Every time someone uses ChatGPT to write an essay, create an image or advise them on planning their day, the environment pays a price. A query on the chatbot that uses artificial intelligence is estimated to require at least 10 times more electricity than a standard search on Google. If…

SAN LUIS OBISPO —  Under two gargantuan domes of thick concrete and steel that rise along California’s rugged Central Coast, subatomic particles slam into uranium, triggering one of the most energetic reactions on Earth. Amid coastal bluffs speckled with brush and buckwheat, Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant uses this energy to…

SpaceX will bring home the two astronauts stranded on the International Space Station for the last two months because of troubles with Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, NASA announced Saturday. NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the decision, which followed a formal review conducted Saturday, was driven by the agency’s commitment to safety,…

After his heartfelt reaction to his father’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention thrust him into the spotlight, 17-year-old Gus Walz has become one of the most high-profile people with nonverbal learning disorder. The condition doesn’t mean Gus can’t speak — he does. After hearing his dad, Minnesota Gov.…

It was the year COVID-19 vaccines became widely available, and the pandemic’s startling death toll in California and elsewhere appeared close to being reined in. Instead, life expectancy in California fell by more than 8 months in 2021, dropping the Golden State to 10th place in the nation, according to…

With California’s COVID surge at very high levels, doctors are urging people who are experiencing respiratory symptoms to test themselves or see a medical professional who can check on their illness. This is the worst COVID summer infection spike in California since 2022, according to wastewater data. There are a…

When Erika Flores applied for an internship at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in 2014, she wasn’t quite sure if her undergraduate work in environmental science fit at a place known for work much farther afield. “I wanted to fix our planet,” Flores said recently. “I didn’t really imagine myself studying…

In the early days of the COVID lockdown, Hiroyuki Egami was desperate to get his hands on a Nintendo Switch. He already had one of the handheld game devices, but he also had two sons who were old enough to fight over it. The only way to maintain the peace…

In the middle of summer, most Southern Californians would be surprised to see more than a handful of clouds in the sky (unless you count clouds of wildfire smoke). But on July 14 in Twentynine Palms, a rapidly developed thunderstorm dropped about 1.88 inches of rain in a couple hours…

A California bill that would have imposed regulations on kratom products was quietly shelved Thursday following a clash between advocacy groups focused on the burgeoning industry. Kratom products are derived from the leaves of a tree that grows in Southeast Asia, where kratom has long been chewed and brewed into…

Remember when Elmo went viral in January by asking folks on the Internet how they were doing and briefly became the unofficial therapist of X? “The world is burning, Elmo,” an X user who goes by Not the Bee told the usually upbeat “Sesame Street” character. “No amount of tickles…

I have been a cancer doctor for 40 years and have seen our treatments evolve to embrace precision medicine and immunotherapy, which can be less harmful to patients than conventional forms of chemotherapy. And yet conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy — designed to attack and kill rapidly dividing cells — is still…

Near the Salton Sea, a company plans to build a data center to support artificial intelligence that would cover land the size of 15 football fields and require power that could support 425,000 homes. In Santa Clara — the heart of Silicon Valley — electric rates are rising as the…

MORRO BAY, Calif. —  By the time the rescue squad got to her, a small crowd had formed around the agitated California sea lion. As the team crept toward her — carrying large wooden shields and a giant net — the animal’s head weaved, craned and rocked back and forth in…

The past two weeks of Olympic competition in Paris have brought us amazing stories of athletic skill, speed, triumph and redemption. Perhaps they’ve left you newly inspired to train for a 10K or win your weekend basketball league. Even if you’re not destined to compete on a world stage, learning…

PARIS —  It sounds like the plot to a cheesy black-and-white movie from the 1940s. A lunk of a guy goes out to the barn behind his house every night and tosses a metal ball as far as he can. Over and over. He tries shifting his feet, turning his body…

In a matter of days, the easygoing vibe of summer break will be replaced with the rigid schedules of a new school year. The transition isn’t always easy, even for kids who are eager to return to the classroom. And if children are nervous about a new teacher, new school,…

A Los Angeles County jury found businesses that make or distribute engineered stone at fault Wednesday for the suffering of a 34-year-old stonecutter afflicted with an incurable disease. In a decision watched closely by silicosis experts and the stone industry, jurors deliberating at Stanley Mosk Courthouse in downtown L.A. decided…

Hospitals must promptly report to the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health every time they try to collect medical debt from patients, under an ordinance backed Tuesday by county supervisors. The ordinance, which requires a second vote to be adopted, requires hospitals to tell the county within a month…

Skateboarders call it “pumping,” and it’s a skill that both Olympic medalists and aspiring thrashers use to build launch speed from what seems like thin air. But what separates the steeziest pro from the sketchiest beginner is the years’ worth of practice it takes to develop the know-how to execute…

PARIS —  A Summer Olympics that hoped to champion inclusivity — choosing “Games Wide Open” as its slogan — has become embroiled in loud, angry debates over who should and should not be allowed to compete as a woman. The dispute has triggered conflicting official statements, pointed comments and unhinged social…

After decades of mounting tension between scientists and native Hawaiians, Caltech has completed its removal of a telescope from the summit of Maunakea, a dormant volcano that is revered by the island’s Indigenous population. The decommissioning of the Caltech Submillimeter Observatory in July follows the removal of a University of…

