Trump’s energy secretary orders a Washington state coal plant to remain open by Blaine Harden, Inside Climate News on 2025-12-19 18:29 (#729NR) Chris Wright declared an energy emergency" in the Pacific Northwest.
Instacart agrees to refund subscribers $60 million in FTC settlement by Ashley Belanger on 2025-12-19 18:10 (#729NS) The grocery app will also stop hiding refund options and obscuring delivery costs.
Strava puts popular “Year in Sport” recap behind an $80 paywall by Cyrus Farivar on 2025-12-19 17:43 (#729NT) Strava's most viral feature is suddenly locked away.
We asked four AI coding agents to rebuild Minesweeper—the results were explosive by Kyle Orland and Benj Edwards on 2025-12-19 17:29 (#729NV) How do four modern LLMs do at re-creating a simple Windows gaming classic?
Russia is about to do the most Russia thing ever with its next space station by Eric Berger on 2025-12-19 16:04 (#729KB) "Russia, meanwhile, will be left to carry on the legacy of the ISS, with all its problems."
Rocket Report: Russia pledges quick fix for Soyuz launch pad; Ariane 6 aims high by Stephen Clark on 2025-12-19 15:30 (#729GF) South Korean rocket startup Innospace is poised to debut a new nano-launcher.
ByteDance confirms TikTok will be controlled by US owners by Ashley Belanger on 2025-12-19 15:22 (#729GG) Closing TikTok deal avoids 2026 ban, but app may be buggy, 100% MAGA."
Two space startups prove you don’t need to break the bank to rendezvous in space by Eric Berger on 2025-12-19 15:02 (#729GH) "We had to push the envelope a little bit here."
These are the flying discs the government wants you to know about by Stephen Clark on 2025-12-19 03:18 (#7294A) DiskSat's design offers "a power-to-weight ratio unmatched by traditional aluminum satellites."
Parasites plagued Roman soldiers at Hadrian’s Wall by Jennifer Ouellette on 2025-12-19 00:00 (#72934) They were infected by roundworm, whipworm, and microscopic protozoans called Giardia duodenalis.
Trump commits to Moon landing by 2028, followed by a lunar outpost two years later by Eric Berger on 2025-12-18 23:05 (#72924) Also, the Trump administration wants to put some nuclear power reactors there, too.
YouTube bans two popular channels that created fake AI movie trailers by Ryan Whitwam on 2025-12-18 22:39 (#72925) Google loves AI content, except when it doesn't.
Peacock showing ads upon launch opens the door for more disruptive streaming ads by Scharon Harding on 2025-12-18 22:18 (#72926) Subscribers will start seeing ads when selecting a user next year.
Reminder: Donate to win swag in our annual Charity Drive sweepstakes by Kyle Orland on 2025-12-18 21:35 (#72906) Help increase our charity haul of nearly $18,000 in just over a week.
RAM and SSD prices are still climbing—here’s our best advice for PC builders by Andrew Cunningham on 2025-12-18 21:31 (#72907) I would avoid building a PC right now, but if you can't, here's our best advice.
School security AI flagged clarinet as a gun. Exec says it wasn’t an error. by Ashley Belanger on 2025-12-18 21:04 (#728XH) Human review didn't stop AI from triggering lockdown at panicked middle school.
LLMs’ impact on science: Booming publications, stagnating quality by John Timmer on 2025-12-18 20:54 (#728XJ) Once researchers turn to LLMs, paper counts go up, quality does not.
Neural DSP models John Mayer’s entire amp and effects rig—and it sounds great by Nate Anderson on 2025-12-18 19:27 (#728V0) Mayer gets the "Archetype" treatment.
NASA will soon find out if the Perseverance rover can really persevere on Mars by Stephen Clark on 2025-12-18 18:12 (#728V1) Engineers at JPL are certifying the Perseverance rover to drive up to 100 kilometers.
For the lazy techie: These are Ars staff’s last-minute holiday gift picks by Samuel Axon on 2025-12-18 17:55 (#728V2) Two wireless mice, two external hard drives, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Does swearing make you stronger? Science says yes. by Jennifer Ouellette on 2025-12-18 14:46 (#728MQ) "A calorie-neutral, drug-free, low-cost, readily available tool for when we need a boost in performance."
Formula 1 is deploying new jargon for 2026 by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2025-12-18 13:52 (#728MR) Forget DRS, now it's all about corner mode, straight mode, and overtake mode.
The inside story of SpaceX’s historic rocket landing that changed launch forever by Eric Berger on 2025-12-18 12:00 (#728HQ) "It's hard to describe how epic this comeback was after our first Falcon 9 launch failure."
NASA finally—and we really do mean it this time—has a full-time leader by Eric Berger on 2025-12-18 00:19 (#72872) A long and winding road to reach NASA's headquarters in Washington, DC.
Physicists 3D-printed a Christmas tree of ice by Jennifer Ouellette on 2025-12-17 22:46 (#72860) New method uses no freezing technology or refrigeration equipment-just water and a vacuum.
