Sunspots may quiet down for a while, scientists say

The next 11-year cycle of increased sunspot activity, scheduled to begin around 2020, may be delayed for a couple of years and have a...

Life expectancy of U.S. women slips in some regions

Life expectancy of U.S. women slips in some regions

Women in large swaths of the U.S. are dying younger than they were a generation ago, reversing...

Equipois' robotic limbs give factory workers and others a hand

Equipois' robotic limbs give factory workers and others a hand

At the Ford Motor Co. truck plant in Louisville, Ky., massive, 800-pound robotic arms used for...

L.A. Unified removes flavored milk from menus

L.A. Unified removes flavored milk from menus

Chocolate and strawberry milk are out.

MORE FROM THE TIMES

Advertisement

More on Science & the Environment

Wind power and water power collide in the Northwest

Wind power and water power collide in the Northwest

The wide, green gorge where the majestic Columbia River begins its final push to the sea generates so many stiff breezes that windsurfers...

Memory training improves intelligence in some children, report says

Memory training improves intelligence in some children, report says

Training a child to hold a whole cluster of items in his or her memory for even a short time may feel like trying to hold a wave on the...

Thick snowpack holds water — and potential peril

Thick snowpack holds water — and potential peril

On a June day, Frank Gehrke and Vince White strapped on their cross-country skis and glided across the wintry landscape of Dana Meadows in...

Thousands of Arizona wildfire evacuees return home despite smoke and soot

Thousands of Arizona wildfire evacuees return home despite smoke and soot

Thousands of wildfire evacuees began returning to Eagar and Springerville on Monday amid warnings from health officials of a lingering...

California salmon fishing reopens, but trollers still worry

California salmon fishing reopens, but trollers still worry

It's finally time to fish, and Duncan MacLean is ready.

L.A. County crews to begin removing mud from basin behind Pasadena dam

L.A. County crews to begin removing mud from basin behind Pasadena dam

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Works will start work in July to remove 25,000 cubic yards of sediment from the basin behind...

Robert Helliwell dies at 90; electrical engineer who expanded understanding of Earth's atmosphere

Robert Helliwell dies at 90; electrical engineer who expanded understanding of Earth's atmosphere

Robert Helliwell, a Stanford electrical engineer whose study of radio waves emitted by lightning opened a new window to understanding the...

State urges public to get whooping cough vaccination

State urges public to get whooping cough vaccination

More than 1,000 people in California have been infected with whooping cough this year, and health officials have encouraged the public to...

Ovarian cancer screening does more harm than good, study shows

Ovarian cancer screening does more harm than good, study shows

An 18-year study from the National Cancer Institute has found that widespread screening for ovarian cancer doesn't save lives but does set...

In 'tea party' era, the GOP's 'Red Fred' is no longer green

In 'tea party' era, the GOP's 'Red Fred' is no longer green

For years, some conservatives called 13-term Rep. Fred Upton "Red Fred."

Lethal fungus adds to tornado woes in Joplin, Mo.

Lethal fungus adds to tornado woes in Joplin, Mo.

Some survivors of last month's massive tornado that destroyed much of Joplin, Mo., are facing another indignity: an outbreak of a rare but...

The latest in green fashion: caps and gowns

The latest in green fashion: caps and gowns

Caltech's graduating class marched across the stage at Friday's commencement ceremony bedecked in more than 12,000 plastic bottles.

Obama lukewarm on conservation

Obama lukewarm on conservation

It's probably going too far to say that former president and onetime oilman George W. Bush was a better conservationist than President...

Campaign finance controversy

Campaign finance controversy

Like it or not, and we didn't like it, the Supreme Court's controversial decision in Citizens United vs. Federal Election Commission...

For Mars rovers, a friendly rivalry

For Mars rovers, a friendly rivalry

NASA's newest Mars rover — or a replica of it, anyway — sat expectantly at the bottom of a hill. After years in design and...