This story by Ariana Figueroa and Ashley Murray was originally published in Colorado Newsline. It has been shortened.

A Rhode Island federal judge blocked an order that would have yanked billions of federal dollars for roads, bridges and airport projects in states that don’t aid in the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.

U.S. District Judge John James McConnell Jr. granted a preliminary injunction late Thursday to the 20 Democratic-led states that brought the case against the U.S. Department of Transportation as well as DOT Secretary Sean Duffy.

McConnell’s order only applies to the 20 plaintiff states, which he wrote are likely to succeed in the case because Duffy acted outside his authority when he placed new eligibility requirements on funds already allocated by Congress for a specific purpose.

McConnell delivered the ruling ahead of a Friday deadline for infrastructure grant funding applications.

The states that brought the suit are California, Illinois, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Maryland, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Washington and Wisconsin.

“Defendents seek to hold hostage tens of billions of dollars of critical transportation funding in order to force the plaintiff states to become mere arms of the federal government’s immigration enforcement policies,” Delbert Tran of the California Department of Justice, who argued on behalf of the states, said.

Arguing on behalf of the Trump administration, Bloom said that Duffy’s letter simply directs the states to follow federal immigration law.

The judge said Bloom’s argument expressed a “very different” interpretation of the directive than how the administration has described it publicly. He also noted President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem have “railed on … the issues that arise from sanctuary cities.”

Tran said the Department of Transportation’s directive is not only arbitrary and capricious, but undermines congressional authority because Congress appropriated more than $100 billion for transportation projects to the states.

Cutting off funding would have disastrous consequences, the states have argued.

“More cars, planes, and trains will crash, and more people will die as a result, if Defendants cut off federal funding to Plaintiff States,” according to the brief from the states.

• U.S. Department of Transportation
• USDOT
• Federal Funding
• Trump 2.0
• Transportation Funding
• Executive Actions

Just like humans and pets, zoo animals undergo regular medical check-ups. As you might imagine, however, the physical examination of certain zoo residents requires a bit more effort than simply heading to the doctor’s office. To celebrate Veterinary Appreciation Day on June 18, the San Francisco Zoo highlighted one such high maintenance patient: a black bear (Ursus americanus).

“This past week, the team worked alongside carnivore staff to perform a general examination on 8-year-old black bear Valdez. Like most examinations, there are many things going on while the animal is under anesthesia, from blood draws, to checking their hearts, teeth, eyes, examining each limb, and weighing them,” the zoo wrote in a social media post. “The goal is to ensure each animal resident receives a comprehensive check-up on a regular basis, so that we can keep track of their overall health as they age and mature.”

The photographs accompanying the post feature the team assessing a very knocked-out Valdez’s paw, mouth, nose, and even conducting what seems to be an ultrasound scan. According to Joerg Mayer, an associate professor of zoological and exotic animal medicine at the University of Georgia’s College of Veterinary Medicine, bears should always be anesthetized before a checkup. 

“With a dog or a cat, you don’t need to do this,” Mayer told UGA Today. “Even a dangerous dog can just wear a muzzle. But you can’t put a muzzle on a bear.”

However, a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) pamphlet suggests that bears can be trained to allow the examination of body parts such as the skin, feet, eyes, and teeth, as well as tests like ultrasounds and blood draws, which lessens the need for anesthesia or sedation. Since the accompanying image showcases an animal expert doing so while on the other side of a fence, veterinarians are presumably still expected to take precautions even when working with a well-trained animal. 

[ Related: Is my dog ‘old’? Vets finally have the answers. ]

Valdez arrived at the San Francisco Zoo in 2017, after he and another orphaned bear cub named Juneau were found abandoned and malnourished in Alaska. While in most cases the best place for a bear is in its natural habitat in the wild, sometimes release is not possible and the mammals must stay in the care of a veterinary team. 

The post This is how you give a bear a check-up appeared first on Popular Science.

Our solar system contains three types of planets. Between the four terrestrial planets–Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars–and the distant ice giants of Neptune and Uranus, sit two gas giants: Saturn and Jupiter. 

These planets are mostly composed of hydrogen and helium gas. Researchers now appreciate that gas planets are more complex than first thought. New findings have implications for our understanding of how these planets formed and will help design future missions to potentially visit them. 

Gas giants originate from one of two processes. The first method is called core accretion, explains Ravit Helled, a professor of theoretical astrophysics at the University of Zürich. This starts with the birth of a new star, when molecular clouds collapse under gravitational pressure. Whorls of gas–called protoplanetary disks–start to spin around these new stars. Within these gas disks will be heavier particles–dust, rock, or any elements heavier than helium. These particles can clump together and then suck in gas from the surrounding disk, forming a giant planet mainly composed of gas. 

