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Video game-playing sea lions show off cognitive skills

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- "Spike" the sea lion is making waves in the science community, learning how to play video games on the deck of a sea pen in the San Diego Bay off the coast of Point Loma. The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program cares for the branch's sea lions and dolphins, aiming to keep marine mammals happy and healthy longer."His (Spike) ability to understand the concept of controlling a cursor on a screen, then progress through a series of more challenging games, marks the first recorded success in testing cognition of California sea lions with an animal-controlled interface," said Maison Piedfort, with the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific.Spike, who is a fan of fish, ice and naps, participates in the Enclosure Video Enrichment (EVE) system, using his snout to press a button and maneuver a cursor through a maze while his trainers cheer him on. He is then rewarded with herring after finishing a training session. Carlsbad man uses family’s Taiwanese farming techniques to grow ex...

LeBron James, Lakers eliminate champion Warriors with 122-101 victory in Game 6

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Six months and a day after the Los Angeles Lakers fell to 2-10 to start the regular season, they emphatically eliminated the defending NBA champions to reach the Western Conference finals.Although the Lakers’ transformation has become increasingly incredible over the past several weeks, the primary forces are LeBron James and Anthony Davis, who won a ring together just three years ago — and who shared a joyous hug Friday night after they led their team to its biggest home victory in over a decade.James had 30 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and the Lakers ended the Golden State Warriors’ reign with a 122-101 victory in Game 6 of the second-round series.Davis had 17 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers, who never trailed in their third home victory over Golden State in seven days. Austin Reaves scored 23 points — highlighted by a 54-footer from midcourt at the halftime buzzer — along with six assists and five rebounds while Los Angeles inexorabl...

Census Bureau rejects many big-city challenges that claimed the 2020 headcount missed their people

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

Some of the largest U.S. cities challenging their 2020 census numbers aren’t getting the results they hoped for from the U.S. Census Bureau — an effort by Memphis to increase its official population resulted in three people being subtracted from its count during an initial appeal.Some successes have come from challenges to totals of “group quarters” — dorms, jails and nursing homes. They were among the most difficult to count as campuses closed and prisons and nursing homes were locked down at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Census Bureau created a separate program to handle these challenges. The Census Bureau has received more than 100 submissions in total for its two challenge programs from cities, towns and villages of all sizes across the U.S.The challenges won’t affect how many congressional seats each state got during the apportionment process, or the more detailed numbers used for redrawing political boundaries. But new numbers could shape how ...

Democrats in Minnesota Senate hold firm to pass contentious gun control measures

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Democratic Minnesota senators held firm despite only a one-vote majority Friday to pass gun control legislation strongly supported by the governor that would align the battleground state with others nationally that have taken steps to keep guns out of the hands of people in crisis and criminals.The proposals include a “red flag law” that would allow authorities to ask courts for “extreme risk protection orders” to temporarily take guns away from people deemed to be an imminent threat to others or themselves. The provision is part of a broad public safety budget bill that also contains expanded background checks for gun transfers.The bill passed 34-33 on a party-line vote late Friday after around nine hours of debate. “What we are going to be providing — finally — is a path forward for families and law enforcement who know that someone’s exhibiting signs of crisis and danger,” said Democratic Sen. Rob Latz of St. Louis Park, chairman of the Senate p...

Elon Musk sparred with new CEO Linda Yaccarino in on-stage interview: 3 takeaways from the exchange

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — On Friday, Elon Musk announced that NBC Universal’s Linda Yaccarino will serve as the new CEO of Twitter. Yaccarino is a longtime advertising executive credited with integrating and digitizing ad sales at NBCU. Her challenge now will be to woo back advertisers that have fled Twitter since Musk acquired it last year for $44 billion.Since taking ownership, Musk has fired thousands of Twitter employees, largely scrapped the trust-and-safety team responsible for keeping the site free of hate speech, harassment and misinformation, and blamed others — particularly mainstream media organizations, which he views as untrustworthy “competitors” to Twitter for ad dollars — for exaggerating Twitter’s problems.In April, the two met for an on-stage conversation at a marketing convention in Miami Beach, Florida. Here are some highlights of their conversation:MUSK AND YACCARINO SPAR OVER CONTENT MODERATIONThe Miami discussion was cordial, although both participants ...

