Has T. rex lost its bite? Menacing snarl may be wrong
March 30, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — The Tyrannosaurus rex is often shown baring massive, sharp teeth, like the ferocious creature in “Jurassic Park.” But new research suggests that this classic image might be wrong.
Horses came to American West by early 1600s, study finds
March 30, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — The horse is symbolic of the American West, but when and how domesticated horses first reached the region has long been a matter of historical debate.
A new analysis of horse bones gathered from museums across the Great Plains and northern Rockies has revealed that horses were present in the grasslands by the early 1600s, earlier than many written histories suggest.
EU reaches provisional deal to raise renewable energy target
March 30, 2023 GMTBRUSSELS (AP) — European Union countries and negotiators from the EU's parliament reached a provisional deal Thursday to raise the share of renewables in the bloc's energy mix, another step to accelerate its green transition.
Their stories were lost to slavery. Now DNA is writing them
March 28, 2023 GMTCHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — In the 1700s, a boy was born into slavery in Colonial America. He spent his life working in the coastal city of Charleston, South Carolina. And when he died in middle age, he was buried alongside 35 other slaves.
Boeing’s 1st astronaut flight to space delayed until July
March 29, 2023 GMTCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Boeing’s first launch of astronauts has been delayed again, this time until July.
NASA announced the latest postponement Wednesday, saying more time is needed to certify and test the Starliner capsule's parachute system before the spacecraft blasts off with two test pilots.
Spain clean energy case shakes confidence in EU investment
March 29, 2023 GMTMADRID (AP) — Renewable energy investors who lost subsidies promised by Spain are heading to a London court to try to claw back $125 million from the government — a decadelong dispute with ramifications for clean energy financing across the European Union.
Some in dry Somalia break Ramadan fast with little but water
March 29, 2023 GMTMOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) — This year’s holy month of Ramadan coincides with the longest drought on record in Somalia.
Australia makes biggest carbon polluters curb emissions
March 30, 2023 GMTCANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian Parliament created landmark new laws Thursday that will make the nation’s biggest greenhouse gas polluters reduce their emissions or pay for carbon credits.
Swiss seniors take government to European court over climate
March 29, 2023 GMTSTRASBOURG, France (AP) — A group of Swiss retirees took their government to a top European court Wednesday over what they claim is its failure to take sufficient action on climate change.
Lawyers and members of the group Senior Women for Climate Protection appeared before the European Court of Human Rights for a rare public hearing that activists say could mark a legal milestone in efforts to force governments to curb greenhouse gas emissions.
Tornado-spawning storms may get worse due to warming
March 28, 2023 GMTAmerica will probably get more killer tornado- and hail-spawning supercells as the world warms, according to a new study that also warns the lethal storms will edge eastward to strike more frequently in the more populous Southern states, like Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee.
Fiona, Ian retired from list of tropical cyclone names
March 29, 2023 GMTMIAMI (AP) — Weather officials announced Wednesday that they're retiring the names Fiona and Ian from the rotating list of Atlantic tropical cyclone names because of the death and destruction caused by the most recent storms with those names.
Musk, scientists call for halt to AI race sparked by ChatGPT
March 29, 2023 GMTAre tech companies moving too fast in rolling out powerful artificial intelligence technology that could one day outsmart humans?
That's the conclusion of a group of prominent computer scientists and other tech industry notables such as Elon Musk and Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak who are calling for a 6-month pause to consider the risks.
Elephant in the dining room: Startup makes mammoth meatball
March 29, 2023 GMTAMSTERDAM (AP) — Throw another mammoth on the barbie?
An Australian company on Tuesday lifted the glass cloche on a meatball made of lab-grown cultured meat using the genetic sequence from the long-extinct pachyderm, saying it was meant to fire up public debate about the hi-tech treat.
Planets on parade: 5 will be lined up in night sky this week
March 28, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Keep an eye to the sky this week for a chance to see a planetary hangout.
Five planets — Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, Uranus and Mars — will line up near the moon.
U.S. renewable electricity surpassed coal in 2022
March 28, 2023 GMTElectricity generated from renewables surpassed coal in the United States for the first time in 2022, the U.S. Energy Information Administration announced Monday.
Renewables also surpassed nuclear generation in 2022 after first doing so last year.
Uncrewed Russian spacecraft that leaked coolant lands safely
March 28, 2023 GMTMOSCOW (AP) — A Russian space capsule safely returned to Earth without a crew Tuesday, months after it suffered a coolant leak in orbit.
