Science

A Bay Area lawmaker is pushing for new federal legislation to study the threat rising groundwater poses — a hidden but growing environmental danger that experts say could worsen flooding , damage infrastructure, and contaminate drinking water. U.S. Rep. Kevin Mullin, D-San Mateo, last month introduced the Groundwater Rise and Infrastructure Preparedness Act of 2025, a bipartisan bill co-authored with Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., that seeks $5 million in initial funding to assess the risks rising groundwater poses to public health and critical infrastructure like roads, utilities, and sewer systems. The measure would also support the development of long-term mitigation strategies. Mullin held a press conference Tuesday morning in South San Francisco to discuss his new legislation and the region’s flood and groundwater rise threats with local environmental and government leaders. “As we continue to witness the devastating and deadly impacts of flooding across America, we need to hel...

By Sandee LaMotte, CNN   At 62, Phyllis Jones felt trapped in darkness. She was traumatized by her mother’s recent death, ongoing pandemic stress and an increasingly toxic work environment. A sudden panic attack led to a medical leave. Her depression worsened until the day her 33-year-old son sadly told her, “Mom, I didn’t think I would have to be your caregiver at this stage in your life.” Related Articles Stanford researchers develop new tool to measure biological age Letters: Services, not development, will best help unhoused people Walking with all 5 senses can improve health for people with disabilities When they don’t recognize you anymore Lopez: Why is the Trump administration derailing Alzheimer’s research? “For me, that was the wake-up call,” Jones, now 66, told CNN. “That’s when I found the POINTER study and my life changed. What I accomplished during the study was phenomenal — I’m a new person.” The Protect Brain Health Through Lifestyle Intervention to Red...

Wildlife advocates who oppose a controversial federal management plan to slaughter one type of owl in Pacific Coast forests to save another appear to have found an unlikely ally in President Donald Trump’s administration. The plan approved by the former Biden administration would cull barred owls, an Eastern U.S. species considered invasive in the West, to protect the West Coast’s northern spotted owl , whose endangered status led to broad protections for forests in the 1990s. Trump removed such spotted owl protections in his first term, but his current administration, without explanation, has canceled three grants to start carrying out the barred owl removal plan in Northern California. Wayne Pacelle, president of Animal Wellness Action and the Center for a Humane Economy, praised the Trump administration for terminating the grants. Pacelle is organizing opposition to the project in Congress and said habitat protections for the spotted owl, not large-scale killings, are the best cou...

New York City’s subway system is mainly known for moving millions of riders every day and scaring the U.S. transportation secretary. But every so often it also becomes the world’s least-popular water park. Instagram was rife last week with unnerving videos of subway riders watching high waters churn outside their train cars after a brief but biblical downpour dumped more than 2 inches of rain in less than an hour on Monday, overwhelming the city’s drains and turning subway stations into raging rivers. What might have been a mundane summer rainstorm at one time led to flooding that killed at least two people, destroyed property and snarled travel across three states. Grimly familiar story It’s becoming a grimly familiar story. In just the past month, destructive and deadly flooding has occurred in Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, Chicago, Iowa, Tampa, New Mexico and, of course, Texas. Floods aren’t new, according to the the climate-change deniers in my inbox. But the frequency a...

July 20th is Moon Day, Space Exploration Day and the anniversary of the first Apollo 11 moonwalk. Here’s a look at the Apollo program and the new Artemis program to return to the lunar surface.   Screenshot  NASA will now target April 2026 for Artemis II, the first crewed Artemis mission around the moon, and mid-2027 for Artemis III, which is planned to land the first astronauts near the lunar South Pole. Artemis IV, the first mission to the Gateway lunar space station, remains on track for 2028. “We are returning to the moon in a way we never have before, and the safety of our astronauts is NASA’s top priority as we prepare for future Artemis missions,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said. “We’ve learned a lot since Artemis I, and the success of these early missions relies on our commercial and international partnerships to further our reach and understanding of humanity’s place in our solar system. Artemis represents what we can accomplish as a nation – and as a global ...

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. When Axel Tello discovered as a college sophomore a federally funded grant that would allow him to do paid lab research in any area of his choosing, he immediately applied. Now a rising senior at UC Merced, Tello looked forward to gaining lab skills and experience, exploring different types of research and seeing real-life applications of what he learned in his classes – all without having to juggle another job to sustain himself. Tello was eventually awarded an Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE) grant which is distributed by the National Institutes of Health. The grant was everything he had hoped it would be. But then in spring, things changed. Tello was supposed to have U-RISE funding until the end of his senior year, but instead the federal...

Along Sunset Boulevard in East Hollywood, a longstanding community health clinic for transgender youth and young adults will close its doors by next week, under growing pressure from President Donald Trump’s budget cuts. Executives at the Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) announced in June that its Center for Transyouth Health and Development , which provides gender-affirming care, including hormone therapy and surgeries, is shutting down by July 22.   RELATED:  Stanford Medicine pauses gender-affirming surgeries for youths Related Articles Stay or go? For some transgender California sailors and Marines, Trump’s ban leaves one option: ‘Come and find me’ Olympic champ Semenya did not get a fair hearing in sex eligibility case, human rights court rules The biggest gender-affirming care center for trans kids in the US is closing, prompting protests Justice Department sues California over transgender student athletes California rejects Trump administration proposal ...

By Ryan J. Foley, Christopher L. Keller and Jim Mustain | Associated Press Federal regulators repeatedly granted appeals to remove Camp Mystic’s buildings from their 100-year flood map, loosening oversight as the camp operated and expanded in a dangerous flood plain in the years before rushing waters swept away children and counselors , a review by The Associated Press found. The Federal Emergency Management Agency included the prestigious girls’ summer camp in a “Special Flood Hazard Area” in its National Flood Insurance map for Kerr County in 2011, which means it was required to have flood insurance and faced tighter regulation on any future construction projects. Related Articles FBI director Dan Bongino reportedly eyeing resignation Where the New World screwworm has been seen, and why it’s a big deal Deadly New Mexico floods damage at least 200 homes Texas AG Ken Paxton’s wife files for divorce on ‘biblical grounds’ Small Texas town where everyone survived flood has siren...