A second method that may form gas giants called disk instability–this is a newer theory that still causes some controversy among planetary theorists. According to this idea, when massive protoplanetary disks cool down, they become unstable and can produce clumps of rock and gas that evolve into gas giants. Importantly, this proposed formation process happens much more quickly than core accretion. Helled says that Saturn and Jupiter likely formed via core accretion, but that disk instability may “explain very massive planets at large orbits or giant planets around small mass stars.” 

Regardless of how they form, the structure of gas giants is nothing like that of terrestrial planets like Earth. Jupiter and Saturn don’t have a surface in the same way Earth does. Instead, their atmosphere simply gets thinner until there isn’t enough density left to call the surrounding air part of the planet anymore. “There is no location where you can say, okay, this is where the planet stops,” says Helled. 

A spaceship attempting to “land” on Jupiter’s “surface” would have to overcome some significant obstacles. Once you enter the cloud of gas that roughly marks the beginning of a giant like Jupiter, temperature and pressure steadily increase as your head toward the planet’s core, and gaseous hydrogen and helium morph into liquid form. While our solar system’s gas giants are far from the sun, the core of a gas giant is likely to be incredibly hot–Jupiter’s is estimated at around 43,000 degrees Fahrenheit. You’d also have to pass through the thick clouds of ammonia found in Jupiter’s upper atmosphere. 

If you make your ship from tough stuff–tougher than any known substance on Earth–that could survive these conditions, it might make it to a gas giant’s core. What it would find there in the alien murk is still unclear. 

“For decades, it was assumed that there was a defined core,” says Helled. Recent probe missions, like Juno and Cassini, have orbited Jupiter and Saturn, respectively. The information these probes sent back has changed that view. 

“We now think that they have what we call fuzzy or diluted cores,” says Helled. This means that there isn’t a clear transition point between the upper layers of liquid gas and liquid hydrogen and helium and the planet’s core. 

In truth, Juno and Cassini’s data has revolutionized our understanding of these planet’s structures. Helled explains that they likely have complex heat and composition gradients. Jupiter is famously wracked with massive storms, like the Great Red Spot, which produces winds up to 425 mph (640 km/h). Some of these shifts can produce dramatic phenomena. Jupiter and Saturn likely have regions in which helium gas separates from hydrogen. Here, the helium becomes a rain of droplets that pour towards the planet’s core. 

These insights can reveal more about our solar system’s giants, as well as similar planets outside our solar system. 

“Now we realize that some of the simple assumptions that we’ve made to model these planets are wrong, and we need to modify the models,” says Helled.

This story is part of Popular Science’s Ask Us Anything series, where we answer your most outlandish, mind-burning questions, from the ordinary to the off-the-wall. Have something you’ve always wanted to know? Ask us.

The post What would happen if you tried to land on a gas giant? appeared first on Popular Science.

Your Android phone has a superpower you might not be aware of: It can give you advance warning of earthquakes in more than 100 countries, including the US. That extra few seconds of preparation time can save lives.

What’s more, the feature is going live on Wear OS devices as well, so if you have a Wear OS smartwatch the alerts will pop up on your wrist, as long as your wearable is connected to the web—even if you’ve left your phone behind.

These features aren’t difficult to set up and should be on by default—and, hopefully, won’t ever be needed. However, it’s worth knowing how they work so you’re not caught unaware if an earthquake is expected in your area.

Officially, this is known as the Android Earthquake Alerts System. As is often the case with Android, you may find it in a slightly different spot in Settings depending on the make and model of your phone. On both Pixels and Galaxy phones it’s Safety and emergency > Earthquake alerts.

The feature should have been enabled when you first set up your phone, but if it’s been turned off for whatever reason, you can turn it back on here. It’s just a simple toggle switch. You’ll also get information about how the feature works and some safety tips, as well as a See a demo option—though be careful when you use this, as the warning is quite loud.

As for the Wear OS functionality, it shouldn’t need any extra configuration. It should follow on from the setting on the phone. The watch alerts will mirror those on your phone, so it’s not one device or the other for your warnings—if you have a Wear OS watch connected, the earthquake alerts are going to show up on your phone as well.

Google pulls in data from two sources for its early warning system: the network of thousands of seismic detectors that are part of the ShakeAlert system managed by the U.S. Geological Survey, and accelerometer data being anonymously sampled across billions of Android devices worldwide.