California farmers flood fields to boost groundwater basin
March 28, 2023 GMTA field that has long grown tomatoes, peppers and onions now looks like a wind-whipped ocean as farmer Don Cameron seeks to capture the runoff from a freakishly wet year in California to replenish the groundwater basin that is his only source to water his crops.
Do Adani’s woes matter for India’s clean energy transition?
March 28, 2023 GMTBENGALURU, India (AP) — When the bidders for India's multibillion-dollar incentive to make solar components were announced in early March, the absence of corporate behemoth Adani Group was conspicuous.
Rare beetle species named after ex-California governor Brown
March 28, 2023 GMTBERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — Scientists are naming a rare species of beetle in honor of former California Gov. Jerry Brown after finding one at his ranch.
Bembidion brownorum was last seen in 1966, but it hadn't been named or described until one was collected near a creek on Brown's ranch in Colusa County, about an hour's drive northwest of Sacramento, the University of California, Berkeley announced Monday.
New source of water found in moon samples from China mission
March 27, 2023 GMTCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Scientists have discovered a new and renewable source of water on the moon for future explorers in lunar samples from a Chinese mission.
Water was embedded in tiny glass beads in the lunar dirt where meteorite impacts occur.
No atmosphere found at faraway Earth-sized world, study says
March 27, 2023 GMTCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Webb Space Telescope has found no evidence of an atmosphere at one of the seven rocky, Earth-sized planets orbiting another star.
Scientists said Monday that doesn’t bode well for the rest of the planets in this solar system, some of which are in the sweet spot for harboring water and potentially life.
Mexico sanctioned for not protecting endangered porpoise
March 25, 2023 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico acknowledged Saturday it faces sanctions from the international wildlife body known as CITES for not doing enough to protect the vaquita marina, a small porpoise that is the world’s most endangered marine mammal.
California eases water restrictions, but drought isn’t over
March 24, 2023 GMTDUNNIGAN, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom ended some of the state's water restrictions on Friday because a winter of relentless rain and snow has replenished the state's reservoirs and eased fears of a shortage after three years of severe drought.
Bezos’ rocket company pins crash on overheated engine nozzle
March 24, 2023 GMTCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An overheated rocket engine nozzle caused last year’s Blue Origin launch failure that has grounded flights for six months, the company said Friday.
Russians, American delayed in space to return in September
March 24, 2023 GMTMOSCOW (AP) — Two cosmonauts and an astronaut who were supposed to leave the International Space Station this month will be brought back to Earth in late September, doubling their time aboard the orbiting laboratory to more than a year, Russia's space agency announced Friday.
Asteroid that could wipe out a city is near, but don’t fear
March 23, 2023 GMTCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — An asteroid big enough to wipe out a city will zip harmlessly between Earth and the moon's orbit this weekend, missing both celestial bodies.
Saturday’s close encounter will offer astronomers the chance to study a space rock from just over 100,000 miles (168,000 kilometers) away.
A fish can sense another’s fear, a study shows
March 23, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — Our capacity to care about others may have very, very ancient origins, a new study suggests.
It might have been deep-rooted in prehistoric animals that lived millions of years ago, before fish and mammals like us diverged on the tree of life, according to researchers who published their study Thursday in the journal Science.
3D-printed rocket fails just after launch
March 23, 2023 GMTCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A rocket made almost entirely of 3D-printed parts made its launch debut Wednesday night, lifting off amid fanfare but failing three minutes into flight — far short of orbit.
What made Beethoven sick? DNA from his hair offers clues
March 22, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Nearly 200 years after Ludwig van Beethoven's death, researchers pulled DNA from strands of his hair, searching for clues about the health problems and hearing loss that plagued him.
One of the oldest surviving Bibles could be yours — for $30 million
March 22, 2023 GMTJERUSALEM (AP) — One of the oldest surviving biblical manuscripts, a nearly complete 1,100-year-old Hebrew Bible, could soon be yours — for a cool $30 million.
The Codex Sassoon, a leather-bound, handwritten parchment tome containing almost the entirety of the Hebrew Bible, is set to go on the block at Sotheby’s in New York in May.
A 5,000-mile seaweed belt is headed toward Florida
March 22, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — A 5,000-mile seaweed belt lurking in the Atlantic Ocean is expected in the next few months to wash onto beaches in the Caribbean Sea, South Florida, and the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico.
