How California Kept the Lights On during Monster Heat Wave
A combination of rapid growth in battery storage and efforts to reduce power demand helped California avoid blackouts during an intense heat wave.....»»
Relativity Space has gone from printing money and rockets to doing what, exactly?
"I would rather make that decision than pathologically hold on to something." Enlarge / The Terran 1 rocket made its only flight (a beautiful one) in March 2023. (credit: Relativity Space/John Kraus) A splashy California.....»»
Hollywood will need permission to make AI deepfakes of long-gone stars
California Senate passes bill requiring permission to recreate deceased performers with AI......»»
Bird flu reaches cows in California, the country’s largest milk producer
The highly pathogenic strain has now spread to 197 herds in 14 states. Enlarge / A cow grazes in a field at a dairy farm on April 26, 2024, in Petaluma, California. (credit: Getty | Justin Sullivan) The outbreak of H5N1.....»»
NASA mission gets its first snapshot of polar heat emissions
NASA's newest climate mission has started collecting data on the amount of heat in the form of far-infrared radiation that the Arctic and Antarctic environments emit to space. These measurements by the Polar Radiant Energy in the Far-Infrared Experim.....»»
The RTX 5090 might decimate your power supply
Nvidia's upcoming RTX 5090 is shaping up to be a monster GPU, and it might prompt you to finally upgrade your power supply......»»
Assassin"s Creed Shadows release date and everything we know
Assassin's Creed Shadows is among the next wave of games in the mega series, and here's everything we know......»»
Hawk defies expectations in the face of habitat decline
Ferruginous Hawks (Buteo regalis) that spend their winters in California seem to be going up in number, yet their preferred grassland habitat has been declining for over 20 years. Most other grassland bird species are, sadly, doing the expected: plum.....»»
Gravitational wave observatories could detect primordial black holes speeding through the solar system
Cosmologists have long hypothesized that the conditions of the early universe could have caused the formation of black holes not long after the Big Bang. These "primordial black holes" have a much wider mass range than those that formed in the later.....»»
Five lessons from ancient civilizations for keeping homes cool in hot, dry climates
Modern buildings tend to take electricity and air conditioning for granted. They often have glass facades and windows that can't be opened. And when the power goes out for days in the middle of a heat wave, as the Houston area experienced in July 202.....»»
Tesla readies robotaxi reveal at California Warner Bros. studio, report says
Tesla is targeting a reveal of its robotaxi at Warner Bros. Discovery's movie studio in the Los Angeles area, sources told Bloomberg......»»
FAA lets SpaceX get back to launches, but Polaris Dawn awaits good weather
SpaceX got the OK to fly again from the Federal Aviation Administration and didn't waste any time knocking out launches from both Florida and California early Saturday, but the crewed Polaris Dawn launch remains on hold because of weather......»»
Hillside erosion worsening in California due to wildfires and intense rain
Over the last three decades, California has seen increasing erosion after major wildfires—a phenomenon that not only endangers water resources and ecosystems, but is also likely to worsen with climate change, according to researchers......»»
Global South cities lack cooling green spaces
Cities in the Global South are more exposed to extreme heat because they lack cooling green spaces, new research shows. The study found that Global South cities have just 70% of the "cooling capacity" provided by urban greenery in the Global North. T.....»»
Why aren’t there more monster movies?
The success of Godzilla and Alien prove that fans of monster movies want more, and Hollywood should take note......»»
Study finds lower-income NYC residents trade comfort for affordability
In a revealing piece of research coauthored by a Singapore Management University academic, public policies to ease urban heat in one of the largest first world cities have seen price gaps emerge between homes in cooler and hotter areas, with lower-in.....»»
Study reveals key strategies to combat urban heat vulnerability
A QUT study analyzing five decades of research and thousands of studies has identified five critical areas needed to tackle urban heat vulnerability (UHV), a growing issue impacting millions in increasingly heat-prone cities......»»
California passes controversial bill regulating AI model training
As the world debates what is right and what is wrong about generative AI, the California State Assembly and Senate have just passed the Safe and Secure Innovation for Frontier Artificial Intelligence Models Act bill (SB 1047), which is one of the fir.....»»
California legislature passes controversial “kill switch” AI safety bill
Governor will balance worries about "over-regulation" with calls from AI luminaries. Enlarge / California governor Gavin Newsom will likely soon face a decision on whether to sign SB-1047. (credit: Ray Chavez/The Mercury News via.....»»
Air conditioning poses a climate conundrum
This week, much of the US is suffering from yet another heat wave. So far this year, 15 countries have set records for high heat. Last July, the average global temperature, factoring in heat waves in multiple regions around the world, was likely the.....»»
Easing bail policy does not lead to increased crime, report finds
A new report by the nonpartisan California Policy Lab (CPL) shows the estimated effects of several bail policy changes in the City and County of Los Angeles, including removing the emergency bail schedule that was implemented at the start of the COVI.....»»