The information that pops up on your phone and watch screens will tell you three key details: how far away the earthquake’s epicenter is, what magnitude the earthquake is estimated to be, and the level of shaking to expect. If weak or light shaking is expected, you get a pop up notification on your phone.

If moderate to heavy shaking is expected, the warning will go further. It will light up your phone screen and play a loud sound, no matter the volume or Do Not Disturb settings on your device. The alert will take over the entirety of your phone screen, with advice on how to stay protected: Drop, cover, and hold.

For either type of alert, tap on the notification for more details about where the earthquake is and the best ways to keep yourself safe. You’ll get tips such as avoiding damaged buildings, making sure you have shoes on before you move, and checking any gas supplies coming into your building.

Bear in mind that this Android Earthquake Alerts System isn’t an earthquake predictor, as earthquakes are notoriously difficult to predict. What it does do is deliver alerts about earthquakes very quickly after they’ve started, which can give you a few precious seconds to brace for the impact.

Once you’re safe, you can run a follow-up “earthquakes near me” query on Google Search to get more information about what’s happened. Recent earthquakes close to your location will be listed up at the top of the results. To get more information about these features and how your data is used, see the official Google support documents.

The post How your Android phone can detect earthquakes appeared first on Popular Science.

A proposed development in Portland, Maine could significantly alter the city's skyline. Tim Soley, president of the East Brown Cow, alongside Safdie Architects, is leading the “Old Port Square” project.

According to News Center Maine, “over the last 16 years, Soley has strategically acquired properties in this block. His latest vision includes a 30-story hospitality and residential tower — approximately 380 feet tall. The top of the tower would include a publicly accessible sky lobby and restaurant that offers 360-degree views of Casco Bay and the White Mountains.”

Despite Soley's impressive design initiatives, some have challenged the need for a 380-foot-tall hospitality tower in a low-level city. In a recent article by Design Boom, the question arises, “how can a tall building belong in a low-rise, historic city?” According to Design Boom, “the answer comes in the form of a beacon — an architectural gesture rooted in the region’s maritime lineage. Rising 380 feet at 45 Union Street, the slender tower recalls Maine’s lighthouses, reinterpreted in glass, timber, and stone.”

Design Boom further highlights that the tower is “... raised on pilotis, the building is both grounded and open, creating permeability at the pedestrian level. The palette and proportions echo the adjacent brick warehouses and cobbled streets, while the structure above shifts into lighter tones and forms, culminating in a vaulted lantern that nods to the lighthouse metaphor without replicating it.”

Overall, the “Old Port Square” project could prove beneficial to the city of Portland, as the tower requires minimal procedures compared to most renewal projects. Kevin Kraft, director of Planning and Urban Development, tells News Center Maine, “the proposal would add significant density to again – an area that’s highly underutilized ... it won’t require the demolition of any existing buildings or natural areas.”

The project is still pending approval from Portland's City Planning Board.

• Portland
• Downtowns
• Redevelopment
• High Rises

• Standard: Play the original audio you recorded.


• In-Frame: Reduce sounds and voices from sources not visible in the video frame.


• Studio: Reduce background sounds and reverb, to make it sound more like you are recording in a professional studio.


• Cinematic: Put all the voices onto a front-facing track and leave environmental noises in surround, like the audio in movies.

• iPhone 15 Pro


• iPhone 15 Pro Max


• iPhone 16e


• iPhone 16


• iPhone 16 Plus


• iPhone 16 Pro


• iPhone 16 Pro Max

This article was originally featured on The Conversation.

People have been celebrating the summer solstice with elaborate rituals since prehistoric times. But humans aren’t the only species to take mark June 21 as a special time. Studies are showing the summer solstice is an important cue for plants too.

Recent studies, including one of my own, have proposed that trees may use the longest day of the year as a key marker for their growth and reproductive cycles. The solstice seems to act like a calendar reminder for trees.

For example, at the solstice, trees growing in cold places slow down the creation of new wood cells and focus their energy on finishing already formed but still incomplete cells. This ensures trees have time to complete cell construction before winter hits. Incomplete cells are damaged by freezing winter temperatures, rendering them useless for water transport the following year.

Along similar lines, trees use the solstice to fine-tune the “winding down”, or senescence, of their leaves in preparation for autumn. Senescence allows the tree to reabsorb critical nutrients from the leaves before they fall. This process is timed to balance missing out on sunlight from “winding down” too early, against leaving it too late and losing nutrients if still-green leaves are killed by autumn frosts.

Satellite observations of forests, and controlled experiments in greenhouses, reveal that warmer temperatures immediately prior to the solstice cause the onset of leaf browning to start earlier that autumn. In contrast, warmer temperatures just after the solstice slow down the senescence process.

