I was scrolling through my Instagram account this week and I saw something that made me stop in my tracks.

In the right-hand column, there was a suggested list of people whose accounts I may want to follow and the first person on that list was my Aunt Sharon.

This got my attention because Aunt Sharon died back in 2021.

One of my first ...Read more

Although popular franchises dot the video game landscape, few stand the test of time. Some capitalize on a spectacular idea and run the idea into the ground. Others are fine with building on the strength of a memorable story, but the best and longest-running series have a knack for reinvention.

“The Legend of Zelda,” “Super Mario Bros.�...Read more

SEATTLE — President Donald Trump has instructed federal agencies to plan to log national forests harder, working around environmental protections, including for endangered species.

His directive, issued in an executive order March 1, is counter to decades of environmental policy in the Pacific Northwest, where federal forests have been ...Read more

It’s breeding season for the rapidly declining California spotted owl, and Ben Vizzachero was about to lead an effort to survey the stately conifer forests and oak woodlands of Los Padres National Forest for the elusive raptor.

Then Vizzachero was ripped out of the picture. The 30-year-old wildlife biologist was among roughly 2,000 U.S. ...Read more

JUNEAU, Alaska — President Donald Trump has issued several executive orders in recent weeks to expand logging in the nation's forests, but stakeholders say the recent mass firings of U.S. Forest Service employees could hinder the administration's plans in Alaska.

Trump's actions are the latest chapter in a decades-long tug-of-war between ...Read more

NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams will soon get to fly home from the International Space Station, having flown up on Boeing’s Starliner, but headed home on a SpaceX Crew Dragon.

The duo joined SpaceX Crew-9 commander Nick Hague on Tuesday for a pre-departure news conference from the space station, having been on board just shy ...Read more

MOJAVE NATIONAL PRESERVE, Calif. — Deep in the Mojave National Preserve lies an old open pit mine where workers dug and drilled for gold and silver from the late 1800s to the 1990s. Miners are back at the Colosseum Mine today — but now they’re also looking for rare earth minerals used in advanced technologies.

The National Park Service ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX announced Monday its plans to launch Starship from Kennedy Space Center later this year while building out more support infrastructure in Florida to support two launch sites.

SpaceX has been building out a launch tower for the massive rocket at Kennedy Space Center Launch Complex 39-A while also pursuing the right to ...Read more

The last time SpaceX launched its Starship and Super Heavy rocket, the upper stage disintegrated spectacularly over the Atlantic. Two months later, SpaceX is set to try again with less explosive results.

A Monday attempt was scrubbed, but the company could attempt another launch as soon as Tuesday.

The Jan. 16 launch saw a successful catch of ...Read more

The last time SpaceX launched its Starship and Super Heavy rocket, the upper stage disintegrated spectacularly over the Atlantic. Two months later, SpaceX is set to try again today, Monday, with less explosive results.

The Jan. 16 launch saw a successful catch of the Super Heavy booster back at the Texas launch site, but the Starship spacecraft...Read more

Curious Kids is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to curiouskidsus@theconversation.com.

“How are clouds’ shapes made?” – Amanda, age 5, Chile

I’m a meteorologist, and I’ve been fascinated by weather since I was 8 years old. I grew up in Minnesota, ...Read more

The boat bobbed gently off Malibu's Big Rock Beach as a trio of scientific divers wriggled into wet suits and double-checked tanks and regulators.

Behind them unfurled a panorama of devastation from the Palisades fire a month earlier. Blackened vegetation dotted the hillsides rising above Pacific Coast Highway. Rubble and lonely chimneys ...Read more

Firefly Aerospace successfully landed its first robotic spacecraft on the moon on Sunday in partnership with NASA, marking the second time a commercial lander has pulled off the feat as more companies attempt to reach the lunar surface ahead of future human landings.

After journeying to the moon since its launch on Jan. 15, Firefly’s Blue ...Read more

For a brief window, Asteroid 2024 YR4 looked like a planetary hazard in the making. At up to 90 meters (295 feet) in diameter, it was described as a potential “city killer.” On its estimated trajectory, it could’ve collided with Earth as soon as 2032. According to the Torino Impact Hazard Scale, used to characterize such threats, it ranked...Read more

HARRISBURG, Pa. — At a dire point in the Chesapeake Bay restoration effort, some say hope is springing from an unlikely place: the state of Pennsylvania.

Maryland and other states filed a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency in 2020, arguing that heavily agricultural Pennsylvania was too far behind on its bay pollution ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Before there was light, there was cosmic inflation.

Before life, planet Earth, the first galaxies — and even before the violent explosion of hot dense primordial stuff scientists traditionally have thought of as the Big Bang — our universe was in an exotic state, expanding exponentially at an unfathomable rate.

It expanded ...Read more

Healthy coastal ecosystems play crucial roles in the U.S. economy, from supporting multibillion-dollar fisheries and tourism industries to protecting coastlines from storms.

They’re also difficult to manage, requiring specialized knowledge and technology.

That’s why the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration – ...Read more