Although health officials say the risk of H5N1 bird flu infection is still low for the general population, they announced on Monday a $5-million plan to offer seasonal flu vaccine to livestock workers. Nine poultry workers in Colorado are reported to have been infected; the symptoms were described as “mild,”…

Only 15% of phone calls seeking psychiatric appointments for Medicaid patients resulted in an appointment in Los Angeles, the lowest percentage out of four cities in a “secret shopper” audit, researchers found. Los Angeles also had the longest wait times, with the median wait stretching 64 days — more than…

Some of L.A.’s poorest families received cash assistance of $1,000 a month as part of a 12-month pilot project launched nearly three years ago. There were no strings attached and they could use the money however they saw fit. Now, a new study finds that the city-funded program was overwhelmingly…

Lyla Abuebaid needs to check on her 5-year-old son through the night to make sure he keeps breathing. Sayfideen has a rare and serious syndrome that leaves him unable to walk. He relies on a ventilator and has to be monitored 24 hours a day, his mother said. Nurses once…

Every clear night for the last three weeks, Bob Stephens has pointed his home telescope at the same two stars in hopes of witnessing one of the most violent events in the universe — a nova explosion a hundred thousand times brighter than the sun. The eruption, which scientists say…

Astronomers around the world are preparing for one of the most anticipated cosmic firework shows of the year — but you don’t need a fancy telescope to join in on the festivities. The hydrogen that a small, dense star has spent the past 80 years siphoning off of its nearby…

Exposure to wildfire smoke increases the odds of being diagnosed with dementia even more than exposure to other forms of air pollution, according to a landmark study of more than 1.2 million Californians. The study — released Monday at the Alzheimer’s Assn. International Conference in Philadelphia — is the largest…

You see them crowding checkout counters at grocery stores — a rainbow of bubble-gum pink, lime green and blueberry packets, slender and upright, like a multicolored chorus line of dancers tempting an impulse purchase. At the gym, they’re dissolved into enormous jugs of cherry-tinted water. They’re especially prevalent on TikTok.…

From morning to evening, six days a week, Gustavo Reyes Gonzalez spent his days cutting engineered stone, a man-made product that has become a popular choice for kitchen and bathroom countertops. The glossy slabs resist stains, are highly durable and come in many colors. They are also rife with crystalline…

Nearly a year ago, I scribbled “Replace Brita filter” on my to-do list. But the errand perpetually fell by the wayside. There were so many more pressing tasks to complete. “Oh, it’s fine,” I thought. “How bad can it be?” Let’s just say that a day into reporting this story,…

The most decorated gymnast ever sprints down the vault runway. She tumbles gracefully onto the springboard, flings herself backward onto the vault table and pops off the surface. Soaring through the air, she folds her body in half and grabs the back of her legs for two head-over-heels flips. The…

Your morning jog or weekly basketball game may not take place on an Olympic stage, but you can use Team USA’s techniques to get the most out of your exercise routine. It’s not all about strength and speed. Mental fitness can be just as important as physical fitness. That’s why…

Geophysicist John Vidale noticed something striking while tracking the way seismic waves move from Earth’s crust through its core. The very center of the planet, a solid ball of iron and nickel floating in a sea of molten rock, appears to be slowing down in relation to the movement of…

A new method of rearing California condors at the Los Angeles Zoo has resulted in a record-breaking 17 chicks hatched this year, the zoo announced Wednesday. All of the newborn birds will eventually be considered for release into the wild under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s California Condor Recovery…

In a typical presidential election year, voters might wonder how the candidates’ views stack up on issues such as abortion, tax cuts, gun rights and immigration policy. But this year, as a 78-year-old Republican Party nominee campaigned to replace an 81-year-old Democratic incumbent, a different question rose to the forefront…

The young whale was seen off Southern California, struggling, its tail flukes dangerously entangled in rope. The animal may have been injured for as long as half a year. After a week of tracking and near-misses, a crew from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration freed the juvenile humpback whale…

Deaths from drug overdoses and poisoning reached a plateau last year in Los Angeles County — the first time in a decade that such fatalities had not continued a year-over-year rise, public health officials said. Across L.A. County, 3,092 lives were lost to drug overdoses or poisoning in 2023, a…

Book Review The California Sky Watcher: Understanding Weather Patterns and What Comes Next By William A. SelbyHeyday Books: 384 pages, $30If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. The winter before last, my wife and I were…

Temperatures on Venus hover around 870 degrees, but the second-closest planet to the sun got a little bit cooler recently when NASA showered it with Missy Elliott’s hit song “The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly).” The feat took place at 10:05 a.m. July 12, when NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La…

Pete Theisinger, the longtime employee of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory who led the Spirit, Opportunity and Curiosity rover missions to Mars, died June 26 after a long illness. He was 78. During a career at JPL that spanned more than half a century, Theisinger worked on missions to six planets.…

Earning three Michelin stars and having your restaurant named the best in the world five times might be enough for most chefs, but René Redzepi has set his sights on something bigger: changing the way we eat. The fare we take for granted today is at risk on multiple fronts.…

On a sweltering morning in Watts, community health worker Elizabeth Calvillo rapped on a shut gate with her pen, hoping the sound would carry over the rumble of an airplane. “Good morning! ¡Buenos días!” When a young mother emerged from the house in her pajamas, shading her eyes from the…

An H5N1 outbreak that recently infected five poultry workers and 1.8 million chickens in northeast Colorado may have been fueled in part by heat wave conditions and slaughtering methods, according to federal health authorities. At a press conference Tuesday, Nirav Shah, principal deputy director of the U.S. Centers for Disease…

