. It does not support Netflix unless you install some extra software, which I find cumbersome to use. I thought about upgrading to one of the other projectors you have written about, but some of them don't have built-in Netflix either. What do you recommend for around $1,000? ...Read more

Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Tesla's darkening outlook to test robotaxi vision pushed by Musk

Tesla Inc.’s core car-making business is facing a deteriorating outlook, providing a major test of Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk’s ability to lift the stock price with his vision of a self-driving future.

The electric-vehicle maker is expected to post the sharpest drop in revenues in more than a decade when it reports earnings on ...Read more

Scott Olson/Getty Images North America/TNS

Apple launches $20-a-month AppleCare One plan covering up to three devices

Apple Inc. is launching a new product-insurance plan that bundles coverage for as many as three devices, part of a broader effort to drum up subscription revenue.

The new offering is called AppleCare One and costs $20 a month, the company said Wednesday. The service also includes battery replacements, all-hours customer support and coverage for...Read more

Best Buy/Best Buy/TNS

Jim Rossman: Yes, you can trust Geek Squad

This week, a reader writes, “I have a Best Buy/Geek Squad account and in the years past I have allowed their techs to take over my PC remotely to clean it up so that it runs faster. Do you think I am taking any kind of risk, e.g., stolen account data, when I do this?”

This is a good question, and any time someone outside your home or ...Read more