‘Why can’t there be a system?’: Tribe pushes to ease US border crossings for Native Americans

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

For four hours, Raymond V. Buelna, a cultural leader for the Pascua Yaqui Tribe, sat on a metal bench in a concrete holding space at the U.S.-Mexico border, separated from the two people he was taking to an Easter ceremony on tribal land in Arizona and wondering when they might be released.It was February 2022 and Buelna, a U.S. citizen, was driving the pair — both from the sovereign Native American nation’s related tribal community in northwestern Mexico — from their home to the reservation southwest of Tucson. They’d been authorized by U.S. officials to cross the border. But when Buelna asked an agent why they were detained, he was told to wait for the officer who brought him in.“They know that we’re coming,” said Buelna, who has made the trip for a variety of ceremonies for 20 years. “We did all this work and then we’re still sitting there.”Now, the Pascua Yaqui Tribe is trying to change this — for themselves and potentially dozens of other tribes in the U.S. Tr...

Unusually early heat wave in Pacific Northwest could break records

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Temperatures are expected to start climbing significantly Saturday in parts of the Pacific Northwest as an early heat wave takes hold, possibly breaking records and worsening wildfires already burning in western Canada.The historically temperate region has grappled with scorching summer temperatures and unprecedented wildfires fueled by climate change in recent years.The National Weather Service issued a heat advisory lasting from Saturday through Monday for much of the western parts of both Oregon and Washington state. It said the temperatures could raise the risk of heat-related illness, particularly for those who are dehydrated or don’t have effective cooling.Temperatures in Portland, Oregon, are expected to hover around 94 F (34.4 C) throughout the weekend, according to the weather service. The current daily temperature records for May 13 and 14 stand at 92 F (33.3 C) and 91 F (32.8 C), dating from 1973 and 2014, respectively.Temperatures in the Seattle are...

ALERT: Heavy rain with a flash flood risk moving through Central Texas

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Heavy rain and strong thunderstorms are pushing through the Hill Country into the Austin Metro Counties. NEW BLOG: HOW TO PREPARE FOR FLASH FLOODING While our main concern overnight and this weekend is flash flooding, the leading edge of the heavy rain may bring a brief severe risk for damaging winds.A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for Blanco and Gillespie Counties until 2 a.m. to account for the wind damage threat initially posed by the storms.Severe Thunderstorm Watch until 2 a.m.A Flood Watch has been issued for all of Central Texas through Saturday 8 p.m. with the potential this could get extended into Sunday. A Flood Watch means conditions are favorable for flash flooding or stream, creek or river flooding during the watch period.Flood Watch until Saturday eveningTHROUGH SATURDAY MORNINGA line of strong storms had congealed into a mass of rain with the leading edge bringing both the risk for damaging winds and especially flash flooding. Rainfall r...

NBA playoffs: Lakers, Heat advance to conference finals with Game 6 victories

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

By The Associated PressLOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James had 30 points, nine rebounds and nine assists and the Los Angeles Lakers eliminated the defending NBA champion Golden State Warriors with a 122-101 victory Friday night in Game 6 of the second-round series.The seventh-seeded Lakers will face Nikola Jokic and the top-seeded Nuggets in the Western Conference finals starting Tuesday night in Denver.Anthony Davis had 17 points and 20 rebounds for the Lakers, who never trailed in a closeout victory that punctuated their increasingly incredible late-season surge.Austin Reaves scored 23 points, highlighted by a 54-footer from midcourt at the halftime buzzer for the Lakers. They improved to 7-0 at home since the regular season ended with three wins in seven days over the Warriors. Los Angeles also snapped Golden State’s streak of 28 playoff series with at least one road victory – an NBA-record run encompassing Stephen Curry’s entire career.James, Davis and the La...

Elderly woman fatally struck by vehicle in Chino

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 14:53:00 GMT

An elderly woman was found dead after she was fatally struck by a vehicle in Chino.On Wednesday, officers responded to reports of a collision on Euclid Avenue, just south of Pine Avenue around 8:23 p.m.When they arrived, they found Karin James, a 79-year-old Ontario resident, dead at the scene. Man arrested, escaped West Hollywood apartment standoff after neighbor was shot through wall James was walking on Euclid Avenue when she was struck by a vehicle driving southbound on the 16700 block, police said.The driver called police and stayed at the scene until officers arrived, authorities said.The case remains under investigation. Officials are seeking witnesses, security camera footage, or any additional information about the deadly crash.Anyone with information is asked to contact Cpl. Baas at [email protected] or call 909-334-3148.