Clouds form when water vapor – an invisible gas in the atmosphere – sticks to tiny floating particles, such as dust, and turns into liquid water droplets or ice crystals. In a newly published study, we show that microplastic particles can have the same effects, producing ice crystals at temperatures 5 to 10 degrees Celsius (9 to 18 ...Read more

America’s military veterans make up about 6% of the adult population but account for about 20% of all suicides. That means that each day, about 18 veterans will die by suicide.

In the U.S., the overall rate of suicide has largely increased since the start of the millennium, but veterans are disproportionately represented among this ...Read more

During cheerleading practice in April, Jana Duey’s sixth-grade daughter, Karter, sustained a concussion when she fell several feet headfirst onto a gym floor mat. Days after, Karter still had a headache, dizziness, and sensitivity to light and noise.

Karter rested for a week and a half at home in Centennial, Colorado, then returned to school ...Read more

LOS ANGELES -- Madie Moore went to prison in 1995, convicted of murdering her 8-year-old niece, LaToya. The little girl’s battered body was found stuffed in a trash can, encased in concrete, in a shed behind the family home.

Moore had gone in at 45. At 74, in a wheelchair and blind in one eye, she was trying to get out.

As she spoke to the ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — In downtown Los Angeles, parking lots are often placeholders, eventually giving rise to future development, but in the district known as South Park, one parking lot might just stay low.

Surrounded by residential towers, this ordinary patch of asphalt at 11th Street and South Grand Avenue, smaller than an ice-skating rink, may ...Read more

WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s victory Tuesday heralds a potential sea change in court fights over a swath of Biden administration policies, including access to gender-affirming care, immigration, environmental rules and gun control.

The highest profile of those shifts may come at the Supreme Court, where the Biden administration is currently ...Read more

CHICAGO — Before they lost contact, Ellie Dyckman relied on her younger brother Joey. He helped her cope with her divorce, taught her two daughters how to swim and ride a bicycle and coached her daughters’ softball team in grade school.

He had a messy room, but his car was “always immaculate,” Dyckman said. He loved “The Three Stooges...Read more

For one reason or another, Americans occasionally find themselves asking what steps are needed to become a citizen of another country. According to the American Bar Association, immigration lawyers in the U.S. are fielding a larger than usual number of questions about getting a second passport or obtaining permanent residency abroad.

America ...Read more

ST. LOUIS — Inside the more than 600 Catholic hospitals across the country, not a single nun can be found occupying a chief executive suite, according to the Catholic Health Association.

Nuns founded and led those hospitals in a mission to treat sick and poor people, but some were also shrewd business leaders. Sister Irene Kraus, a former ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — Strong winds helped push along a wildfire in Ventura County that quickly grew to 10,431 acres by Wednesday afternoon — causing injuries and prompting evacuations.

Multiple people have been injured in the Mountain fire and transported to hospitals, the Ventura County Fire Department said, with numerous structures threatened. ...Read more

If there is one thing Donald Trump is clear on, it’s winners and losers.

The transactional nature of his first presidency showed how he ranked leaders based on their perceived strengths and weaknesses — and his personal taste. That meant Germany was cut down to size but the likes of North Korea got an audience.

How everyone fits into his ...Read more

Less than three weeks after Cuba lost all electrical service for several days, Hurricane Rafael’s strong winds knocked out the country’s electrical grid again Wednesday afternoon, leaving the island without service, the state electricity company said.

The state-owned Electric Union said that the strong winds “caused the disconnection of ...Read more

JERUSALEM — Israel sees Donald Trump’s dramatic U.S. election victory as freeing its hand to press on with the wars against Hamas and Hezbollah and even contemplate strikes aimed at disabling Iran’s nuclear program.

“You do what you have to do,” Trump told Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last month when asked how to handle ...Read more

China extended its congratulations to Donald Trump for his victory in the U.S. election, while the president-elect reportedly spoke on the phone with Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

A Foreign Ministry spokesperson commended the Republican on his win over Kamala Harris, according to a statement late Wednesday night. “We respect the choice of the ...Read more

SAN JOSE, Calif. — Protesters took to the streets Wednesday evening in San Jose and Berkeley, in a public outcry aimed at both major political parties one day after the reelection of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House in an election with margins that surprised many pundits.

Around 100 protesters gathered in San Jose near the ...Read more

PHILADELPHIA — Long-simmering tensions between Philadelphia's Democratic Party chair and Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign erupted in public after her loss on Wednesday.

As Democrats across the state were processing Harris' defeat by former President Donald Trump, former U.S. Rep. Bob Brady, the party chair since 1988, ...Read more

CANBERRA, Australia — Children in Australia under the age of 16 will be banned from social media as part of a push to protect young people’s mental health, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said, with firms involved required to enforce the new regulations or face potential fines.

“Social media is doing harm to our kids and I’m calling ...Read more

WASHINGTON — The decisive election of Donald Trump on Tuesday sent a clear message to Aquilino Gonell and other officers who protected the Capitol from rioters on Jan. 6, 2021.

“It means that the American people have accepted Jan. 6 as something that could be condoned,” the former Capitol Police sergeant said the morning after Trump won ...Read more

The results of some congressional races may foreshadow who will have outsize health policy influence in Congress next year.

Congress will face decisions over whether to renew premium marketplace subsidies, how to pay for federal health policy programs and whether and how to address pharmacy benefit manager practices, drug pricing and other key ...Read more