Most U.S. teens aren’t always getting the social and emotional support they need, and most of their parents have no idea, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In a nationwide survey conducted after the most isolating period of the COVID-19 pandemic, only 28%…

Five poultry workers at a farm in northeast Colorado have been infected by the H5N1 virus, according to Colorado’s department of public health. The workers were culling birds at a commercial poultry farm that had been affected by the virus. Their symptoms were mild, and included common “flu-like” respiratory symptoms…

Sacramento —  Sonja Verdugo lost her husband to an opioid overdose last year. She regularly delivers medical supplies to people using drugs who are living — and dying — on the streets of Los Angeles. And she advocates at Los Angeles City Hall for policies to address addiction and homelessness. Yet…

By the time that Dennys Rene Rivas Williams had fallen so ill that he needed new lungs, physicians at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center expressed little doubt about what was to blame for his sickness. Doctors had diagnosed the 36-year-old with silicosis: an incurable disease caused by inhaling tiny bits of…

The virus has — so far — caused only minimal illness among humans, yet has spread rapidly among birds, sea mammals and other species with devastating effect. Although U.S. health officers have repeatedly assured Americans that H5N1 bird flu poses little risk to their well-being, some experts have become increasingly…

When Ali Weiss, 30, shares a selfie on Instagram, she often adds a disclaimer: This is a face that hasn’t had any work done. “The most punk thing you can do in 2024 is not f— with your face,” the New York City-based on-air host and podcaster writes via email.…

FURNACE CREEK, Calif. —  As temperatures swelled to 128 degrees, Death Valley National Park rangers got a call that a group of six motorcyclists were in distress. All available medics rushed to the scene, and rangers dispatched the park’s two ambulances. It was an “all-hands-on-deck call,” said Spencer Solomon, Death Valley…

It seemed like a sensible suggestion for assessing the capabilities of an 81-year-old man seeking voters’ approval to remain in the White House until January 2029. To reassure the American people, ABC’s George Stephanopoulos asked President Biden, would he be willing to take a cognitive test and share the results…

Nico Olalia had just finished her initial nurse training in the Philippines when she realized her aspirations were growing bigger than her home archipelago. “There are a lot of trans Filipinos, but they’re always known in the beauty industry, and they’re very seldom found in the professional side,” Olalia said.…

Heat waves have been linked to a higher risk of babies being born premature, as well as stillbirth. In California, researchers found that babies were more likely to be born before reaching full term if their mothers weathered an “extreme heat episode” in their last week of gestation. “Heat acts…

The history of medical diagnosis is a march through painstaking observation. Ancient Egyptian physicians first diagnosed urinary tract infections by observing patterns in patients’ urine. To diagnose diseases of the heart and lungs, medieval doctors added core elements of the physical examination: pulse, palpation and percussion. The 20th century saw…

In the first head-to-head comparison of two blockbuster drugs used in real-world conditions, people who took Mounjaro lost significantly more weight than their counterparts who took Ozempic — and the longer the patients kept taking the drugs, the wider the gap became. After three months of weekly injections, patients on…

A Los Angeles International Airport passenger was arrested early Saturday morning after he became irate and ran out of Terminal 4 onto the tarmac, according to airport police. The passenger appeared to be experiencing a mental health crisis, said Capt. Karla Rodriguez. “Police responded and during their attempt in taking…

Death may be inevitable, but that hasn’t stopped health researchers from looking for ways to put it off as long as possible. Their newest candidate is something that’s free, painless, doesn’t taste bad and won’t force you to break a sweat: Gratitude. A new study of nearly 50,000 older women…

Federal officials suspect that live bird markets in San Francisco may be the source of bird flu virus in area wastewater samples. Days after health monitors reported the discovery of suspected avian flu viral particles in wastewater treatment plants, federal officials announced that they were looking at poultry markets near…

Naloxone has long been hailed as a life-saving drug in the face of the opioid epidemic. But its capacity to save someone from an overdose can be limited by the potency of the opioid — a person revived by naloxone can still overdose once it wears off. Stanford researchers have…

The death of a parent is typically a gutting and disorienting experience for adults. For a child, it’s even worse, stoking feelings of frustration and abandonment and sometimes self-destructive behaviors such as drug use that can continue well into adulthood. This has particularly serious implications when the child is Black…

It was almost 10 years ago when Andrew Thorpe received a text from the crew flying overhead in a small aircraft: They had spotted a new methane hot spot. Thorpe drove along winding dirt and mountain roads in an unwieldy rental SUV near the Four Corners region of the southwestern…

Attention sunscreen skeptics: The sun’s UV rays are coming for you, and you’re just making their job easier. Summer is now upon us, which means more time in the sun — and more exposure to the ultraviolet radiation it emits. Longer-wavelength ultraviolet A rays can reach beneath the skin’s surface,…

Signs of H5N1 bird flu virus have been detected at three wastewater sites in California’s Bay Area, according to sampling data. While positive wastewater samples have been found in seven other states, California is the only one that has yet to report a bird flu outbreak in a herd of…

A Palmer oak in Jurupa Valley is estimated to be 13,000 to 18,000 years old. The plant, which looks like a sprawling, dark green shrub, is now at the center of a development battle. (Aaron Echols) JURUPA VALLEY, Calif. —  After a contentious five-hour public meeting, environmentalists advocates have persuaded Inland…

