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Jim Rossman/Jim Rossman/TNS

Do you really need separate antivirus software? Probably not

I had a conversation with a friend the other day at the gym. He is buying a new Windows PC and he’s thinking of investing in new antivirus software, and he asked me what I used for antivirus software.

He had his last PC for more than 10 years and he had been using one of the large antivirus suites that was charging him by the year.

Companies...Read more

OutIn/OutIn/TNS

Gadgets: Portable espresso machine

Coffee lovers, meet your new best friend, the OutIn Nano portable espresso machine. It redefines coffee on the go. You can use it for home, work, vacations or camping. Whenever or wherever you want a hot cup, turn it on and brew barista-quality espresso.

The thermos measures 9 inches high by 3 inches round and has a 7,500 mAh USB-C ...Read more

Karl Mondon/Bay Area News Group/TNS

Bay Area mom creates app to help parents find childcare on demand

The COVID-19 pandemic forced hundreds of daycare providers across the Bay Area to shut down, creating a “childcare desert.” That shortage inspired entrepreneur Gretchen Salyer to launch June Care, a platform that connects families with local moms and sitters.

What started in Silicon Valley and the Bay Area has now expanded nationwide. ...Read more

Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump administration dismisses 400 authors of National Climate Assessment

The Trump administration has dismissed all 400 authors of the National Climate Assessment, a congressionally mandated snapshot of the ways climate change is affecting life in the U.S.

The scientists and scholars who volunteer to co-author the report had already begun working on the 2028 assessment when the email landed in their inboxes Monday ...Read more

Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post/TNS

Colorado and Denver told owners to cut their buildings' carbon emissions. Did the rules go too far?

DENVER — It’s not that Intermountain Health refuses to upgrade its Denver hospital and medical clinics so they produce less pollution.

It’s the fact that the health system’s buildings are of different ages and sizes, and one of them — Saint Joseph Hospital — is open 24 hours a day. It’s a facility where lights and room temperature...Read more

Chris Joseph Taylor/TNS/TNS

Proposed change could reshape Endangered Species Act. Here's how it affects Washington state

A big change could be coming to U.S. wildlife conservation policy.

In mid-April, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced a proposal to change how the term “harm” would be defined in the Endangered Species Act.

Under the ESA, it’s illegal for someone to “take” a protected ...Read more

United Launch Alliance/United Launch Alliance/TNS

ULA knocks out 1st launch of year with Amazon's Project Kuiper satellites

It had been nearly seven months since United Launch Alliance had its last rocket launch, but the company’s first flight of 2025 came to fruition on Monday night.

A ULA Atlas V on the Kuiper 1 mission carrying 27 of Amazon’s satellites for its Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation lifted off at 7:01 p.m. Eastern time from Cape ...Read more

Andrew Harnik/Getty Images North America/TNS

EPA plans action to address PFAS, including 'polluter pays'

WASHINGTON — The EPA on Monday announced a series of “major actions” to address per- and polyfluoroalkyl substance contamination, including an initiative to work with Congress to ensure that liability adheres to the “polluter pays” principle.

The actions include designating an agency lead for the chemicals, commonly known as PFAS, ...Read more

Kevin Richardson/Baltimore Sun/TNS

Maryland launches multimillion-dollar quantum computing partnership

BALTIMORE — Maryland is partnering with a Department of Defense agency in a multimillion-dollar effort aimed at making College Park the global “capital of quantum,” an emerging field of computer science that some believe could be revolutionary.

Gov. Wes Moore, who unveiled the initiative on Monday, pitched quantum computing as an economic...Read more

United Launch Alliance/United Launch Alliance/TNS

United Launch Alliance back to try 1st launch of year with Amazon satellites

It’s been nearly seven months since United Launch Alliance had its last rocket launch, but the company’s first flight of 2025 could come to fruition on Monday night.