11 killed as strong earthquake rattles Pakistan, Afghanistan
March 22, 2023 GMTISLAMABAD (AP) — A magnitude 6.5 earthquake rattled much of Pakistan and Afghanistan on Tuesday, sending panicked residents fleeing from homes and offices and frightening people in remote villages. At least nine people died in Pakistan and two in Afghanistan, officials said Wednesday
Residents sue Louisiana parish to halt polluting plants
March 22, 2023 GMTResidents of a Louisiana parish located in the heart of a cluster of polluting petrochemical factories filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday raising allegations of civil rights, environmental justice and religious liberty violations.
Snap! Venus fly trap fans ask South Carolina to honor plant
March 22, 2023 GMTCOLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Conservationists are pushing for the Venus fly trap to be South Carolina's official carnivorous plant, joining other official items such as the state bird (Carolina Wren), state opera (Porgy and Bess) and the state snack (boiled peanuts).
Biden creates national monuments in Nevada, Texas mountains
March 21, 2023 GMTWASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden said Tuesday he is establishing national monuments on more than half a million acres in Nevada and Texas and creating a marine sanctuary in U.S. waters near the Pacific Remote Islands southwest of Hawaii.
Number of monarch butterflies wintering in Mexico drops 22%
March 21, 2023 GMTMEXICO CITY (AP) — The number of monarch butterflies wintering in the mountains of central Mexico dropped 22% from the previous year, and the number of trees lost from their favored wintering grounds tripled.
EU warns Spain over expanding irrigation near prized wetland
March 21, 2023 GMTBARCELONA, Spain (AP) — The European Union has warned Spain that it won’t tolerate renewed plans by regional politicians in the country’s south to expand irrigation near the prized Doñana wetlands, which scientists and ecologists say are in danger of drying up.
No telling how much more snow coming for Sierra Nevada
March 21, 2023 GMTRENO, Nev. (AP) — No one really knows how much snow fell on the infamous Donner Party when the pioneers were trapped atop the Sierra Nevada for months and dozens died near Lake Tahoe in the winter of 1846-47.
Nuclear contamination testing planned at St. Louis-area park
March 21, 2023 GMTST. LOUIS (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers plans to test for radioactive contamination at a suburban St. Louis park that sits along a notoriously toxic creek, a Corps official said Tuesday.
The Corps of Engineers is seeking permission from St.
UN chief’s call for ambition on climate gets muted response
March 21, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — Senior government officials at a climate meeting in Copenhagen gave a muted response Tuesday to calls from the head of the United Nations for countries to show greater ambition when it comes to reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
African nations consider swapping debt for climate funding
March 21, 2023 GMTMOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — African countries saddled with debt and ravaged by losses and damages from weather events like cyclones, drought and extreme temperatures have agreed to consider swapping debt to invest in climate action in a meeting of finance ministers in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
World on ‘thin ice’ as UN climate report gives stark warning
March 20, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — Humanity still has a chance, close to the last, to prevent the worst of climate change's future harms, a top United Nations panel of scientists said Monday.
Last wild Atlantic salmon can survive Maine dams, feds say
March 20, 2023 GMTPORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The federal government ruled Monday that the last wild Atlantic salmon in the country can coexist with hydroelectric dams on a Maine river, dealing a blow to environmentalists who have long sought to remove the dams.
It’s the first day of spring: Here’s what that really means
March 20, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Spring has sprung!
Monday marked the spring equinox — at least for those in the Northern Hemisphere.
Thai officials trace missing radioactive cylinder to foundry
March 20, 2023 GMTBANGKOK (AP) — Thai officials said Monday they have traced to a recycling foundry a metal cylinder with radioactive contents that was discovered earlier this month missing from a power plant, but advised that there appeared to be no public health hazard.
Their world was the oyster: Oldest pearl town found in UAE
March 20, 2023 GMTSINIYAH ISLAND, United Arab Emirates (AP) — Archaeologists said Monday they have found the oldest pearling town in the Persian Gulf on an island off one of the northern sheikhdoms of the United Arab Emirates.
Report: 43,000 estimated dead in Somalia drought last year
March 20, 2023 GMTNAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A new report says an estimated 43,000 people died amid Somalia's longest drought on record last year and half of them likely were children under 5 years old.
