Science

World Economic Forum spotlights the opportunities and risks of AI

By Kelvin Chan, Associated Press

Advances in generative AI stunned the world last year, and the elite crowd is angling to take advantage of its promise and minimize its risks.

Why you may be eating and drinking more microplastics than you thought

By John Yang, Lorna Baldwin, Andrew Corkery, Andrew Chambers

From takeout containers to water bottles, plastic seems unavoidable in our daily lives. Now, two new studies have found that we’re eating and drinking more plastic than we might have realized. George Leonard, a co-author of one of the studies…

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Laundry is a top source of microplastic pollution. Here's how to clean your clothes more sustainably

By Judith Weis, The Conversation

Textiles shed microfibers while they are manufactured, worn and disposed of, but especially when they are washed. A single wash load can release several million microfibers.

EPA proposes 'methane fee' for waste generated by oil and natural gas companies

By Matthew Daly, Associated Press

EPA Administrator Michael Regan said the proposed fee would work in tandem with a final rule on methane emissions EPA announced last month.

Snow in the West and flooding in the Northeast. And more winter storms on the way

By Kathy McCormack, Scott McFetridge, Associated Press

Forecasters say more bad weather is in store after storms that battered nearly every corner of the United States.

Holiday gatherings and a new variant have driven up COVID cases globally, WHO says

By Associated Press

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says nearly 10,000 deaths were reported in December, while hospital admissions during the month jumped 42 percent in nearly 50 countries — mostly in Europe and the Americas — that shared such trend information.

Billion-dollar weather and climate disasters broke U.S. record in 2023, NOAA says

By Shuang-Ye Wu, The Conversation

While 2023 wasn’t the most expensive year overall, it had the highest number of billion-dollar storms, floods, droughts and fires of any year since counting began in 1980.

Carbon pollution is down in the U.S., but not fast enough to meet Biden's 2030 goal, new report says

By Matthew Daly, Associated Press

The report from the Rhodium Group said the decline is a step in the right direction but far below the rate needed to meet President Joe Biden's pledge to cut U.S. emissions in half by 2030.

First human moon landing in over 50 years delayed to 2026

By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press

The news came barely an hour after a U.S. company abandoned its own attempt to land on the moon because of a fuel leak.

Earth was hotter than ever in 2023, approaching 1.5-degree warming limit

By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press

There are several factors that made 2023 the warmest year on record, but by far the biggest factor was the ever-increasing amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that trap heat.