OpenAI’s new ChatGPT image generator makes faking photos easy by Benj Edwards on 2025-12-17 22:22 (#72861) New GPT Image 1.5 allows more detailed conversational image editing, for better or worse.
Man sues cops who jailed him for 37 days for trolling a Charlie Kirk vigil by Ashley Belanger on 2025-12-17 20:56 (#7283X) Cops may be fined for jailing a man over his Facebook posts.
FCC chair scrubs website after learning it called FCC an “independent agency” by Jon Brodkin on 2025-12-17 20:46 (#7280V) Meanwhile, Ted Cruz wants to restrict FCC's power to intimidate broadcasters.
Donut Lab’s hub motor meets WATT’s battery to create new EV skateboard by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2025-12-17 19:18 (#7280W) A prototype of the EV platform will be shown off at CES next month.
Bursting AI bubble may be EU’s “secret weapon” in clash with Trump, expert says by Ashley Belanger on 2025-12-17 18:41 (#7280X) Spotify and Accenture caught in crossfire as Trump attacks EU tech regulations.
Trump admin threatens to break up major climate research center by John Timmer on 2025-12-17 16:10 (#727VH) Major research institution dismissed as a source of "climate alarmism."
Google releases Gemini 3 Flash, promising improved intelligence and efficiency by Ryan Whitwam on 2025-12-17 16:00 (#727VJ) Google's Gemini 3 family is now complete with release of Gemini 3 Flash.
Browser extensions with 8 million users collect extended AI conversations by Dan Goodin on 2025-12-17 15:25 (#727R5) The extensions, available for Chromium browsers, harvest full AI conversations over months.
Electric vehicles cause tension in the automotive aftermarket by Peter Nelson on 2025-12-17 15:09 (#727R6) At SEMA, we heard Trump-like talking points but saw skateboard chassis, too.
Twitter comeback bid draws lawsuit from Elon Musk’s X Corp by Cyrus Farivar on 2025-12-17 14:41 (#727R7) Huge uphill battle" to obtain and use Twitter name.
US oil industry doesn’t see profit in Trump’s “pro-petroleum” moves by Skip York, The Conversation on 2025-12-17 12:30 (#727NA) The financial picture around drilling is moving against the Trump administration's hopes
“A Band-Aid on a giant gash”: Trump’s attacks on science may ruin his AI moonshot by Ashley Belanger on 2025-12-17 12:00 (#727NB) Trump's AI Manhattan Project" will fail if DOGE cuts are kept, critics say.
Texas sues biggest TV makers, alleging smart TVs spy on users without consent by Jon Brodkin on 2025-12-16 21:57 (#7278B) Automated Content Recognition brings "mass surveillance" to homes, lawsuits say.
The $4.3 billion space telescope Trump tried to cancel is now complete by Stephen Clark on 2025-12-16 21:25 (#7278C) "We're going to be making 3D movies of what is going on in the Milky Way galaxy."
Senators count the shady ways data centers pass energy costs on to Americans by Ashley Belanger on 2025-12-16 20:25 (#72764) Senators demand Big Tech pay upfront for data center spikes in electricity bills.
Software leaks point to the first Apple Silicon “iMac Pro,” among other devices by Andrew Cunningham on 2025-12-16 18:52 (#72736) Resurrected high-end all-in-one could be a worthy successor to 2017's iMac Pro.
Reporter suggests Half-Life 3 will be a Steam Machine launch title by Kyle Orland on 2025-12-16 17:28 (#72737) "Everybody I've talked to are still adamant," even after previous rumors didn't pan out.
Utah leaders hinder efforts to develop solar energy supply by Anjeanette Damon, ProPublica on 2025-12-16 17:00 (#72738) Solar power accounts for two-thirds of the new projects waiting to connect to the state's power grid.
2026 Mercedes CLA first drive: Entry level doesn’t mean basic by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2025-12-16 15:38 (#726WJ) Starting at $47,250, Mercedes' new electric sedan is quite compelling.
Ars Live Today: 3 former CDC leaders detail impacts of RFK Jr.’s anti-science agenda by Beth Mole on 2025-12-16 15:09 (#723M8) Join us today, December 16, at 2 pm ET to hear from leaders who resigned in protest.
Merriam-Webster’s word of the year delivers a dismissive verdict on junk AI content by Benj Edwards on 2025-12-15 22:41 (#726E5) Dictionary codifies the term that took hold in 2024 for low-quality AI-generated content.
Stranger Things S5 trailer teases Vol. 2 by Jennifer Ouellette on 2025-12-15 22:14 (#726E6) "Everything we've ever assumed about the Upside Down has been dead wrong."
Microsoft will finally kill obsolete cipher that has wreaked decades of havoc by Dan Goodin on 2025-12-15 21:15 (#726BW) The weak RC4 for administrative authentication has been a hacker holy grail for decades.
Ford ends F-150 Lightning production, starts battery storage business by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2025-12-15 21:05 (#726BX) It looks like battery electric vehicles are out of fashion at the Blue Oval.
Microsoft takes down mod that re-created Halo 3 in Counter-Strike 2 by Kyle Orland on 2025-12-15 20:20 (#72692) Project Misriah creator vows to use new experience "to cook up something else."