Nations approve key UN science report on climate change
March 19, 2023 GMTBERLIN (AP) — Governments gave their blessing on Sunday to a major new U.N. report on climate change, after approval was held up by a battle between rich and developing countries over emissions targets and financial aid to vulnerable nations.
Millions of dead fish wash up amid heat wave in Australia
March 19, 2023 GMTCANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Millions of fish have washed up dead in southeastern Australia in a die-off that authorities and scientists say is caused by depleted oxygen levels in the river after recent floods and hot weather.
Regulators: Nuclear plant leak didn’t require public notice
March 18, 2023 GMTMinnesota regulators knew four months ago that radioactive waste had leaked from a nuclear power plant in Monticello — but they didn’t announce anything about the leak until this week.
New COVID origins data point to raccoon dogs in China market
March 17, 2023 GMTBEIJING (AP) — Genetic material collected at a Chinese market near where the first human cases of COVID-19 were identified show raccoon dog DNA comingled with the virus, adding evidence to the theory that the virus originated from animals, not from a lab, international experts say.
Scientists create mice with cells from 2 males for 1st time
March 17, 2023 GMTFor the first time, scientists have created baby mice from two males.
This raises the distant possibility of using the same technique for people – although experts caution that very few mouse embryos developed into live mouse pups and no one knows whether it would work for humans.
Microsoft adds AI tools to office apps like Outlook, Word
March 17, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft is infusing artificial intelligence tools into its suite of office software, including Word, Excel and Outlook emails.
The company said Thursday the new feature, named Copilot, is a processing engine that will allow users to do things like summarize long emails, draft stories in Word and animate slides in PowerPoint.
Drought over? Spring outlook finds relief -- and flood risk
March 16, 2023 GMTALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — Record snowfall and rain have helped to loosen drought’s grip on parts of the western U.S. as national forecasters and climate experts warned Thursday that some areas should expect more flooding as the snow begins to melt.
Floods fill some of California’s summer strawberry fields
March 16, 2023 GMTAs river water gushed through a broken levee, thousands of people in a California farming town were forced to evacuate as their homes were flooded and businesses destroyed.
Willow oil project approval intensifies Alaska Natives’ rift
March 16, 2023 GMTANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration’s approval this week of the biggest oil drilling project in Alaska in decades promises to widen a rift among Alaska Natives, with some saying that oil money can't counter the damages caused by climate change and others defending the project as economically vital.
Virgin Orbit pausing all work, reportedly furloughs staff
March 16, 2023 GMTLONDON (AP) — Virgin Orbit said Thursday it is pausing all operations amid reports that the company is furloughing almost all its staff as part of a bid to seek a funding lifeline.
The California-based satellite launch company confirmed it's putting all work on hold, but didn't say how long for.
Seeking Alzheimer’s clues from few who escape genetic fate
March 16, 2023 GMTST. LOUIS (AP) — Doug Whitney inherited the same gene mutation that gave Alzheimer’s disease to his mother, brother and generations of other relatives by the unusually young age of 50.
Storms end Southern California water restrictions for 7M
March 16, 2023 GMTLOS ANGELES (AP) — California’s 11th atmospheric river left the storm-soaked state with a bang Wednesday, bringing flooded roadways, landslides and toppled trees to the southern part of the state as well as drought-busting rainfall that meant the end of water restrictions for nearly 7 million people.
Musk brought internet to Brazil’s Amazon. Criminals love it.
March 16, 2023 GMTATALAIA DO NORTE, Brazil (AP) — Brazilian federal agents aboard three helicopters descended on an illegal mining site on Tuesday in the Amazon rainforest. They were met with gunfire, and the shooters escaped, leaving behind an increasingly familiar find for authorities: Starlink internet units.
US tribes get bison as they seek to restore bond with animal
March 16, 2023 GMTGOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — Dozens of bison from a mountain park outside Denver were transferred Wednesday to several tribes from across the Great Plains, in the latest example of Native Americans reclaiming stewardship over animals their ancestors lived alongside for millennia.
Here’s how an AI tool may flag parents with disabilities
March 15, 2023 GMTPITTSBURGH (AP) — For the two weeks that the Hackneys’ baby girl lay in a Pittsburgh hospital bed weak from dehydration, her parents rarely left her side, sometimes sleeping on the fold-out sofa in the room.
