An experimental F-16 fighter jet has taken Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall on a history-making flight controlled by artificial intelligence and not a human pilot.

The number of western monarch butterflies wintering along the California coast has plummeted to a new record low, putting the orange-and-black insects closer to extinction, researchers announced Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)MEXICO CITY – The number of monarch butterflies that showed up at their winter resting grounds in central Mexico decreased by about 26% this year, and four times as many trees were lost to illegal logging, drought and other causes, making 2020 a bad year for the butterflies. Gloria Tavera, the regional director of Mexico's Commission for National Protected Areas, blamed the drop on “extreme climate conditions,” the loss of milkweed habitat in the United States and Canada on which butterflies depend, and deforestation in the butterflies' wintering grounds in Mexico. AdIllegal logging in the monarchs wintering rounds rose to almost 13.4 hectares (33 acres), a huge increase from the 0.43 hectare (1 acre) lost to logging last year. The butterflies hit a low of just 0.67 hectares (1.66 acres) in 2013-2014.

FILE - This Aug. 19, 2015, file photo, shows a monarch butterfly in Vista, Calif. The number of western monarch butterflies wintering along the California coast has plummeted to a new record low, putting the orange-and-black insects closer to extinction, researchers announced Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull, File)SAN FRANCISCO – The number of western monarch butterflies wintering along the California coast has plummeted precipitously to a record low, putting the orange-and-black insects closer to extinction, researchers announced Tuesday. Other well-known locations, such as Pismo State Beach Monarch Butterfly Grove and Natural Bridges State Park, only hosted a few hundred butterflies, researchers said. Monarch butterflies lack state and federal legal protection to keep their habitat from being destroyed or degraded.

A group of teens in California tried to expose someone they believed was a predator but one teen was kidnapped, authorities say. VISTA, Calif. - A group of teenagers told police they tried to catch a man they believed was preying on girls in Vista, California, over the weekend. The teen texted the group for help and they called law enforcement, the statement said. The sheriff's department said it strongly discouraged the public from setting up sting operations to try to catch people in committing crimes. "These types of situations can be extremely dangerous and should be handled by your local law enforcement agency," the department said in its statement.