Science

By Susanne Rust | Los Angeles Times The H5N1 bird flu virus that devastated South America’s elephant seal populations has been confirmed in seals at California’s Año Nuevo State Park, researchers from UC Davis and UC Santa Cruz announced Wednesday. The virus has ravaged wild, commercial and domestic animals across the globe and was found in seven weaned pups. The confirmation came from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s laboratory in Ames, Iowa. The death toll so far was not provided, although a press release from UC Davis noted at least some animals had succumbed. In most wildlife cases, carcasses and tissue samples are sent to the USDA for confirmatory testing. “This is exceptionally rapid detection of an outbreak in free-ranging marine mammals,” said professor Christine Johnson, director of the Institute for Pandemic Insights at UC Davis’ Weill School of Veterinary Medicine. “We have most likely identified the very first cases here because of coordinated teams that have bee...

By MARCIA DUNN CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — A telescope in Chile has revealed in unprecedented detail the swirling splendor of star-forming gases at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy . Related Articles NASA conducts second rocket fueling test that will decide when Artemis astronauts head to the moon Obama shuts down alien buzz and says there’s no evidence they’ve made contact NASA delays astronauts’ lunar trip until March after hydrogen leaks mar fueling test Here’s a look at the significance of sending animals to space Disney child star-turned-CEO raises $100 million for California space-antenna firm The picture released Wednesday by the European Southern Observatory zeros in on a region of cold cosmic gases more than 650 light-years across. A light-year is nearly 6 trillion miles. The clouds of gas and dust surround the supermassive black hole at the galactic dead center. It’s the largest image ever taken by the ALMA antenna network in the Atacama Desert, one of the dri...

By Jessica Nix, Bloomberg US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s overhaul of the childhood vaccine schedule is facing a fresh legal challenge from 15 states that argue the changes will make people sicker and strain local budgets. Over the past year, Kennedy dramatically reshaped a key US advisory panel to incorporate vaccine skeptics, then later oversaw changes to the national immunization schedule that pared back the number of shots recommended for America’s children. RELATED:  New Stanford study points to vaccine that protects against multiple infections Related Articles New Stanford study points to vaccine that protects against multiple infections Moderna says the FDA will consider its new flu shot after resolving a public dispute 8 measles cases after sick person went to ninja gym, Costco, capture-the-flag game in Redding Moderna says FDA refuses its application for new mRNA flu vaccine Additional case of measles exposure reported at Disneyland, health official...

Giant kelp and bull kelp forests create habitats that support an amazing diversity of sea life, and their floating canopies are a prominent feature at the surface of California coastal waters. Recently, satellite imagery has shown a dramatic decline in Northern California kelp forests, and a significant, though patchy, loss of kelp forests in central California. Because of cloud cover and the low resolution of satellite imagery, estimates of kelp coverage are inaccurate and smaller kelp canopies can be entirely missed. Kelp restoration efforts have begun to address some of the most obvious losses, but the scale of these human intervention activities is smaller than a football field and will never be able to fully compensate for regional losses of kelp. So, which kelp forests are most critical to restore, and which are worthy of high-resolution monitoring by drones? These and related questions are what Melissa Ashley, a California Sea Grant fellow with Monterey Bay National Marine San...

By MARCIA DUNN CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA took another crack at fueling its giant moon rocket Thursday after leaks halted the initial dress rehearsal and delayed the first lunar trip by astronauts in more than half a century. Related Articles Surprise shark caught on camera for first time in Antarctica’s near-freezing deep Moderna says the FDA will consider its new flu shot after resolving a public dispute To Bay Area aficionados, fungi are freaky, mystical and overlooked. They’re helping scientists learn more US Cancer Institute studying ivermectin’s ‘ability to kill cancer cells’ RFK Jr. pledged more transparency. Here’s what the public doesn’t know anymore For the second time this month, launch teams began pumping more than 700,000 gallons of supercold fuel into the rocket atop its launch pad. It’s the most critical and challenging part of the two-day practice countdown. The outcome will determine whether a March launch is possible for the Artemis II moon missio...

By DORANY PINEDA, Associated Press ANGWIN — Jessica Allen crunched through fallen leaves among Manzanita trees hunting for something few have spotted before: the Manzanita butter clump — a rare and little-known yellow mushroom found, so far, only along North America’s Western coastlines. It was last seen here in California’s Napa County two years ago, and Allen, a fungi scientist, was keen to find it. But within minutes, something caught her attention. She knelt, pulled a hand lens to her eye, and peered nose-close into a rock: lichens — a type of fungi — bursting with dazzling shapes, textures and colors. RELATED:  Death cap mushroom toll climbs as California officials plead for halt to foraging “It’s so easy to get distracted, but there’s so many lichen!” she said excitedly. “That was a good rock,” said ecologist Jesse Miller, president of the California Lichen Society. “Ok, let’s go find some mushrooms,” she exclaimed. Allen and Miller are enchanted by what they describe ...