The people have spoken, and L.A.’s newest Jurassic-era resident has its forever name. Dinosaur fans who responded to the museum’s request for input overwhelmingly chose to call the Natural History Museum’s new 70-foot-long sauropod “Gnatalie.” More than 36% of roughly 8,100 participants in a public poll chose that name, which…

Parents are bombarded with a dizzying list of orders when it comes to screen time and young children: No screens for babies under 18 months. Limit screens to one hour for children under 5. Only “high-quality” programming. No fast-paced apps. Don’t use screens to calm a fussy child. “Co-view” with…

Despite assurances from the federal government that bird flu will be eradicated from the nation’s dairy cows, some experts worry the disease is here to stay. Recently, Eric Deeble, USDA acting senior advisor for H5N1 response, said that the federal government hoped to “eliminate the disease from the dairy herd”…

Not many victims of the opioid crisis in America make national headlines. Tyler Skaggs was different. The 27-year-old was a professional athlete, a pitcher for the Angels, wealthy and famous. On a road trip with the team, he was found in his hotel room. He had choked on his own…

If you’re taking a multivitamin to help you live longer, a new study by researchers at the National Cancer Institute may prompt you to reconsider. After analyzing health and nutrition data from nearly 400,000 Americans, the researchers found that people who took multivitamins had a small but significantly greater risk…

When Cody Delistraty lost his mother in 2014, he was surprised by the various ways that he, his brother and his father dealt with their grief. The journalist and speechwriter had expected his family’s experiences to be aligned, that there would be a, “homogeneity to grieving.” The differences led Delistraty…

Los Angeles County is moving forward with a pilot program to relieve medical debt for struggling residents, setting aside $5 million for a planned agreement with a national nonprofit that buys and erases such debts. County supervisors voted Tuesday to allocate money for a county agreement with Undue Medical Debt…

HUAUTLA, MEXICO —  Alejandrina Pedro Castañeda opened a brown paper package and pulled out a handful of magic mushrooms, which many residents of this Indigenous Oaxacan town tenderly refer to as “child saints” or “the little ones that sprout.” Then she handed each of her six visitors — who had driven…

Huge sigh of relief. In a ruling that I happily admit surprised me, the Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed the obvious: Women should have the right to safe medication abortions. But ladies, our uteri are not safe yet. For now, in a unanimous decision, the justices have tossed a case…

The Supreme Court’s mifepristone decision on June 13 put a stop to one challenge to the drug used in more than half of all abortions in the United States. But antiabortion groups are already preparing their next line of attack. New groups of plaintiffs might try to establish that they…

El Dorado County cannot enforce its ban on programs that hand out clean syringes as a legal battle continues between the county and the California Department of Public Health, a Superior Court judge has ruled. Judge Gary S. Slossberg granted a preliminary injunction to prevent El Dorado County from enforcing…

Alanna Santini’s friends call her the “human weather vane.” On cloudy days, the 42-year-old advertising executive from Silver Lake invariably comes down with a bad headache. It’s an experience she grew accustomed to in her home state of New York and something she was happy to escape when she moved…

Seventy-nine-year-old Genevieve Lane volunteered to take the Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi in a clinical trial because she was forgetting words and misplacing her keys. Infusions of the drug gave her headaches so severe they sent her to bed. A week after the third dose, she was at a restaurant with her…

Tmesipteris oblanceolata is an obscure species of fork fern found in New Caledonia, a French territory in the South Pacific. Just 4 to 6 inches tall, the humble plant is, in one particular way, the most remarkable living thing in the world. “You would walk over it. You might even…

Mark your calendars and turn to the sky — there will be another exciting celestial event Friday night, right after the start of summer. The full moon, called a “strawberry moon” because of its pink or reddish hue, is expected to appear right after the summer solstice, which marks the…

If the last couple years are any indication, bird flu is not just for the birds. Highly pathogenic avian influenza, also known as H5N1, has been confirmed in 101 dairy herds in 12 states since March, with Michigan, Texas and Idaho leading the pack. Even more troubling, there have been…

Tener gripe, tener gripa, engriparse, agriparse, estar agripado, estar griposo, agarrar la gripe, coger la influenza. In Spanish, there are at least a dozen ways to say someone has the flu — depending on the country. Translating “cardiac arrest” into Spanish is also tricky because “arresto” means getting detained by…

To boldly go where no man has gone before. That’s the mission of the USS Enterprise — and arguably the aim of a $1-million prize being offered through a foundation created to honor the father of the “Star Trek” franchise. The Roddenberry Foundation — named for Gene Roddenberry — announced…

Allergist and immunologist Dr. Gideon Lack’s first inkling that some peanut allergies might be preventable came more than 20 years ago while he was giving a talk in Tel Aviv. Lack, a professor of pediatric allergies at King’s College London, asked an audience of roughly 200 Israeli allergists how many…

What’s for dinner? It’s a deceptively simple question, asked millions of times each day. But consider the myriad factors that go into answering it — from cost to convenience to climate change — and it’s no wonder we spend so much time thinking about the food we eat. And that…

New cases of mpox in Los Angeles County rose considerably in the last two weeks, local health officials said Monday. The “concerning increase” of the disease took reported cases from an average of fewer than two per week — a level that had been consistent for several weeks — to…

America’s opioid epidemic is as bad as it has ever been. Although the sharp increase in opioid overdose deaths over the last decade is largely attributed to the rise in fentanyl distributed through drug cartels, a startling number can be traced to prescriptions. In fact, the Centers for Disease Control…

