Science

Massive wildfire threatens iconic Joshua trees despite progress taming the flames

By Ty O'Neil, Stefanie Dazio, Rio Yamat, Associated Press

Firefighters aided by rain fought to contain a massive blaze that swept through the California desert into Nevada and are threatening the region's famous spiky trees.

Beijing records heaviest rainfall in 140 years, severe flooding and 21 deaths

By Andy Wong, Huizhong Wu, Associated Press

China's capital has recorded its heaviest rainfall in at least 140 years over the past few days.

80 percent of humans on Earth had hotter July due to climate change, scientists find

By Seth Borenstein, Associated Press

A new quick study finds that human-caused global warming made July hotter for four out of five people on Earth.

Who was Henrietta Lacks? Here’s how HeLa cells became essential to medical research

By Ivan Martinez, The Conversation

On Aug. 1, 2023, over 70 years after doctors took Lacks’ cells without her consent or knowledge, her family reached a settlement with biotech company Thermo Fisher.

Blue blood from horseshoe crabs is needed for medicine, but a declining bird species relies on the crabs to eat

By Patrick Whittle, Associated Press

The animals are drained of some of their blood and returned to the environment, yet some inevitably die. Regulators say recent revisions to the guidelines for handling the animals should keep more alive through the process.

Chatbots can make things up. Can we fix AI’s hallucination problem?

By Matt O'Brien, Associated Press

Builders of AI systems known as large language models say they're working to make them more truthful. But some experts say the problem isn't fixable.

Why towing stranded whales and dolphins back out to sea doesn’t always work

By Vanessa Pirotta, The Conversation

Towing whales and dolphins is not simple — rescuers have to have good conditions and a fair dash of luck for it to succeed.

Get ready to catch a double supermoon feature this August. Here’s when to look

By Marcia Dunn, Associated Press

The last time two full supermoons graced the sky in the same month was in 2018. It won’t happen again until 2037, according to Italian astronomer Gianluca Masi, founder of the Virtual Telescope Project.

Analysis: Whistleblower testimonies did not change our basic understanding of UFOs

By Chris Impey, The Conversation

While Wednesday's congressional hearings brought attention to unidentified anomalous phenomena and could lead to a push for more government transparency, the testimonies did not produce evidence to fundamentally change the understanding of UAPs.