NASA Webb telescope captures star on cusp of death
March 15, 2023 GMTCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — The Webb Space Telescope has captured the rare and fleeting phase of a star on the cusp of death.
Future NASA moonwalkers to sport sleeker spacesuits
March 15, 2023 GMTCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Moonwalking astronauts will have sleeker, more flexible spacesuits that come in different sizes when they step onto the lunar surface later this decade.
Arctic sea ice thins in 2 big jumps, and now more vulnerable
March 15, 2023 GMTClimate change attacked crucial Arctic sea ice thickness in two sudden big gobbles instead of steady nibbling, a new study says.
Not magic: Opaque AI tool may flag parents with disabilities
March 15, 2023 GMTPITTSBURGH (AP) — For the two weeks that the Hackneys’ baby girl lay in a Pittsburgh hospital bed weak from dehydration, her parents rarely left her side, sometimes sleeping on the fold-out sofa in the room.
Alaska oil project approval adds yet another climate concern
March 14, 2023 GMTJUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — The Biden administration’s approval of a massive oil development in northern Alaska commits the U.S.
Hundreds dead as Cyclone Freddy wrecks Malawi, Mozambique
March 14, 2023 GMTBLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — The devastating Tropical Cyclone Freddy which has ripped through southern Africa in a rare second landfall has killed at least 219 people in Malawi and Mozambique since Saturday night, with the death toll expected to rise.
Scientists say climate change goosed New Zealand storm fury
March 14, 2023 GMTClimate change worsened flooding from a tropical cyclone that shut down much of New Zealand last month in one of the country's costliest disasters, scientists said, but they couldn't quite calculate how much it magnified the catastrophe.
Death toll climbs as Cyclone Freddy slams Malawi, Mozambique
March 14, 2023 GMTBLANTYRE, Malawi (AP) — An unrelenting Cyclone Freddy that is currently battering southern Africa has killed at least 56 people in Malawi and Mozambique since it struck the continent for a second time on Saturday night, authorities in both countries have confirmed.
Do-not-eat listing draws lawsuit from Maine lobster industry
March 13, 2023 GMTPORTLAND, Maine (AP) — A coalition representing the Maine lobster industry is suing an aquarium on the other side of the country for recommending that seafood customers avoid buying a variety of lobster mostly harvested in their state.
How this little see-through fish gets its rainbow shimmer
March 13, 2023 GMTNEW YORK (AP) — You can see right through this little aquarium fish from Thailand: Its skin is almost completely transparent. But when the light hits it just right, its body flickers with shimmering rainbow colors.
Confirmed: Global floods, droughts worsening with warming
March 13, 2023 GMTThe intensity of extreme drought and rainfall has “sharply” increased over the past 20 years, according to a study published Monday in the journal Nature Water. These aren’t merely tough weather events, they are leading to extremes such as crop failure, infrastructure damage, even humanitarian crises and conflict.
Tropical Cyclone Freddy hammers Mozambique for second time
March 13, 2023 GMTMOMBASA, Kenya (AP) — Record-breaking Cyclone Freddy made its second landfall in Mozambique on Saturday night, pounding the southern African nation with heavy rains and disrupting transport and telecommunications services.
How coconuts protect the Jersey Shore, other eroding coasts
March 12, 2023 GMTNEPTUNE, N.J. (AP) — Coastal communities around the world are adding a tropical twist to shoreline protection, courtesy of the humble coconut.
From the sands of the Jersey Shore to the islands of Indonesia, strands of coconut husk, known as coir, are being incorporated into shoreline protection projects.
Four astronauts fly SpaceX back home, end 5-month mission
March 12, 2023 GMTCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — Four space station astronauts returned to Earth late Saturday after a quick SpaceX flight home.
Their capsule splashed down in the Gulf of Mexico just off the Florida coast near Tampa.
Scientists: Hawaii’s Kilauea not erupting, reversing warning
March 12, 2023 GMTHONOLULU (AP) — Hawaii's second-largest volcano is not erupting, scientists said in an update to a previous warning.
The U.S. Geological Survey said in a statement late Saturday that seismic activity beneath the summit of Kilauea “has returned to background levels, ground deformation has stabilized, and no lava has been observed at the surface.”
3D-printed rocket remains grounded after more launch aborts
March 11, 2023 GMTCAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A rocket made almost completely of 3D-printed parts came within a half-second of blasting off Saturday on its debut flight, but remained grounded after back-to-back launch aborts.