The same Supreme Court that overruled Roe vs. Wade two years ago on Thursday followed well-established constitutional principles to dismiss a lawsuit that sought to restrict the availability of mifepristone, a drug used to medically induce abortions. The bottom line is that the decision upholds the Food and Drug Administration’s…

Before you settle in to binge the new season of “The Bear” or watch Team USA go for the gold at the Paris Olympics, think twice about the amount of time you spend on the couch in front of the TV. Your future self may thank you. A new study…

Sage? Esme? Gnatalie? The Los Angeles County Natural History Museum is seeking the public’s help in naming a 70-foot-long sauropod skeleton unearthed by the museum’s paleontologists. The dinosaur will be the focal point of the NHM Commons, a $75-million welcome center currently under construction on the southwest end of the…

Inside every human is a thriving zoo of bacteria, fungi, viruses and other microscopic organisms collectively known as the microbiome. Trillions of microbes live in the digestive tract alone, a menagerie estimated to contain more than 1,000 species. This ecosystem of tiny stuff affects our health in ways science is…

Unionized doctors and dentists who work at hospitals and other health facilities run by Los Angeles County will get cost-of-living increases and bonuses under new agreements with the county, reached after more than two years of bargaining and threats of a strike. The tentative agreements with a pair of bargaining…

Ed Stone, the scientist who guided NASA’s breakthrough Voyager mission to the outer planets for 50 years and led the Jet Propulsion Laboratory when it landed its first rover on Mars, died Tuesday. He was 88. A physicist who got in on the ground floor of space exploration, Stone played…

The oldest male in the United States was a man of many appetites, even at 110, and his live-in caretaker did her best to feed them. Rosario Reyes would make banana pancakes for Morrie Markoff, and he would plead for more syrup. She’d bring him a corned beef sandwich, followed…

A new study finds that the more people followed environmentally sustainable diets that emphasized nutrients from plants, the lower their risk of death from cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease and a variety of other causes. (J.M. Hirsch / Associated Press) Every time you scoop up a spoonful of overnight oats…

It sounds like something out of a horror movie, like “The Blob” or “Godzilla.” But “heat domes” are far from fiction — and the West could be facing one this week. The term “heat dome” refers to a ridge of high pressure that persists over a large geographical region, delivering…

People do not need to have tested positive for the coronavirus to be considered for a diagnosis of long COVID, a new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine concludes. The report, produced by a committee of experts at the request of the U.S. Social Security Administration,…

California’s earthquake early-warning system is getting a seismic upgrade, one that will allow residents to receive more timely alerts about shaking from an incoming megaquake. The upgrade, also available in Oregon and Washington, will provide features important for warnings about the “Big One.” The improvements could mean that, depending on…

As the planet continues its streak of record-breaking heat, the World Health Organization has issued urgent new warnings about the ways in which climate change is affecting the most vulnerable members of society at almost every stage of life. Pregnant people, newborns, children, adolescents and seniors are all facing serious…

The first deadly human case of a subtype of bird flu has been confirmed in Mexico, the World Health Organization announced Wednesday. On May 23, Mexican health authorities reported the death to the WHO, marking the first human death from the avian influenza A(H5N2) virus, according to a WHO news…

The beginning of the end of World War II occurred 80 years ago Thursday, when roughly 160,000 Allied troops made landfall in Normandy on D-day. The initial battle against some 50,000 armed Germans resulted in thousands of American, British and Canadian casualties, many with grave injuries. Who would care for…

It’s been five years since the last major outbreak of whooping cough in California, but the disease is on the rise. Nationwide, cases of pertussis, as the illness is formally known, are nearly three times higher in 2024 than during the first five months of 2023, according to data from…

Humanity is ignoring major planetary vital signs as atmospheric carbon dioxide levels soar to all-time highs and Earth records its 12th consecutive month of record-breaking heat, international climate officials warned this week. At 60.63 degrees Fahrenheit, the global mean temperature in May was a record 2.73 degrees hotter than the…

Some epidemiologists, food safety experts and veterinarians worry that pets could provide a potential springboard for H5N1 bird flu to evolve into a human threat. They are warning pet owners against feeding their animals raw food. (Circle Creative Studio/Getty Images) When researchers talk about their biggest bird flu fears, one…

One of the best diets for health keeps getting better. A new study that tracked more than 25,000 women for a quarter century found that the more their eating patterns were in sync with the Mediterranean diet, the less likely they were to die during that period. The relationship held…

Book Review Invisible Labor: The Untold Story of the Cesarean Section By Rachel SomersteinEcco: 336 pages, $32If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. After Rachel Somerstein was rushed into an operating room for an unplanned caesarean…

Los Angeles could soon end its requirement for city employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19. City officials are recommending that the Los Angeles City Council halt the requirement as soon as early June, according to a newly released report. The COVID vaccination rule was first approved by city leaders nearly…

As the threat of wildfire worsens in California and across the world, a growing number of federal agencies, nonprofit organizations and tech companies are racing to deploy new technology that will help combat flames from a whole new vantage point: outer space. New satellite missions backed by NASA, Google, SpaceX,…

Officials announced Thursday that a third U.S. dairy worker has been infected by avian flu, or H5N1. This is the second case in Michigan. Federal officials said that unlike the first two U.S. cases — whose symptoms were limited to conjunctivitis, or pink eye — this person presented with more…

