Science
Measles confirmed in L.A. County resident who recently returned from Texas
Measles has been confirmed in a Los Angeles County resident who recently returned from Texas, a state that is in the midst of an outbreak of the highly infectious disease, health officials said Friday.
The outbreak in Texas is one of the worst seen in the U.S. in years, and it has claimed the lives of two school-aged children who were unvaccinated and had no underlying medical conditions, according to a report published Thursday in the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
This is the third measles case reported by the L.A. County Department of Public Health so far this year. In March, a county resident who had recently traveled through Los Angeles International Airport on a China Airlines flight from Taipei, Taiwan, tested positive. And in February, a case was reported in a non-L.A. County resident who arrived on a Korean Air flight from Seoul.
“The traveler was not infectious during the time of travel,” the county Department of Public Health said in a statement Friday regarding the most recent case.
Officials are working to identify people who may have been exposed while the infected person was contagious with the virus.
Symptoms of measles include a high fever — above 101 degrees — cough, runny nose, red and watery eyes and a rash, which usually starts on the face and spreads to the rest of the body.
Measles spreads easily through the air and can remain airborne and on surfaces for hours, even after an infectious person has left the room.
People can spread measles to others from four days before the disease’s telltale rash appears through four days afterward, according to the CDC. People who have not been immunized against measles, either through vaccination or prior infection, are at risk of getting sick between seven and 21 days after exposure.
Two doses of the measles vaccine are 97% effective against infection, health officials say.
CDC officials have identified 10 measles outbreaks nationwide. The largest began in a close-knit community with low vaccination rates in Texas’ Gaines County, adjacent to New Mexico.
That outbreak has since spread to New Mexico and Oklahoma, and is suspected to be linked to more cases in Kansas, the CDC report said. A growing outbreak in the Mexican state of Chihuahua was also reported after a resident fell ill after visiting Gaines County.
So far this year, 884 measles cases have been reported nationwide, “the second-highest annual case count in 25 years,” according to the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
During all of 2024, 285 measles cases were reported nationally.
Of the cases reported so far this year, the median patient age was 8. About one-third of those infected were younger than 5, the report said. Among all measles patients, 96% were not vaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status.
Nationally, 85 measles patients this year have had to be hospitalized. Except for one, all of them were either unvaccinated or had an unknown vaccination status. Texas officials have said the cause of the state’s latest measles death was measles pulmonary failure.
Most of the measles cases reported so far nationally this year are tied to close-knit communities with low vaccination coverage, the CDC said.
Before Friday’s announcement, nine measles cases had been reported in California this year, with cases also reported in Orange, Riverside, Fresno, San Mateo, Placer and Tuolumne counties, according to the California Department of Public Health.
In 2024, California confirmed 15 cases of measles. In 2023, the total was only four.
California’s worst measles outbreak in recent memory occurred between December 2014 and April 2015. Centered at Disneyland, the outbreak resulted in about 131 Californians getting infected. People from six other states, Mexico and Canada were also sickened, according to the California Department of Public Health.
Following that outbreak, California lawmakers strengthened childhood vaccination requirements for schoolchildren. For the 2023-24 academic year, 96.2% of California’s kindergartners were vaccinated against measles, mumps and rubella.
That’s slightly down from the 96.5% seen the year prior. But it remains above the levels recorded before the Disneyland measles outbreak, which were less than 94%.
Public health experts say they aim for a 95% measles vaccination rate to guard against outbreaks.
Amid the ongoing outbreaks, pediatricians have stepped up efforts to rebut misinformation about both the disease and the vaccine.
“The measles vaccine is safe and effective,” the American Academy of Pediatrics said in a recent statement, rebutting what they called “wellness influencers and anti-vaccine advocates” who they say “falsely assert” that getting vaccinated “is as dangerous as contracting measles itself.”
“Extensive research demonstrates that the MMR vaccine is safe and significantly reduces the risk of contracting measles, a disease that can lead to severe complications and death,” the pediatrics group said.
Our universe might be chock-full of cosmic wonder, but you can observe only a fraction of astronomical phenomena with the naked eye. Meteor showers, natural fireworks that streak brightly across the night sky, are one of them.
