DENVER — Deep, crusty snow piled up on fields in eastern Colorado after last week’s snowstorm is driving herds of pronghorn onto roads, and dozens of them are dying, state wildlife officials said.

Pronghorn are being hit by drivers in droves as they seek refuge from snow-covered fields, according to Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials. ...Read more

The United States has almost 2 million people behind bars in prisons, jails and detention centers – the largest such population in any country. Although incarcerated people are locked away from the outside world, they are even more vulnerable to the impacts of disasters, such as hurricanes and wildfires, than the rest of society.

...Read more

Fossil fuels are the leading driver of climate change, yet they are still heavily subsidized by governments around the world.

Although many countries have explicitly promised to reduce fossil fuel subsidies to combat climate change, this has proven difficult to accomplish. As a result, fossil fuels remain relatively inexpensive, and ...Read more

BIG PINE KEY, Fla. — The world’s only Key deer, the smallest subspecies of the white-tailed deer, are found in piney and marshy wetlands bordered by the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico on the Florida Keys.

For years, their biggest threat was being struck by vehicles speeding along U.S. Highway 1 or local roads.

But those waters ...Read more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — A recent study by Florida International University found 21 types of PFAS “forever chemicals” in South Florida’s rainwater. The evidence in the study suggests that some of the PFAS that end up in South Florida are carried over vast distances in the atmosphere via the water cycle.

There are thousands of types of ...Read more

A 2-year-old panther — listed as an endangered species — was found dead on a road in Florida, marking the 27th panther death in the state this year, records show.

The female panther was hit by a vehicle on Corkscrew Road in Collier County and discovered Nov. 8, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s Panther Pulse database...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX knocked out a pair of launches from its two pads on the Space Coast on Monday in just over four hours.

First up was a Falcon 9 on the Koreasat-6A from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A at 12:22 p.m. The second was a Starlink launch from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 40 at 4:28 p.m. ...Read more

Around 700 million years ago, the Earth cooled so much that scientists believe massive ice sheets encased the entire planet like a giant snowball. This global deep freeze, known as Snowball Earth, endured for tens of millions of years.

Yet, miraculously, early life not only held on, but thrived. When the ice melted and the ground ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — SpaceX has a pair of launches on tap Monday from its two launch pads on the Space Coast that could lift off within four hours of one anothter.

First up is a Falcon 9 on the Koreasat-6A from Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Pad 39-A targeting a window that runs from 12:07-4:07 p.m. and backup opportunities from 12:06-4:06 p.m. ...Read more

The chief technology officer at Land O’Lakes has a secret to making the cooperative, its owners and its customers more digitally adept: the human touch.

A majority of Teddy Bekele’s calendar is purple — the color assigned to one-on-one meetings — as he spends his days vacuuming up knowledge and dispensing it in turn.

“It’s not just...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.

Why does everything look flat even though the Earth is round? – Zayden, age 11, Corona, California

Ever since the ancient Greeks first made observations of the circular ...Read more

Researchers Jeff Crooks and Stephany Garcia checked the minnow traps left at the murky mouth of the Tijuana River on a sunny October morning.

They didn’t expect any catches. They haven’t had any for months. The estuary at the southern edge of California, which borders Mexico, has been too polluted with untreated wastewater and sedimentation...Read more

Carbon offsets have become big business as more companies make promises to protect the climate but can’t meet the goals on their own.

When a company buys carbon offsets, it pays a project elsewhere to reduce greenhouse gas emissions on its behalf – by planting trees, for example, or generating renewable energy. The idea is that ...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.

Can rainbows form in a circle? – Henry D., age 7, Cambridge, Massachusetts

The legend goes that there is a pot of gold hidden at the end of every rainbow. But is there ...Read more

COLUMBIA, S.C. — What should you do if you see a lizard the size of a dog running around your yard or in the woods?

South Carolina Department of Natural Resources says call them. Argentine Black and White Tegus are not native to the state, and in fact, were outlawed in 2021.

Will Dillman, assistant chief of wildlife at DNR, said call or ...Read more

Evelin Weber and her neighbors fled their Malibu homes as the deadly Woolsey Fire tore across the California coast in 2018. Ever since, haunted by fears of another blaze, she’s spent $300,000 on fireproofing her house.

Weber installed a fire hydrant outside her $4 million home, built a new turnaround for firetrucks in her driveway, planted ...Read more

The Pentagon’s first batch of new and more capable GPS satellites is as much as eight to 11 months behind the desired delivery schedule because contractor Lockheed Martin Corp. is having difficulty manufacturing some complex parts, according to the U.S. Space Force.

The initial 10 new “GPS IIIF” satellites are the first of a potential 22 ...Read more

LOS ANGELES — California air quality regulators late Friday approved tougher rules to encourage use of lower-carbon fuels, overriding objections that the action would lead to higher gasoline prices for motorists.

On an 12-to-2 vote, the California Air Resources Board approved amendments to the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, or LCFS, ...Read more

The Bay Area has long held the title for attracting the most venture capital funding in the nation, and that naturally includes the hot market for artificial intelligence startups. After all, San Francisco is home to some of the most prominent AI players, including ChatGPT maker OpenAI.

But the Greater L.A. area is growing its presence in this ...Read more

ORLANDO, Fla. — Details were not revealed about who and why one of the three NASA astronauts of the SpaceX Crew-8 mission had to be hospitalized after their return to Earth last month, but all three discussed Friday the slow recovery each faces after spending more than 235 days in space.

“I know there may be some interest in our post-flight...Read more