The Columbian

Science & Technology

Workers finish fastening the Space Shuttle Endeavour at the site of the future Samuel Oschin Air and Space Center on Tuesday, Jan. 30, 2024, in Los Angeles. NASA’s retired Space Shuttle Endeavour was carefully hoisted late Monday to be mated to a huge external fuel tank and its two solid rocket boosters at a Los Angeles museum where it will be uniquely displayed as if it is about to blast off.

Space Shuttle Endeavour hoisted for installation in vertical display at Los Angeles science museum

January 30, 2024, 8:17am Life

NASA’s retired Space Shuttle Endeavour was carefully hoisted late Monday to be mated to a huge external fuel tank and its two solid rocket boosters at a Los Angeles museum where it will be uniquely displayed as if it is about to blast off. Read story

This combination of satellite images provided by the E.U.’s Copernicus program via the British Antarctic Survey in January 2024 shows four new emperor penguin colony sites in Antarctica. Scientists have spotted previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins in new satellite imagery. At least some emperor penguins are moving their colonies as melting ice from climate change threatens breeding grounds. The British Antarctic Survey said Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024, that the four newly found colonies likely existed for many years, but scientists hadn’t previously spotted them.

Previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins seen via satellite

January 30, 2024, 6:00am Life

Previously unknown colonies of emperor penguins have been spotted in new satellite imagery. Read story

Surviving cold-stunned turtles wait to be examined at CMAST in Morehead City, N.C. The North Carolina State University Center for Marine Sciences and Technology took in 109 cold-stunned sea turtles from Cape Lookout on Jan. 21 but only 36 survived, the center said in a social media post this week.

Scores of North Carolina sea turtles die in cold

January 29, 2024, 5:56am Life

Scores of sea turtles stunned by cold temperatures along the North Carolina coast have died, officials said. Read story

File - The iPhone 15 Pro is shown after its introduction on the Apple campus, Sept. 12, 2023, in Cupertino, Calif. Apple rolled out an update to its iOS operating system this week with a feature called Stolen Device Protection that makes it a lot harder for phone thieves to access key functions and settings. Users are being urged to turn it on immediately.

How To Tech: Why it’s important to turn on Apple’s new Stolen Device Protection

January 28, 2024, 6:02am Business

You’re in a crowded bar when a thief watches you unlock your iPhone with your passcode, then swipes it. That sinking feeling hits when you realize it’s gone, along with priceless photos, important files, passwords on banking apps and other vital parts of your digital life. Read story

FILE - In this image made available by NASA, the Mars Ingenuity helicopter hovers above the surface of the planet during its second flight on April 22, 2021. On Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024, NASA announced that the 4-pound chopper can no longer fly because of rotor blade damage, and its mission is officially over.

NASA’s little helicopter on Mars has logged its last flight

January 25, 2024, 4:26pm Nation & World

NASA’s little Mars helicopter has flown its last flight. Read story

A wildlife care specialist holds Omeo, a koala joey, as he holds onto a stuffed panda bear at the San Diego Zoo on May 19, 2020. (K.C.

Koala DNA explored in order to better understand retrovirus

January 23, 2024, 5:58am Life

Two world-class institutions that call San Diego home have joined forces on an investigation into the DNA of koalas. Read story

The humanoid robot “Alter” is on display Aug. 1, 2016, at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo.

Humanoid robots are here, but do we really need them?

January 23, 2024, 5:57am Life

Building a robot that’s both human-like and useful is a decades-old engineering dream inspired by popular science fiction. While the latest artificial intelligence craze has sparked another wave of investments in the quest to build a humanoid, most of the current prototypes are clumsy and impractical, looking better in staged… Read story

Alfonsino fish swim over a field of Lophelia pertusa in the massive reef discovered off the eastern U.S. Coast.

Deep-sea coral reef discovered, stretching 600 miles from Miami to Charleston, S.C.

January 22, 2024, 5:59am Life

The world’s largest deep-sea coral reef has been discovered off the East Coast: a massive 6.4 million-acre seascape that stretches from Miami to Charleston, S.C., according to National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Ocean Exploration. Read story

Multiplied by billions: Clark County author connects kids’ lives to big environmental problems, solutions

January 20, 2024, 6:13am Clark County Life Subscriber Exclusive

In a new series of six slim books for kids, Clark County author Stephanie Feldstein explores the industrial-scale, systemic sources of our personal, daily environmental impacts. Read story