The latest observable meteor shower will be the Lyrids, which has been active since April 14 and is forecast to continue through April 30. The shower reaches its peak April 21 to 22, or Tuesday night into Wednesday morning.
According to NASA, the Lyrids are one of the oldest known meteor showers, and have been enjoyed by stargazers for nearly 3,000 years. Their bright, speedy streaks are caused by the dusty debris from a comet named Thatcher. They appear to spring from the constellation Lyra, which right now can be seen in the eastern sky at night in the Northern Hemisphere.
The moon will be about 27 percent full tonight, appearing as a thick crescent in the sky, according to the American Meteor Society.
To get a hint at when to best watch for the Lyrids, you can use this tool, which relies on data from the Global Meteor Network. It shows fireball activity levels in real time.
And while you gaze at the heavens, keep an eye out for other stray meteors streaking across the night sky. Skywatchers are reporting that the amount of fireballs is double what is usually seen by this point in the year.
Where meteor showers come from
There is a chance you might see a meteor on any given night, but you are most likely to catch one during a shower. Meteor showers are caused by Earth passing through the rubble trailing a comet or asteroid as it swings around the sun. This debris, which can be as small as a grain of sand, leaves behind a glowing stream of light as it burns up in Earth’s atmosphere.
Meteor showers occur around the same time every year and can last for days or weeks. But there is only a small window when each shower is at its peak, which happens when Earth reaches the densest part of the cosmic debris. The peak is the best time to look for a shower. From our point of view on Earth, the meteors will appear to come from the same point in the sky.
The Perseid meteor shower, for example, peaks in mid-August from the constellation Perseus. The Geminids, which occur every December, radiate from the constellation Gemini.
How to watch a meteor shower
Michelle Nichols, the director of public observing at the Adler Planetarium in Chicago, recommends forgoing the use of telescopes or binoculars while watching a meteor shower.
“You just need your eyes and, ideally, a dark sky,” she said.
That’s because meteors can shoot across large swaths of the sky, so observing equipment can limit your field of view.
Some showers are strong enough to produce up to 100 streaks an hour, according to the American Meteor Society, though you probably won’t see that many.
“Almost everybody is under a light-polluted sky,” Ms. Nichols said. “You may think you’re under a dark sky, but in reality, even in a small town, you can have bright lights nearby.”
Planetariums, local astronomy clubs or even maps like this one can help you figure out where to go to escape excessive light. The best conditions for catching a meteor shower are a clear sky with no moon or cloud cover, sometime between midnight and sunrise. (Moonlight affects visibility in the same way as light pollution, washing out fainter sources of light in the sky.) Make sure to give your eyes at least 30 minutes to adjust to seeing in the dark.
Ms. Nichols also recommends wearing layers, even during the summer. “You’re going to be sitting there for quite a while, watching,” she said. “It’s going to get chilly, even in August.”
Bring a cup of cocoa or tea for even more warmth. Then lie back, scan the sky and enjoy the show.
Where weather is least likely to affect your view
Storm systems sweep across the country in early spring, and some will be obscuring skies tonight. But there will still be plenty of areas with clear skies, particularly in parts of the central United States.
“The best spot is going to be in the Upper Midwest,” said Rich Bann, a meteorologist with the Weather Prediction Center.
Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa will offer especially good sky-viewing weather and a beach on the Great Lakes could be a nice spot to look up at the stars.
But don’t expect to view the show from Chicago, as Illinois could see some thunderstorms. The weather will be better in the Northern and Central Plains, particularly the eastern Dakotas.
High, wispy clouds are expected over the Ohio and Tennessee Valleys and into parts of the Mid-Atlantic. But, Mr. Bann said, “you may be able to see some shooting stars through thin clouds.”
Clouds will be draped across much of the Southeast and the Northeast, though there could be some clearing in Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. Remember, the meteors could be visible all night long. If you look outside and see clouds, try again later.
Catching the spectacle will be challenging across much of the West, particularly from Washington into Northern California, where a storm system is bringing rain and snow. That system will move east overnight.
There are likely to be some pockets of clear skies at times across southern Nevada, northwest Arizona and southwest Utah, Mr. Bann said.
Amy Graff contributed reporting.