Twenty years ago this month, Marcia Kadish and Tanya McCloskey exchanged wedding vows at Cambridge City Hall in Massachusetts and became the first same-sex couple to legally marry in the United States. The couple had been together since 1986, but their decision to wed was radical for its time. In…

Consider the sea urchin. Specifically, the painted urchin: Lytechinus pictus, a prickly Ping-Pong ball from the eastern Pacific Ocean. The species is a smaller and shorter-spined cousin of the purple urchins devouring kelp forests. They produce massive numbers of sperm and eggs that fertilize outside of their bodies, allowing scientists…

An April 24 letter from Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders to the CEO of Novo Nordisk began with heartfelt thanks to the Danish drugmaker for inventing Ozempic and Wegovy, two medications poised to improve the health of tens of millions of Americans with obesity and related diseases. But the senator’s grateful…

WELDON, Calif. —  California is recognized as one of the world’s hotspots of biodiversity, with more species of plants and animals than any other state. And a significant number of the state’s species, from frogs to birds, live in habitats that depend on groundwater. These rich ecosystems — including spring-fed streams,…

SpaceX plans to launch 90 rockets into space from a Santa Barbara County military base by 2026, tripling the number of blasts rocking the coastal community — and raising concerns from neighbors and environmental groups about the effects on marine life. Founded by billionaire Elon Musk, SpaceX has ramped up…

Lung-irritating pollution created by cooking with gas stoves may be contributing to tens of thousands of premature deaths and cases of childhood asthma in the United States, according to a new study published in the journal Science Advances. For decades, scientists have known the flames from a gas stovetop produce…

Having depended on hearing aids for nearly three decades, I’m astounded by the lack of Medicare coverage for devices that can solve a problem afflicting tens of millions of older Americans. Nearly two-thirds of Americans over age 70 have some degree of hearing loss, and over half of those 75…

A second human case of bird flu in a diary worker has been confirmed in Michigan, state and federal health officials announced Wednesday. The symptoms were mild, consisting of conjunctivitis. The Texas dairy worker who contracted the virus in March also came down with pink eye. At a press call…

Researchers have located one more anatomical organ where microplastics — of all shapes and constituents — are found: human testes. And although they can’t say for sure, they suspect the presence of these jagged bits and strands of polymers such as polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride and polystyrene could be — in…

Fatal overdoses in the U.S. fell for the first time in five years in 2023, according to preliminary estimates recently released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, but UCLA researcher Joseph Friedman warns that the new findings should not be interpreted to mean that the nation’s drug and…

Nakeya Fields has seen how the stresses that come with being Black — racial injustice, financial strain, social isolation — can leave people feeling hopeless and push some into substance abuse. It’s one of the reasons the Pasadena social worker started offering “therapeutic play” gatherings for Black mothers like herself…

Adding fluoride to drinking water is widely considered a triumph of public health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the cavity-prevention strategy ranks alongside the development of vaccines and the recognition of tobacco’s dangers as signal achievements of the 20th century. But new evidence from Los Angeles mothers…

As Dr. Kalyanam Shivkumar pondered how to fix the human heart, he was given a gift laced with horror. Shivkumar, a cardiac electrophysiologist known as “Shiv” to friends and co-workers at UCLA, was trying to better understand the intricate details of nerves in the chest. He hoped doing so might…

My resident describes our next emergency room patient — a 32-year-old female with severe, crampy mid-abdominal pain, vomiting and occasional loose stools. The symptoms have been present for nearly a week, and there is tenderness to both sides of the upper abdomen. It could be a gallbladder problem, the resident…

Deaths from drug overdoses fell last year in the United States as fewer people lost their lives to fentanyl and other opioids, marking the first time the death toll had dropped in five years, according to newly released estimates from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Federal officials said…

Anyone who cares about the importance of science in the making of government policy had to be deeply dispirited by the hearing into the origins of COVID-19 staged by a Republican-led House subcommittee on May 1. The sole witness at the hearing, and its target, was Peter Daszak, the head…

When a doctor in Pasadena reported in October that a hospital patient was exhibiting classic symptoms of dengue fever, such as vomiting, a rash, and bone and joint pain, local disease investigators snapped into action. The mosquito-borne virus is common in places like Southeast Asia, East Africa, and Latin America,…

Late last year, a group of whistleblowers submitted a report to the National Institutes of Health that questioned the integrity of a celebrated USC neuroscientist’s research and the safety of an experimental stroke treatment his company was developing. NIH has since paused clinical trials for 3K3A-APC, a stroke drug sponsored…

Power is invisible, but its effects can be seen everywhere — especially in the health records of active duty military personnel. By examining details of 1.5 million emergency room visits at U.S. military hospitals nationwide, researchers found that doctors invested significantly more resources in patients who outranked them than in…

As researchers increasingly rely on wastewater testing to monitor the spread of bird flu, some are questioning the reliability of the tests being used. Above, the Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant in Playa Del Rey. (Jason Armond / Los Angeles Times) As health officials turn increasingly toward wastewater testing as a…

Since the earliest days of the pandemic, health officials have gauged the threat of COVID-19 by comparing it to the flu. At first, it wasn’t even close. People hospitalized in 2020 with the then-novel respiratory disease were five times more likely to die of their illness than were patients who…

There is a bird flu outbreak going on. Here is what you need to know about it: What is bird flu? Bird flu is what’s known as a highly pathogenic avian influenza virus. The “highly pathogenic” part refers to birds, which the virus is pretty adept at killing. In virology…

