He sees himself as many Angelenos do: in the gray area between homeless and homeowner. Enough money to get by, but not enough to ever have the picture-perfect California single-family home. One more person with a dream of putting down roots in one of the priciest real estate markets in the country. from An ambulance, an empty lot and a loophole: One man's fight for a place to live [Los Angeles Times; ungated]

In texts received in Spanish and translated to English, the girl tried to describe her location, though she did not know where she was

Authorities rescued a 17-year old girl after she was trafficked to Ventura county, California, from Mexico two months ago and texted 911 for help.

On Thursday, the Ventura county sheriff’s office announced that on 9 May authorities rescued the girl after she sent messages to 911. The text message correspondence began with a call taker at a 911 communication center, according to the sheriff’s office, which added that the messages were received in Spanish and translated into English.

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

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© Photograph: Bloomberg/Getty Images

The behavior, documented in footage from researcher Chris Law, is most seen in females and sheds light on the threatened species

Floating on its back in the waters of California’s Monterey Bay, a sea otter takes a shelled animal and strikes it against a rock sitting on its chest to break open the prey.

This behavior, documented in footage from researcher Chris Law, is seen in relatively few animals and allows the otter to access food without damaging its teeth. A new study, which will be published in the journal Science on Friday, sheds light on the threatened species’ tactics.

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© Photograph: Monterey Bay Aquarium

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© Photograph: Monterey Bay Aquarium

Read more from The DIY Climate Changers, a new series on everyday people’s creative solutions to the climate crisis

Beverly Lofton’s home in south Los Angeles used to have a water-guzzling grass lawn. Today, it’s a verdant microfarm that uses solar power and recycled water to grow carrots, beets, potatoes and more, with the bounty distributed to her neighbors. The 67-year-old’s switch was a bold move in a city ruled by cars and concrete, and where the impact of extreme heat and water shortages are acutely felt. It’s also a powerful rebuttal to food insecurity and big agriculture, in a neighborhood considered a “food desert”.

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© Photograph: Gabriella Angotti-Jones/The Guardian

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© Photograph: Gabriella Angotti-Jones/The Guardian

A new program, backed by Cornell Tech, M.I.T. and U.C.L.A., helps prepare lower-income, Latina and Black female computing majors for artificial intelligence careers.

In a state with prolonged bouts of drought and unquenching thirst, stolen water is an indelible part of California lore. But this was not Los Angeles' brazen gambit to take water from the Owens Valley. Or San Francisco's ploy to flood part of Yosemite National Park for a reservoir. The water grab described in a federal indictment allegedly happened cat burglar-style, siphoned through a secret pipe, often after hours, to avoid detection. from Feds say he masterminded an epic California water heist. Some farmers say he's their Robin Hood [LA Times; ungated]

Officials said the decision would lower bills and encourage people to use cars and appliances that did not use fossil fuels, but some experts said it would discourage energy efficiency.

© Jim Wilson/The New York Times

NYT: Giant Batteries Are Transforming the Way the U.S. Uses Electricity California draws more electricity from the sun than any other state. It also has a timing problem: Solar power is plentiful during the day but disappears by evening, just as people get home from work and electricity demand spikes. To fill the gap, power companies typically burn more fossil fuels like natural gas. That's now changing. Since 2020, California has installed more giant batteries than anywhere in the world apart from China. They can soak up excess solar power during the day and store it for use when it gets dark.

Those batteries play a pivotal role in California's electric grid, partially replacing fossil fuels in the evening. Between 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. on April 30, for example, batteries supplied more than one-fifth of California's electricity and, for a few minutes, pumped out 7,046 megawatts of electricity, akin to the output from seven large nuclear reactors. Across the country, power companies are increasingly using giant batteries the size of shipping containers to address renewable energy's biggest weakness: the fact that the wind and sun aren't always available. ... Over the past three years, battery storage capacity on the nation's grids has grown tenfold, to 16,000 megawatts. This year, it is expected to nearly double again, with the biggest growth in Texas, California and Arizona. Most grid batteries use lithium-ion technology, similar to batteries in smartphones or electric cars. As the electric vehicle industry has expanded over the past decade, battery costs have fallen by 80 percent, making them competitive for large-scale power storage. Government mandates and subsidies have also spurred growth. ... Texas is quickly catching up to California in solar power, and batteries increasingly help with evening peaks. On April 28, the sun was setting just as wind power was unexpectedly low and many coal and gas plants were offline for repairs. Batteries jumped in, supplying 4 percent of Texas's electricity at one point, enough to power a million homes. Last summer, batteries helped avert evening blackouts by providing additional power during record heat.

An audacious federal plan to protect the spotted owl would eradicate hundreds of thousands of barred owls in the coming years.

© Gerry Ellis/Minden Pictures

H5N1, an avian flu virus, has killed tens of thousands of marine mammals, and infiltrated American livestock for the first time. Scientists are working quickly to assess how it is evolving and how much of a risk it poses to humans.

© Sebastian Castaneda/Reuters

Which A.I. system writes the best computer code or generates the most realistic image? Right now, there’s no easy way to answer those questions.

© Davide Comai

He shared a Nobel Prize in Physics for discoveries that paved the way for high-speed internet communication, mobile phones and bar-code readers.

© Henrick Montomery/Pressens Bild, via Associated Press

Tesla and China built a symbiotic relationship, with credits, workers and parts that made Mr. Musk ultrarich. Now, his reliance on the country may give Beijing leverage.

© Aly Song/Reuters