A ULA Atlas V on the Kuiper 1 mission carrying 27 of Amazon’s satellites for its Project Kuiper broadband internet constellation is targeting liftoff at 7 p.m. Eastern time ...Read more

Dominic Gwinn/Middle East Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/TNS

Commentary: What scientists need to do to save science

It has become a point of discussion and lament amongst science researchers that science is under attack. What was once considered a noble undertaking appears to be under attack by the current administration, as federal funding at numerous other universities are being threatened.

Yet the situation faced by science researchers did not occur in a...Read more

JOSEPH PREZIOSO/AFP/Getty Images North America/TNS

Shark researchers show what could happen to Cape Cod if great whites disappear

What would happen if great white sharks disappear from Cape Cod?

A new shark study shows the potential “ecosystem consequences” when the apex predator is no longer in a region, as a leading shark researcher stresses that great whites are keeping balance in the local ecosystem.

Shark scientists have zeroed in on South Africa over recent ...Read more

Tim Sheehan/Fresno Bee/TNS

Love dinosaurs? Here's what makes Central Valley a fossil hotspot

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — In 1936, a Central Valley teenager made an incredible discovery.

Gustine High School student Allan Bennison dug up the fossilized remains of a hadrosaurus — a duck-billed dinosaur that lived in North America during the Late Cretaceous Period, The Fresno Bee reported in 2013.

The bones, which Bennison found in Del ...Read more

More logging in Georgia's national forests? It's possible under a new directive

ATLANTA — Few states in the eastern U.S. are home to more national forestry lands than Georgia.

North Georgia’s Chattahoochee National Forest district spans 750,000 acres in portions of 18 counties. It is home to old growth trees, wild and scenic rivers, and the southern terminus of the famed Appalachian Trail.

Farther south, the Oconee ...Read more

Dreamstime/Dreamstime/TNS

Colorado's gray wolves roamed closer to metro Denver, farther south in mountains

DENVER — Colorado’s collared gray wolves continued to travel widely last month — even roaming in watersheds that reach into the western portions of metro Denver, according to a new map released this week by state wildlife officials.

Reintroduced wolves were tracked in watersheds from the Utah border in Mesa County, in the west, to the ...Read more

Anthony Souffle/Minnesota Star Tribune/TNS

Audit finds 55-year lapse in DNR's reporting of land inventory

The Department of Natural Resources does a good job selecting land to acquire, but the process takes too long and the agency has gone 55 years without the legislatively required reporting of an inventory of DNR-managed land, according to the Office of the Legislative Auditor.

The agency’s failure to publicly report its land holdings, as ...Read more

Maryland air pollution continues to worsen, report finds

BALTIMORE — Maryland counties’ air pollution continues to worsen, especially in Baltimore County, according to a newly published report, which found more ozone, smog and fine particles aloft across the state.

In its most recent “State of the Air” report, documenting air quality data from 2021 to 2023, the American Lung Association found...Read more

Judges doubt protection of Georgia wetland under federal law

ATLANTA — Federal appellate judges seemed doubtful Thursday that a wetland on St. Simons Island is protected by the Clean Water Act under a test recently created by the U.S. Supreme Court.

During a hearing in Atlanta, 11th Circuit judges indicated they might give two Georgia environmental organizations and a member who lives in Glynn County a...Read more

Department of Defense/TNS

Secretive 'Dark Eagle' hypersonic missile launches from Cape Canaveral

After a successful test from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station last December, the Army on Thursday officially named its long-range hypersonic weapon “Dark Eagle.” The system designed to “disintegrate adversary capabilities” was at it again Friday morning.

Images posted to social media showed the missile launch from Canaveral’s Space ...Read more

Alex Wong/Getty Images North America/TNS

Trump moves to ramp up deep-sea mining for critical minerals

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has signed an executive order intended to accelerate offshore mining and open new opportunities for extracting critical materials from the ocean floor despite the objections of environmentalists.

The measure directs the Commerce Department to speed up reviewing and issuing permits for exploration and ...Read more