Do you want to live to 100? The path to becoming a healthy centenarian — as opposed to just a centenarian — is surprisingly different for those born as women and men, says social researcher and author Maddy Dychtwald. And it’s never too early to start on the journey, even…

Kori Thompson had long wrestled with the idea of having a child. The 24-year-old worried about the world a kid would face as climate change overtook the globe, fearing the environmental devastation and economic strain that could follow. He had been thinking about getting a vasectomy ever since he learned…

A few weeks ago, the Australian Bureau of Meteorology declared that the Pacific Ocean is no longer in an El Niño state and has returned to “neutral.” American scientists at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have been more hesitant, but they estimate that there is an 85% chance that…

Fake versions of Botox have popped up in California, raising alarm among public health officials who warn that counterfeit versions of the injections can lead to symptoms such as slurred speech and breathing problems. “Counterfeit or incorrectly administered Botox, even in small amounts, can result in serious health problems and…

A different kind of storm could complicate this weekend’s plans. For the first time since January 2005, the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has issued a severe geomagnetic storm watch for Friday evening. The category G4 watch from NOAA’s Space Weather Prediction Center signals the possibility that a concentration…

You feel a cold coming on, or maybe it’s already upon you: the telltale cough, sore throat and stuffy head. You swing by the drugstore, where a shelf full of over-the-counter products containing the mineral zinc claim to be able to shorten the duration of your symptoms. The promise of…

Year after year, Los Angeles County has seen devastating losses on its streets as homeless people bedding down in tents, under tarps and on sidewalks died of drug overdoses at soaring rates. Now a newly released report shows that the death rate from overdoses stopped rising among unhoused people in…

Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made various claims about his health over the years, but the most shocking came Wednesday when it was revealed that Kennedy once insisted that a worm ate a portion of his brain over a decade ago. Kennedy’s assertion, which was reported by the…

It’s been several years since kids returned to their classrooms and workers went back to their offices. We dine indoors at restaurants and don’t hesitate to board a plane for a family trip. COVID-19 isn’t disrupting our lives like it did in the days of lockdowns, social distancing and mandatory…

California lawmakers could soon clear a governmental logjam that has held up dozens of studies related to addiction treatment, psychedelics or other federally restricted drugs. The holdup revolves around the Research Advisory Panel of California, established decades ago to vet studies involving cannabis, hallucinogens and treatments for “abuse of controlled…

In November 2017, days after her daughter Mallory Smith died from a drug-resistant infection at the age of 25, Diane Shader Smith typed a password into Mallory’s laptop. At this point, keeping myself alive is a full-fledged mission, enlisting all of my energy and hours every day. I need to…

Book Review Trippy: The Peril and Promise of Medicinal Psychedelics By Ernesto LondoñoCeladon Books: 320 pages, $29.99If you buy books linked on our site, The Times may earn a commission from Bookshop.org, whose fees support independent bookstores. Ernesto Londoño’s engrossing and unsettling new book, “Trippy: The Peril and Promise of…

The corpses are washing up by the thousands on Southern California’s beaches: a transparent ringed oval like a giant thumbprint 2 to 3 inches long, with a sail-like fin running diagonally down the length of the body. Those only recently stranded from the sea still have their rich, cobalt-blue color,…

We’ve all come to recognize that committee hearings conducted by the Republican House majority are almost invariably clown shows featuring spittle-flecked posturing by members intent on displaying their ignorance to an appreciative crowd. Wednesday’s hearing by the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Pandemic was a crystalline example of the genre.…

To counteract growing rates of breast cancer in younger women and to reduce racial disparities in deaths, an influential panel has changed its advice and is urging most women to begin getting regular mammograms at age 40. The new recommendations from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force say women without…

In December 2022, Vanderbilt University neuroscientist Suzana Herculano-Houzel published a paper that caused an uproar in the dinosaur world. After analyzing previous research on fossilized dinosaur brain cavities and the neuron counts of birds and other related living animals, Herculano-Houzel extrapolated that the fearsome Tyrannosaurus rex may have had more…

In 1973, the National Hurricane Center introduced the Saffir-Simpson scale, a five-category rating system that classified hurricanes by wind intensity. At the bottom of the scale was Category 1, for storms with sustained winds of 74 to 95 mph. At the top was Category 5, for disasters with winds of…

More than 100 years ago, astronomer George Ellery Hale brought our two Pasadena institutions together to build what was then the largest optical telescope in the world. The Mt. Wilson Observatory changed the conception of humankind’s place in the universe and revealed the mysteries of the heavens to generations of…

Jennifer Castellon shook, tapped and blew on a box to shoo out more than 1,000 mosquitoes in a quiet, upscale Inland Empire neighborhood. The insects had a job to do, and the pest scientist wanted every last one out. Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and…

For the last five months, it seemed very possible that a 46-year-old conversation had finally reached its end. Since its launch from Kennedy Space Center on Sept. 5, 1977, NASA’s Voyager 1 spacecraft has diligently sent regular updates to Earth on the health of its systems and data collected from…

The Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a new treatment for a type of bladder cancer. The treatment, which will be sold under the brand name Anktiva, is intended for some patients suffering from certain types of non-muscle invasive bladder cancer, according to an FDA statement announcing the approval.…