This means a longer transition period from green to fully brown leaves. This fine-tuning enables trees to extend the period of photosynthesis in years when temperatures stay warmer for longer, so they don’t miss out on these favourable conditions.

But not all scientists are convinced. From an evolutionary perspective, the solstice may not be the best seasonal marker for timing these transitions. For example, in forests in the far north, leaves do not appear until early June, only days before the solstice, and the growing season can extend late into October. In these forests, using the solstice to initiate the winding down process makes little sense for trees that have only just started growing for the year.

Nevertheless, there is more consensus about plants using the solstice to synchronise reproduction.

In many plants, especially trees from the temperate mid-latitudes, the number of seeds they produce varies dramatically year on year, known as masting. A large European beech tree can produce hundreds of thousands of seeds in a bumper year (a “mast event”) and forgo reproduction altogether in other years.

Beech trees vary their annual seed production in step, often on a continental scale. They do this to increase the efficiency of their reproduction.

A small moth, Cydia fagiglandana, lays its eggs in beech flowers. When the grubs hatch, they eat and destroy the developing seeds. Cycles of famine and bumper years help protect their seeds from these moths.

UK beech trees typically lose less than 5% of their seeds to Cydia because the cycles starve the moths into low numbers ready for masting years. But when trees are out of sync, seed loss can increase to over 40%.

For decades we have known that beech mast events happen in the year after a warm summer. These warmer temperatures trigger an increase in the formation of flower buds. More flower buds usually lead to a greater crop of seeds that autumn.

Scientists have long puzzled over how beech trees across Europe seem to use the same seasonal window to control mast events. Their seed production is determined by temperatures in late June and early July, irrespective of where they grow in Europe. But how can a beech tree know the date?

In my team’s 2024 study, we showed that they use the solstice as a seasonal marker. As soon as the days start to shorten after the solstice, beech trees across Europe seem to simultaneously sense the temperature.

Anywhere temperatures are above average in the weeks following the solstice can expect to have a mast event the next year. Weather conditions in the weeks before the solstice, by contrast, seem to be irrelevant. As seen on weather maps, warm and cool spells tend to occur simultaneously over large areas.

This allows beech trees to maximise the synchrony of their reproduction, whether that is investing in a mast year (warm temperatures), or forgoing reproduction for a year (low temperatures). Using a fixed marker like the solstice is the key to achieving this synchrony, and the benefits that come from it.

The evidence for this phenomenon has come from observations across dozens of forests across Europe. However, my research group is collaborating with about a dozen other groups in Europe to test this effect by manipulating the temperature of beech branches before and after the solstice at different sites. Ongoing research I am involved with seems to show flowering genes are activated at the summer solstice.

Also, studies into the circadian rhythms of plants show they have mechanisms in their molecules that allow them to detect and respond to tiny changes in day length. This is the basis for that extraordinary scale of synchronised reproduction.

If the weather is warm over the next month or so, then there is a good chance that beech trees in your local area will have heavy seed crops next autumn. What’s more, trees across the UK and into northern and central Europe will probably be doing the same.

The post Could trees know when the summer solstice is? appeared first on Popular Science.

• iPhone 12 and later


• iPad (10th generation) and later


• iPad mini (6th generation) and later


• iPad Air (4th generation) and later


• iPad Pro 11-inch (3rd generation) and later


• iPad Pro 12.9-inch (5th generation) and later

When it comes to selecting a pair of sunglasses, most people choose style over substance. But depending on the activities you’re planning, you may want to offer more consideration to the tint (color) and shade (darkness) of your sunglasses. Because while colored lenses can be fun, they’re also functional. The right ones can reduce glare and brightness, but also boost color perception and clarity, depending on the weather conditions and circumstances. 

So this summer, choose wisely to protect your eyes, enjoy your surroundings, and maintain good vision whether you’re lounging by the beach or summiting mountains.

Before you start obsessing over the color of your lenses, put the safety of your eyes first. When picking sunglasses insist on ones with 100 percent UVA and UVB protection, says Emily Schehlein, ophthalmologist at Brighton Vision Center in Michigan and spokesperson for the American Academy of Ophthalmology. 

[Related: The evolution of sunglasses from science to style (and back again)]

UV light can cause eye cancer, cataracts, pterygium or surfer’s eye—a growth from the corner of your eye to your cornea that can affect people of any age—and a slew of other conditions that could put your vision and overall health at risk. Fortunately, she says, “Sunglasses can help cut down on the risk of those diseases.”

