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Science & Nature

This photo provided by Broadcom Broadcasting shows a damaged area in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, following Saturday's volcanic eruption near the Pacific archipelago. The first flight carrying fresh water and other aid to Tonga was finally able to leave Thursday after the Pacific nation's main airport runway was cleared of ash left by the eruption. (Marian Kupu/Broadcom Broadcasting via AP)

First aid flights arrive in Tonga after big volcano eruption

First aid flights arrive in Tonga after big volcano eruption
This photo provided by Broadcom Broadcasting shows a damaged area in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022, following Saturday's volcanic eruption near the Pacific archipelago. The first flight carrying fresh water and other aid to Tonga was finally able to leave Thursday after the Pacific nation's main airport runway was cleared of ash left by the eruption. (Marian Kupu/Broadcom Broadcasting via AP)
Rare, pristine coral reef found off Tahiti coast
This photo provided by @alexis.rosenfeld shows corals shaped like roses in the waters off the coast of Tahiti of the French Polynesia in December 2021. Deep in the South Pacific, scientists have explored a rare stretch of pristine corals shaped like roses off the coast of Tahiti. The reef is thought to be one of the largest found at such depths and seems untouched by climate change or human activities. (Alexis Rosenfeld/@alexis.rosenfeld via AP)
Celeb-heavy Los Angeles suburb gets tough on water wasters
CORRECTS SPELLING TO AGOURA HILLS NOT AGORA HILLS Cason Gilmer, a senior field customer service representative from the Las Virgenes Municipal Water District, installs an advanced water metering system in Agoura Hills , Calif., Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022. The wealthy enclave along the Santa Monica Mountains that is haven for celebrities has taken aggressive steps to try to limit water use during California's drought, including lowering the thresholds for fines for those who go over their
EXPLAINER: Why Tonga eruption was so big and what's next
FILE - This satellite image provided by Maxar Technologies shows an overview of Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha'apai volcano in Tonga on Jan. 6, 2022, before a huge undersea volcanic eruption. (Satellite image ©2022 Maxar Technologies via AP, File)
Despite huge volcano blast, Tonga avoids widespread disaster
In this photo provided by the New Zealand Defense Force, volcanic ash covers roof tops and vegetation in an area of Tonga, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022. Thick ash on an airport runway was delaying aid deliveries to the Pacific island nation of Tonga, where significant damage was being reported days after a huge undersea volcanic eruption and tsunami. (CPL Vanessa Parker/NZDF via AP)

Technology

CORRECTS THE YEAR TO 2022, NOT 2021 - FILE - An Emirates jetliner comes in for landing at the Dubai International Airport in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Dec. 11, 2019. Airlines across the world, including the long-haul carrier Emirates, rushed Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022, to cancel or change flights heading into the U.S. over an ongoing dispute about the rollout of 5G mobile phone technology near American airports. (AP Photo/Jon Gambrell, File)
Airlines cancel some flights after reduced 5G rollout in US
FILE - Robert Mardini speaks during a news conference on the situation in Gaza, at the International Red Cross, headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland, on May 31, 2018. The International Committee of the Red Cross, which is best known for helping war victims, says hackers broke into servers hosting its data and gained access to personal, confidential information on more than a half-million vulnerable people.
Red Cross: Hack exposes data on 515,000 vulnerable people
FILE - In this Jan. 6, 2021, file photo, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton speaks in Washington. Newly unredacted documents from a state-led antitrust lawsuit against Google accuse the search giant of colluding with rival Facebook to manipulate online advertising sales. The CEOs of both companies were aware of the deal and signed off on it, the complaint alleges. The original redacted lawsuit, filed in December 2021, accused Google of
Texas sues Google over local radio ads for its smartphones
A sign for Microsoft offices, Thursday, May 6, 2021 in New York. Microsoft stunned the gaming industry when it announced, Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, it would buy game publisher Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, a deal that would immediately make it a larger video-game company than Nintendo. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
EXPLAINER: Microsoft's Activision buy could shake up gaming
US plans $50B wildfire fight where forests meet civilization
FILE - Trees scorched by the Caldor Fire smolder in the Eldorado National Forest, Calif., Friday, Sept. 3, 2021. The Biden administration wants to thin more forests and use prescribed burns to reduce catastrophic wildfires as climate changes makes blazes more intense. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Europe narrows hunt for next astronauts, eyes crewed flights
FILE - Astronaut Luca Parmitano of Italy, seen on screen, flashes a thumbs up, as he controls the Space Rover, rear, which successfully picked up a rock during a training exercise of the European Space Agency, ESA, in Katwijk, near The Hague, Netherlands, Monday, Nov. 25, 2019. The agency announced last year that it had received a record number of 22,589 applicants from people hoping to become the continent's next generation of space travelers. ESA said Tuesday it has reduced these to fewer than 1,400 - including 29 of whom have a physical disability - and hoped to cut the shortlist down to several tens of candidates by the end of the year for the four to six positions on its astronaut training program.( AP Photo/Peter Dejong)
Yellowstone bison species decision questioned by US judge
FILE - A mother bison leads her calf through deep snow toward a road in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., on Feb. 20, 2021. In January 2022, a federal judge has ordered the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to revisit part of its decision not to protect Yellowstone National Park's bison as an endangered species. Buffalo Field Campaign and Western Watersheds Project have been fighting since 2014 to have Yellowstone's bison declared endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act. (Ryan Dorgan/Jackson Hole News & Guide via AP, File)
Flights sent to assess Tonga damage after volcanic eruption
In this photo provided by the New Zealand Defense Force, an Orion aircraft is prepared at a base in Auckland, New Zealand, Monday, Jan. 17, 2022, before flying to assist the Tonga government after the eruption of an undersea volcano. (NZDF via AP)
Out of this world: 555.55-carat black diamond lands in Dubai
An employee of Sotheby's Dubai presents a 555.55 Carat Black Diamond
Correction: Virgin Orbit-Launch story
Expect more worrisome variants after omicron, scientists say
FILE - People wait in line at a COVID-19 testing site in Times Square, New York, Monday, Dec. 13, 2021. Scientists are warning that omicron's lightning-fast spread across the globe practically ensures it won't be the last worrisome coronavirus variant. And there's no guarantee the next ones will cause milder illness or that vaccines will work against them. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, File)
Study nixes Mars life in meteorite found in Antarctica
FILE - The meteorite labeled ALH84001 is held in the hand of a scientist at a Johnson Space Center lab in Houston, Aug. 7, 1996. Scientists say they've confirmed the meteorite from Mars contains no evidence of ancient Martian life. The rock caused a splash 25 years ago when a NASA-led team announced that its organic compounds may have been left by living creatures, however primitive. Researchers chipped away at that theory over the decades. A team of scientists led by Andrew Steele of the Carnegie Institution published their findings Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
The heat stays on: Earth hits 6th warmest year on record
FILE - Vivek Shandas, a professor of climate adaptation at Portland State University, takes a temperature reading of almost 106 degrees in downtown Portland, Ore., on Aug. 12, 2021. On Thursday, Jan. 13, 2022, NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration released measurements showing 2021 was the sixth hottest year on record globally, part of a long-term warming trend. (AP Photo/Nathan Howard, File)
UK virus hunting labs seek to bolster global variant network
Research assistant Emily checks a flow cell before putting it into the sequencer at the Wellcome Sanger Institute, Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridgeshire, England, Friday, on Jan. 7, 2022. By sequencing as many positive cases as possible, researchers hope to identify variants of concern as quickly as possible, then track their spread to provide early warnings for health officials. (AP Photo/Frank Augstein)
Judge weighs pausing Georgia spaceport land deal for voters
Omicron may be headed for a rapid drop in Britain, US
FILE - Maya Goode, a COVID-19 technician, performs a test on Jessica Sanchez outside Asthenis Pharmacy in Providence, R.I., Dec. 7, 2021. Scientists are seeing signals that COVID-19's alarming omicron wave may have peaked in Britain and is about to do the same in the U.S., at which point cases may start dropping off dramatically. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
Fire safety experts say planning, quick reaction key
FILE - Crews battle a four-alarm fire in Pittsburgh, Pa., Feb. 8, 2021. As smoke poured through a New York City high-rise Sunday, Jan.9. 2022, killing several people, tenants in the building were faced with life or death decisions about what to do to escape the blaze.(Nate Smallwood/Pittsburgh Tribune-Review via AP, File)
Rare snowy owl soars over Washington, thrills crowds
An American Flag flies in the distance as a rare snowy owl looks down from its perch atop the large stone orb of the Christopher Columbus Memorial Fountain at the entrance to Union Station in Washington, Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. Far from its summer breeding grounds in Canada, the snowy owl was first seen on January 3, the day a winter storm dumped eight inches of snow on the city. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Space telescope's 'golden eye' opens, last major hurdle
Engineering teams at NASA's James Webb Space Telescope Mission Operations Center at the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore monitor progress as the observatory's second primary mirror wing rotates into position, Saturday, Jan. 8, 2022. The last portion of the 21-foot (6.5-meter) mirror swung into place at flight controllers' command, completing the unfolding of the James Webb Space Telescope _ the riskiest part of the mission. (Bill Ingalls/NASA via AP)
Tallest Galapagos volcano erupts, spewing lava, ash
This photo released by the the National Galapagos Park communications office shows, from above, lava from the eruption of Wolf Volcano on Isabela Island, Galapagos Islands, Ecuador, Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. (Wilson Cabrera/National Galapagos Park communications office via AP)

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