Gary Horejsi wrestled with the decision before him, knowing a life could be in his hands. It was the third time that the woman had used drugs or alcohol since coming to CRI-Help, which runs a 135-bed residential facility in North Hollywood where people are treated for substance use disorder.…

Perhaps never before have so many been so eager for something so steeped in heartbreak. Taylor Swift‘s legions of devotees have eagerly anticipated her new album, “The Tortured Poets Department,” in hopes of gaining insight into her notoriously private six-year relationship with actor Joe Alwyn — particularly her perspective on…

American life expectancy started dropping even before the pandemic. It’s a critical barometer of our nation’s health and a sign that all is not well in the U.S. Much of the increase in preventable, premature death is attributable to drug overdose, which increased five-fold over the last couple decades. But…

After months of turmoil over the future of a vaunted mission to bring samples of the Red Planet back to Earth, NASA has its verdict on Mars Sample Return. The space agency is “committed” to bringing those rocks back from Mars, Administrator Bill Nelson said Monday, but will have to…

The American Heart Assn. calls them “game changers.” Oprah Winfrey says they’re “a gift.” Science magazine anointed them the “2023 Breakthrough of the Year.” Americans are most familiar with their brand names: Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Zepbound. They are the medications that have revolutionized weight loss and raised the possibility of…

In the fall of 2022, Robin Clough and Dr. Gene Dorio were going about their lives as they had for many years, serving older adults in the Santa Clarita Valley. Clough was busy with her work as an administrator at the local senior center while Dorio, a house-call geriatrician, crisscrossed…

Millie, a fatigued mother of an infant, was ready for a nap. So she grabbed her baby, flipped it around, threw it on her belly and started grooming its tail — a soothing behavior. Aggressive and impactful reporting on climate change, the environment, health and science. Millie, a sea otter,…

California regulators could soon grant a fresh permit for a hazardous waste treatment facility in Santa Fe Springs, even as they face off with the same company in court over alleged violations. The upcoming decision has alarmed environmental and community groups, which argue the Department of Toxic Substances Control should…

Months after Kaiser Permanente reached a sweeping agreement with state regulators to improve its mental health services, the healthcare giant is facing union allegations that patients could be improperly losing such care. The National Union of Healthcare Workers, which represents thousands of Kaiser mental health professionals, complained earlier this year…

There was a time before the turn of the millennium when Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gave a full-throated accounting of himself and the things he cared about. He recalls his voice then as “unusually strong,” so much so that he could fill large auditoriums with his words. No amplification needed.…

Nancy Castellanos and her 5-year-old daughter, Camilla, sat on a striped picnic blanket outside the California Science Center with their eyes fixed to the sky. Castellanos, 39, reminded her daughter not to look up without protective eclipse glasses. It was Camilla’s first time experiencing the phenomenon of a solar eclipse.…

Late last month, the San Francisco-based startup HeHealth announced the launch of Calmara.ai, a cheerful, emoji-laden website the company describes as “your tech savvy BFF for STI checks.” The concept is simple. A user concerned about their partner’s sexual health status just snaps a photo (with consent, the service notes)…

To hear Herodotus tell it, a total solar eclipse in 585 BC ended a five-year war between ancient kingdoms in present-day Turkey. Could another total eclipse on Monday bring an end to the partisan wars in America? The idea may sound far-fetched — until you talk with Paul Piff. The…

With the probable exception of glimpsing Earthrise out the window of Apollo 8, a total solar eclipse may be the best show in the universe accessible to human eyes. I didn’t quite understand this seven years ago when I drove 900 miles all night and into morning from L.A. to…

Scan the rolling hills of the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve and you’ll notice something missing. Golden poppies. Even as Instagram-worthy wildflowers bloom across the state, the blazing orange flower has been conspicuously absent from some of its usual haunts — including the reserve in Lancaster and the city of…

While a narrow strip of North America celebrates the arrival of a rare total solar eclipse April 8 — when midday darkness will be cast on a sliver of states, including Texas, Illinois, Ohio and New York — there won’t be any “totality” in Los Angeles. Still, if the skies…

More than 150 years ago, a San Francisco whaler noticed something about killer whales that scientists may be about to formally recognize — at least in name. Charles Melville Scammon submitted a manuscript to the Smithsonian in 1869 describing two species of killer whales inhabiting West Coast waters. Now a…

Lee had just been dumped when she found out she was pregnant. With no car, no job and no support, the 23-year-old — who asked that her last name be withheld for medical privacy — ended up at the virtual clinic Hey Jane, where she was quickly assessed and prescribed…

Less than a quarter of a century ago, abortion pills could not be legally obtained from a U.S.-based medical provider. Now, they are the most common method of terminating a pregnancy — used by 3 out of 5 abortion patients in the U.S. Americans’ use of medication abortion has rapidly…

Abortion is back on the docket at the U.S. Supreme Court, with the justices hearing arguments Tuesday about whether a pill used to terminate early pregnancies was properly evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The medication, mifepristone, has been used in the United States more than 5 million times…

As a matter of law, the case argued Tuesday at the Supreme Court concerning the availability of medicine to induce abortions is easy: The Food and Drug Administration has the authority to make mifepristone available and to later increase its availability. But as the oral arguments in Food and Drug…

Massive cost overruns. Key deadlines slipping out of reach. Problems of unprecedented complexity, and a generation’s worth of scientific progress contingent upon solving them. That’s the current state of Mars Sample Return, the ambitious yet imperiled NASA mission whose rapidly ballooning budget has cost jobs at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory…