Science

Editor’s Note: This article was written for Mosaic, an independent journalism training program for high school students who report and photograph stories under the guidance of professional journalists. Camera in hand, Kim Smith was capturing a bird in flight, appreciating the vibrant contrast between the blue and black feathers. Soon after, she was filming another bird she had never encountered before. ”I’ve got a Steller’s jay just now, and then another one whose name I don’t know,” she said. But then the answer suddenly came to her. “Oh, it was a grosbeak, which I’ve never seen before. I’m looking forward to seeing those pictures up close.” Smith was one of the participants engaging in a “BioBlitz” held June 14 at Alum Rock Park in San Jose. Sponsored by Keep Coyote Creek Beautiful, the BioBlitz encourages participants to find and identify as many species as possible in a specific area at their own speed. Silas McDermott was there with his daughter, Mia McDermott. He listed sever...

When it rains in Pescadero, Irma Rodriguez gets to work — lining up containers on her patio to catch as much water as she can. It may seem unusual in a town just 30 miles southwest of the wealth and power of Silicon Valley along the Peninsula’s coast. But for Rodriguez, it’s a matter of survival. Related Articles Fish restoration in Alameda Creek nears completion Skelton: Big state budget questions linger about crime, Medi-Cal, Delta tunnel If US halted fluoride, kids’ cavities would grow by millions, study says Boil water advisory lifted for part of Cupertino Walters: Legislature slows Newsom’s fast-tracking of Delta Tunnel project For the past 20 years, she has relied on water pumped from a nearby creek to bathe and wash dishes. But when it rains, the water turns dark and murky — “like chocolate,” she says — forcing her to depend on rainwater to brush her teeth or flush the toilet in the tiny rental that she shares with her daughter. Her experience reflects...

SUNOL — Dams and barriers placed on Alameda Creek have prevented migratory fish from entering their native spawning grounds for more than 50 years, but an $80 million effort to raze the last significant obstacles and restore trout, salmon and other fish to their historical habitat are now underway. A PG&E gas pipeline is the last major barrier to restoring 20 miles of upstream spawning habitat for Chinook salmon and steelhead trout and will be relocated and buried by a coalition that includes the Alameda County Water District, PG&E and the San Francisco-based nonprofit California Trout. The project lies along Calaveras Road, one mile south of Interstate 680 and sandwiched between two basins of the Sunol Valley Aggregate Quarry . “It’s protecting our heritage and ensuring the future generations get to see and learn about and interact with these species down the road,” said Pat Samuel, Bay Area director for California Trout. “The fact that we still have them here in the Bay Are...

By TAMMY WEBBER, Associated Press Power plants and industrial facilities that emit carbon dioxide, the primary driver of global warming, are hopeful that Congress will keep tax credits for capturing the gas and storing it deep underground. The process, called carbon capture and sequestration, is seen by many as an important way to reduce pollution during a transition to renewable energy. But it faces criticism from some conservatives, who say it is expensive and unnecessary, and from environmentalists, who say it has consistently failed to capture as much pollution as promised and is simply a way for producers of fossil fuels like oil, gas and coal to continue their use. Here’s a closer look: How does the process work? Carbon dioxide is a gas produced by burning of fossil fuels. It traps heat close to the ground when released to the atmosphere, where it persists for hundreds of years and raises global temperatures. Industries and power plants can install equipment to separate c...

By Marcos Magaña, Los Angeles Times LOS ANGELES — Official U.S. records dramatically underestimate mortality and life expectancy disparities for Native Americans, according to a new, groundbreaking study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Related Articles California to examine its Amazon oil ties following pleas from Indigenous leaders from Ecuador Under Trump, are we entering the cruelest era in American history? Sargent Ranch: Landowners who proposed quarry sell large chunk of property in Santa Clara County More than $175,000 in handmade Navajo jewelry stolen in San Jose A Republican push to sell public lands in the West is reigniting a political fight The research, led by the Boston University School of Public Health, provides compelling evidence of a profound discrepancy between actual and officially reported statistics on the health outcomes of American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations in the U.S. The study, novel in its approach...