The bigger the lenses, the better, she adds, highlighting that contact lens wearers–most contacts are UV protective–should wear sunnies, too, to protect their whole eyes. Schehlein advises that you wear sunglasses any time you’re outdoors, especially in the summer when UV is three times stronger, on the beach, on water or snow when reflective light is bouncing in every direction, and when on medications that can cause photosensitivity.

When it comes to selecting the perfect pair of sunnies, the color of the lens can matter more than you think. Different lens tints can filter light and change our perception in various ways.

That said, yellow and amber are the only colors scientifically proven to notably boost contrast sensitivity by filtering out shorter wavelengths of light, giving the perception that vision is clearer. Yellow (and pink) is a solid option in low light, including around dusk and on overcast days.

Other colors may still offer a visual boost or more comfort depending on the conditions, says Marcus Franck, co-founder of Vallon, a sunglasses brand with a focus on optical clarity in sports lenses.

For example, Franck says most Vallon sunglasses are fitted with tints like grey, brown and green, which offer natural color vision and excellent light-blocking on bright, sunny days. They tend to be the most popular shades for everything from mixed-light conditions like when hiking in and out of woods, to full sun. If you’re only going to have one pair of sunglasses, grey or brown are a good choice.

Grey is best at reducing brightness in extremely sunny conditions and offers the most accurate color perception. Brown lenses can ease eye strain and offer better focus and more comfort in the long run, according to Franck. Plus they help maintain depth perception. They don’t work as well on rainy or overcast days, though.

So if you’re enjoying a sunny beach day or watching your kid’s summer soccer game, stick with brown or grey, which will provide protection and strain-free vision. If you’re golfing, mountain biking, or hiking, brown or yellow tints can help with visual acuity (sharp vision) and depth perception, even in overcast conditions.

Finishes can also affect how our eyes perceive our surroundings. For example, mirror finishes that add a reflective shine to the outside of sunnies aren’t just for looks. The thin layer of metallic coating cuts down on the amount of visible light entering eyes and can even boost UV protection, making them an excellent choice for bright, sunny days.

Likewise, polarization is a chemically applied filter that blocks horizontal light—reflections on flat surfaces like water or the road—which is what our eyes see as glare. Think of polarization like blinds on a window, Schehlein explains: Light still passes through partially open blinds, but there’s less of it and it’s mostly coming from one direction. This effectively darkens your field of vision and reduces glare by eliminating bouncing light. Polarized coatings are excellent for driving or when you’re on a body of water when reflections can make details harder to decipher.

However, Franck says, “Polarization actually makes it harder for our eyes to safely distinguish between layers of snow and ice. So for skiing, ski touring, snowboarding and high altitude mountaineering on ice, non-polarized lenses are better.”

Higher quality glasses may be advertised as in a category from 1 to 4. These categories are determined by how much light passes through the lens to your eye via a metric called VLT (Visible Light Transmission). The higher the category, the darker the lens. If you see a VLT percentage, it’s the opposite: the smaller the number, the less light is passing through the tinted lens.

The darkest sunglasses are category 4 or have a VLT percentage between three to seven, according to Vallon’s website. Category 1 indicates lenses with a VLT between 46 to 79 percent, or lightly tinted. The key is to find a balance between too light and too dark. “A very dark tint may negatively impact visual clarity/acuity,” says Schehlein. But go too light and you may not see as much glare reduction and eye fatigue may increase depending on the conditions. “The ideal tinted lens gives a balance between improving contrast and reducing glare/light scatter but maximizing visual acuity.”

So choose your lens color wisely, then enjoy less eye strain and better contrast and protect your eyes when you’re outdoors.

The post How to protect your eyes with the right sunglass tint appeared first on Popular Science.

• What's the deal? Take up to $80 off AirPods models


• Where can I get it? Amazon


• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

• What's the deal? Save on Anker's best charging accessories


• Where can I get it? Amazon and Anker


• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

• 3-in-1 MagGo Foldable Travel Charger - $71.99, down from $89.99


• 3-in-1 MagGo Qi2 Charging Station - $82.48, down from $109.99


• 3-in-1 MagGo Charger Cube - $103.99, down from $149.99


• MagGo 10,000 mAh Power Bank - $64.00, down from $79.99


• Prime 20,000 mAh Power Bank - $89.99, down from $139.99

• What's the deal? Take up to $150 off M4 Mac mini


• Where can I get it? Amazon


• Where can I find the original deal? Right here

• What's the deal? Take up to $400 off M4 MacBook Pro


• Where can I get it? Amazon


• Where can I find the original deal? Right here