LA Post: Top Science stories and news headlines

Science|Technology

Earth’s rotation is notoriously wobbly. It could alter the fate of the leap second

October 13, 2026

MI5 chief says Iran is targeting military sites and suspected plot at RAF Fairford is 'not unique’

The head of MI5 says Iran is trying to hit military sites in the U.K. and the suspected plot to attack a U.S.-run military air base in September is not unique

October 13, 2026

Arts|Environment|Science|Technology|World

Environmentalists picket African Energy Week, urging an end to new oil and gas exploration

Climate activists in South Africa have picketed outside the African Energy Week conference, demanding an end to new oil and gas exploration across the continent

October 13, 2026

Science|Technology

Indian police detain 'cockroach' movement leaders demanding election chief's resignation

Top leaders of India's "cockroach" youth movement were detained on Tuesday after they jumped barricades to enter the grounds of a historic observatory popular for

October 13, 2026

Arts|Economy|Science|Technology

Wall Street mixed in early trading as big US banks report earnings, chip stocks fall again

Trading on Wall Street is mixed in the premarket as earnings season kicks off with the latest results from a handful of big banks

October 13, 2026

Health|Science|Technology

Could GLP-1 drugs be anti-aging medications?

October 13, 2026

Oil prices ease as traders monitor Russian diesel deal, Saudi attacks

Oil prices fell 2% on Tuesday a day after benchmark Brent hit an almost one-month high as traders monitored attacks on Saudi Arabia and prospects for additional

October 13, 2026

Business|Economy|Finance|Science|Technology

'Brutal session' for chip stocks shows AI trade is turning

A selloff in AI supplier shares on Tuesday is the strongest sign to date that the mood on the trade of the decade is shifting, with worries rising

October 13, 2026

Tencent draws strong demand for $4.5 billion debt sale, defying AI scrutiny

Tencent Holdings has received investor demand worth nearly four times the Chinese tech giant's plan to raise at least $4.5 billion

October 13, 2026

BlackRock cools on US stocks, turns bullish on short-dated Treasuries

The BlackRock Investment Institute said it had downgraded its view on US stocks to neutral, citing volatility around AI, and upgraded Treasuries, preferring short-term

October 13, 2026

Europe|Science|Technology|World

NATO fund targets drone defence technologies as Ukraine reshapes priorities

Russia's invasion of Ukraine is reshaping NATO's defence technology priorities, with counter-drone systems and space-based surveillance emerging as

October 13, 2026

Science|Technology

Banking watchdogs ramp up AI scrutiny as stability fears mount, sources say

Banking regulators are stepping up efforts to contain growing AI risks, six people familiar with the matter

October 13, 2026

World stocks dip as chips slide, bonds rise

World stocks dipped on Tuesday as renewed AI concerns hit high-flying chipmakers, driving investors to the safety of government bonds as tech-

October 13, 2026

Science|Technology

NASA's Perseverance rover breaks record for off-planet driving on Mars

NASA's robotic Perseverance rover has now driven farther than any other vehicle on the surface of any world other than Earth, racking up 28.1 miles (45.2

October 13, 2026

Science|Technology

AI models may soon self-replicate without access to data centers, Anthropic warns

Anthropic said on Monday its experiments suggested small AI models may be months away from being capable enough to self-replicate on commercial internet-of-things (IoT) devices,

October 13, 2026

Business|Economy|Science|Technology

Nvidia's China AI-chip share falls as Huawei closes gap, report finds

Nvidia's share of China's market for data-centre AI chips fell to 34% in the first half of 2026, as US export controls restricted supplies of its products and domestic

October 13, 2026

US says it opposes Chinese 'coercion', after Belize, Paraguay ministers sanctioned

The Trump administration opposes "coercion and aggression" by China against countries for exercising their sovereign rights, the US State Department said,

October 13, 2026

Business|Science|Technology

NTT Data in final talks to build Anthropic's first data centre in Japan, Nikkei reports

Japan's NTT Data Group, a unit of telecommunications giant NTT, is in the final stages of talks to build a data centre in Osaka, western Japan, for US AI company Anthropic,

October 13, 2026

Trump says he does not believe China and Russia are helping Iran 'at all'

President Donald Trump said late on Monday he did not believe that China and Russia were helping Iran "at all," adding that Moscow and Beijing had "too

October 13, 2026

Dollar slips, geopolitical escalation risks seen limited before midterms

The dollar slipped from 18-month highs on Tuesday in line with a retreat in oil prices as investors shifted focus to the Federal Reserve's rate path, betting

October 13, 2026

Environment|Science

Storms cause 5 deaths in Mexico as flood risk eases in southwestern US

Hurricane Simon is still pounding Mexico's Pacific coast as it remains offshore

October 13, 2026

Science|Technology

Anthropic says new safeguards sharply reduce AI distillation attacks

Anthropic said on Monday new measures designed to prevent rivals from copying the capabilities of its Claude AI models have reduced data harvested in so-called distillation attacks

October 13, 2026

IMF cuts Latin America, Caribbean growth forecasts on energy shock, little AI boost

The International Monetary Fund trimmed its growth forecasts for Latin America and the Caribbean for this year and next and said most of the region was getting little lift

October 13, 2026