STANFORD UNIVERSITY – Stanford Medicine is no longer providing gender-affirming surgeries to LGBTQ+ patients under the age of 19, a move it says was influenced in part by the “latest actions and directives” from the federal government. Related Articles Letters: Congress must reclaim its constitutional power to declare war What to know about the Supreme Court ruling 10 years ago that legalized same-sex marriage in the US Robots abound at the new Alamo Drafthouse movie theater in Mountain View Pork Chop’s House of Reframe offers gender-affirming haircuts Trump administration orders California to remove gender identity from sex ed “After careful review of the latest actions and directives from the federal government and following consultations with clinical leadership, including our multidisciplinary LGBTQ+ program and its providers, Stanford Medicine paused providing gender-related surgical procedures as part of our comprehensive range of medical services for LGBTQ+ patients u...

As you prepare for summer vacation, road trips and long weekends at the beach, you might consider packing an old — but hopefully not expired — COVID test. Along with the temperature, the virus is once again on the rise. The newest variant, NB.1.8.1, also known as Nimbus, is now widespread in California and across the United States. The new variant comes with increased transmissibility, and some are reporting an unpleasant symptom: “ razor blade throat ,” or a severe sore throat. Related Articles Two East Bay hotels file for bankruptcy as lodging market woes widen Bay Area public health officer urges quick COVID vaccination RFK Jr. says healthy pregnant women don’t need Covid boosters. Science says threat still meaningful Will a summer COVID surge hit California? Will you be able to get a COVID-19 shot? Here’s what we know so far While the symptom is, predictably, uncomfortable, the latest variant doesn’t appear to be driving a spike in severe illness, at least not yet. “We ...

The clarity of Lake Tahoe — the famed alpine lake on California’s border with Nevada whose spectacular scenery draws millions of visitors a year and has spawned countless bumper stickers to “Keep Tahoe Blue” — is the middle of a curious trend. It isn’t really getting much better. Or much worse, despite relentless efforts to improve it. And scientists aren’t sure why. A new study published Monday by researchers at UC Davis shows that the annual average clarity for Lake Tahoe’s azure blue waters in 2024 was 62.3 feet. That’s slightly worse than the previous year’s average of 68.2 feet. But over the past 20 years, the clarity — widely considered a measure of the lake’s overall health — has moved up and down by a few feet a year but generally remained stable. “We should celebrate the success that we’ve had that has slowed and possibly halted the declines in clarity,” said Stephanie Hampton director of the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center. “But why isn’t it getting any bette...

By SARA CLINE and MELISSA GOLDIN BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — As Louisiana Rep. Kimberly Landry Coates stood before her colleagues in the state’s Legislature she warned that the bill she was presenting might “seem strange” or even crazy. Some lawmakers laughed with disbelief and others listened intently, as Coates described situations that are often noted in discussions of “chemtrails” — a decades-old conspiracy theory that posits the white lines left behind by aircraft in the sky are releasing chemicals for any number of reasons, some of them nefarious. As she urged lawmakers to ban the unsubstantiated practice, she told skeptics to “start looking up” at the sky. “I’m really worried about what is going on above us and what is happening, and we as Louisiana citizens did not give anyone the right to do this above us,” the Republican said. Louisiana is the latest state taking inspiration from a wide-ranging conspiratorial narrative, mixing it with facts, to create legislation. Tennessee G...

The wildlife you see on your next hiking trip? The rustle in your backyard at night? It might not be a raccoon or a deer. A steady increase in the population of wild pigs — a marauding, non-native animal that can grow sharp tusks and weigh 250 pounds or more — is causing growing problems for parks, water districts and homeowners across the Bay Area. The hogs wallow in streams, dig up lawns and gardens, eat endangered plants and animals and occasionally charge at people. They carry diseases like swine fever and can spread pathogens like E. coli to crops in farm fields. Related Articles Sargent Ranch: Landowners who proposed quarry sell large chunk of property in Santa Clara County Six gray whales wash up dead around San Francisco Bay in one week Mountain lion sightings rattle Bay Area neighborhoods Three new wolf packs discovered in Northern California US peregrine falcons adapt well to city living as their coastal cousins struggle with bird flu “We’ve seen the imp...