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How the humpback whale made a massive comeback in the Salish Sea
ABOARD THE MOLLY B, on the Salish Sea — They are big. They are beautiful. And they are back.The return of the humpback... Read More
Featured Stories
This Day in History, May 14
On May 14th, 1607, Jamestown, VA was settled as an English colony.
Heavier storms and longer dry spells are drying California and the West
Rainfall across much of California and the West has become more clustered in heavier storms, with longer dry spells in between.
The net effect is a drying out, researchers found in a new study. It isn’t just the western...Read more
Weather takes out SpaceX launch for 2nd day; sets up Friday retry that could bring sonic booms
Poor weather conditions Wednesday forced another scrub of a launch attempt by SpaceX on its latest resupply run for NASA to International Space Station, which will have to wait until at least Friday for a backup attempt ...Read more
United Launch Alliance to prep future Vulcan launch for Amazon despite rocket investigation
United Launch Alliance is running short on usable hardware this year, having to rely on its dwindling supply of Atlas V rockets while it continues an investigation into what went wrong on the last launch of its successor ...Read more
Today's Word "blackguard"
blackguard \BLAG-uhrd\ (noun) - 1 : A rude or unscrupulous person; a scoundrel. 2 : A person who uses foul or abusive language.
(adjective) - 1 : Scurrilous; abusive; low; worthless; vicious; as, "blackguard language."
(...Read more
Hat Trick
The Situation:
There is an island with 10 inhabitants. One day a monster comes and says that he intends to eat every one of them but will give them a chance to survive in the following way:
In the morning, the monster will line up all the people - single file so that the last person sees the remaining 9, the next person sees the remaining 8, and so on until the first person that obviously sees no one in front of himself. The monster ...
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Microsoft spent over $100 billion on OpenAI partnership
Microsoft Corp. has spent more than $100 billion on its partnership with OpenAI, a sum that underscores the significance of the software maker’s role in the AI company’s growth.
That figure includes Microsoft’s ...Read more
Why 'House of David' director thinks AI can save Hollywood jobs
In 1926, director Cecil B. DeMille hired hundreds of workers to build a set of Jerusalem inside the DeMille Studios in Culver City for the classic silent film "The King of Kings."
A century later, Jon Erwin filmed his ...Read more
Investors bet on San Diego's new military-industrial complex, including $1.5B on Shield AI
The day before Valentine’s Day, rumors surfaced about a San Diego company’s plans to raise a billion dollars.
Executives at the company didn’t respond to requests for comment. Industry insiders wouldn’t speak on ...Read more
Orphaned Monrovia bear cubs on path back to wild after state euthanized their mom
LOS ANGELES — When state wildlife officials euthanized "Blondie" the bear over the objections of local elected leaders in March, it was unclear if her two orphaned bear cubs would ever be able to live in the wild again. ...Read more
Detroit’s water affordability crisis is tied to the uneven distribution of stormwater management costs – a fraught history explains why
Beginning in July 2026, Detroiters will be paying higher water and sewer bills.
That’s because The Great Lakes Water Authority, or GLWA, voted unanimously on Feb. 25, 2026, to increase water rates by 5.8% and ...Read more
Short Words Have Their Ups and Downs
"I've always found it interesting," writes Bob Fliegel of St. Augustine, Fla., "that the shortest and simplest words have the most elusive and counterintuitive etymologies. Why?"
The key factor is time. Because most of ...Read more
Jim Rossman: Don’t make a scammer’s life easier
This week I received a question about spam emails, “For some time, I am getting emails showing an invoice for services about to be charged to my credit card. Other than ignoring them, do you have any suggestions on how...Read more
Gadgets: Stay ahead of car trouble
How annoying is it to get in your vehicle and your check engine light or other alerts suddenly flash in your face? The BlueDriver Pro Scan tool will tell you almost instantly what the problem is, and potentially keep you...Read more
Tech review: Gift ideas for grads
We are in the midst of graduation season, and I’ve been testing some gadgets that would make for great graduation gifts.
Cash is a traditional gift for graduates, but I know a lot of people who like their gift to be a ...Read more
As drought worsens, Western states brace for wildfires, water shortages
From the Rockies to the Cascades to the Sierra Nevada, mountainsides across the West are sparsely covered by the snow that usually blankets the high country well into the summer.
That snowpack is like a savings account ...Read more
Today's Word "indigence"
indigence \IN-dih-juhn(t)s\ (noun) - A state of extreme poverty or destitution.
"Such was the band's indigence that all they could afford was 'loser's lunch', a meal which consisted of baloney on hand, as they could not ...Read more
Petals Around the Rose
You roll five dice. The computer calculates the score. Your job is to find out what the computer based the score on.
If you roll 5, 4, 6, 3, and 5, the score is 10.
If you roll 1, 3, 3, 4, and 2, the score is 4.
If you roll 1, 6, 2, 6, and 4,the score is 0.
What is the method?
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This Day in History, May 13
On May 13th, 1950, the first all-time Formula One Grand Prix took place.
Tornado season is underway in Chicago. Here's what to expect and when
CHICAGO — The reemergence of thunderstorms and warming temperatures in the forecast are a reminder that tornado season is here in Chicagoland.
Isolated thunderstorms are expected in the area between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m. ...Read more
Inside Knowledge
Popular Stories
- Detroit’s water affordability crisis is tied to the uneven distribution of stormwater management costs – a fraught history explains why
- Why 'House of David' director thinks AI can save Hollywood jobs
- United Launch Alliance to prep future Vulcan launch for Amazon despite rocket investigation
- Orphaned Monrovia bear cubs on path back to wild after state euthanized their mom
- Microsoft spent over $100 billion on OpenAI partnership
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