WASHINGTON — Amid growing national security concerns, the FBI said Tuesday that it has launched a broad investigation in the deaths or disappearances of at least 10 scientists and staff connected to highly sensitive research, including four from the Los Angeles area.
“The FBI is spearheading the effort to look for connections into the missing and deceased scientists. We are working with the Department of Energy, Department of War, and with our state and state and local law enforcement partners to find answers,” the agency said in a statement.
The FBI’s announcement comes after the House Oversight Committee announced that it would investigate reports of the disappearance and deaths of the scientists, sending letters seeking information from the agencies involved in the federal inquiry as well as NASA, which owns the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in La Cañada Flintridge, where three of the missing or dead scientists worked.
“If the reports are accurate, these deaths and disappearances may represent a grave threat to U.S. national security and to U.S. personnel with access to scientific secrets,” Reps. James Comer (R-Ky.), chairman of the committee, and Eric Burlison (R-Mo.) wrote in the letters.
President Trump told reporters last week that he had been briefed on the missing and dead scientists, which he described as “pretty serious stuff.” He said at the time that he expected answers on whether the deaths were connected “in the next week and a half.”
Michael David Hicks, who studied comets and asteroids at JPL, was the first of the scientists who disappeared or died. He died on July 30, 2023, at the age of 59. No cause of death was disclosed.
A year later, JPL physicist Frank Maiwald died at 61, with no cause of death disclosed.
Two other Los Angeles scientists are part of the string of deaths and disappearances.
On June 22, 2025, Monica Jacinto Reza, a materials scientist at JPL, disappeared while on a hike near Mt. Waterman in the San Gabriel Mountains.
On Feb. 16, Caltech astrophysicist Carl Grillmair was fatally shot on the porch of his Llano home. The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s department arrested Freddy Snyder, 29, in connection with the shooting. Snyder had been arrested in December on suspicion of trespassing on Grillmair’s property.
Snyder has been charged with murder.
There is no evidence at this point that the deaths and disappearances, which occurred over a span of four years, are connected.
A spokesperson for NASA, which owns JPL, said in a statement on X that the agency is “coordinating and cooperating with the relevant agencies in relation to the missing scientists.
“At this time, nothing related to NASA indicates a national security threat,” agency spokesperson Bethany Stevens wrote. “The agency is committed to transparency and will provide more information as able.”
Representatives from Caltech, which manages JPL, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The sun had barely risen over the Pacific Ocean when a small motorboat carrying a team of Indigenous artisans and Mexican biologists dropped anchor in a rocky cove near Bahías de Huatulco.
Mauro Habacuc Avendaño Luis, one of the craftsmen, was the first to wade to shore. With an agility belying his age, he struck out over the boulders exposed by low tide. Crouching on a slippery ledge pounded by surf, he reached inside a crevice between two rocks. There, lodged among the urchins, was a snail with a knobby gray shell the size of a walnut. The sight might not dazzle tourists who travel here to see humpback whales, but for Mr. Avendaño, 85, these drab little mollusks represent a way of life.
Marine snails in the genus Plicopurpura are sacred to the Mixtec people of Pinotepa de Don Luis, a small town in southwestern Oaxaca. Men like Mr. Avendaño have been sustainably “milking” them for radiant purple dye for at least 1,500 years. The color suffuses Mixtec textiles and spiritual beliefs. Called tixinda, it symbolizes fertility and death, as well as mythic ties between lunar cycles, women and the sea.
The future of these traditions — and the fate of the snails — are uncertain. The mollusks are subject to intense poaching pressure despite federal protections intended to protect them. Fishermen break them (and the other mollusks they eat) open and sell the meat to local restaurants. Tourists who comb the beaches pluck snails off the rocks and toss them aside.
A severe earthquake in 2020 thrust formerly submerged parts of their habitat above sea level, fatally tossing other mollusks in the snail’s food web to the air, and making once inaccessible places more available to poachers.
Decades ago, dense clusters of snails the size of doorknobs were easy to find, according to Mr. Avendaño. “Full of snails,” he said, sweeping a calloused, violet-stained hand across the coves. Now, most of the snails he finds are small, just over an inch, and yield only a few milliliters of dye.
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