First tokamak component installed in a commercial fusion plant by John Timmer on 2025-04-01 21:05 (#6WB2S) A tokamak moves forward as two companies advance plans for stellarators.
“Chaos” at state health agencies after US illegally axed grants, lawsuit says by Jon Brodkin on 2025-04-01 20:37 (#6WB2T) RFK Jr. killed grants "with no warning or legally valid explanation," states say.
Apple enables RCS messaging for Google Fi subscribers at last by Ryan Whitwam on 2025-04-01 20:22 (#6WB2V) Apple only supported RCS on the big three carriers in the first iOS18 releases.
What we’re expecting from Nintendo’s Switch 2 announcement Wednesday by Kyle Orland on 2025-04-01 20:12 (#6WB2W) We take some wild stabs ahead of the big "Nintendo Direct" presentation.
The timeless genius of a 1980s Atari developer and his swimming salmon masterpiece by Benj Edwards on 2025-04-01 19:33 (#6WB07) Doctors said he'd die by 13, but Bill Williams turned long odds into iconic art about endurance.
Satisfactory now has controller support, so there’s no excuse for your bad lines by Kevin Purdy on 2025-04-01 18:52 (#6WB08) Can you mine resources and build factories with merely sticks and buttons?
Cheap TVs’ incessant advertising reaches troubling new lows by Scharon Harding on 2025-04-01 18:19 (#6WB09) Op-ed: TV screensavers shouldn't show immigration ads from the Trump administration.
FTC: 23andMe buyer must honor firm’s privacy promises for genetic data by Jon Brodkin on 2025-04-01 17:40 (#6WB0A) Agency issues warning about privacy of genetic information and DNA samples.
Starliner’s flight to the space station was far wilder than most of us thought by Eric Berger on 2025-04-01 17:26 (#6WAXR) "Hey, this is a very precarious situation we're in."
Review: Amazon’s Kindle Colorsoft is something less than “a Paperwhite with color” by Andrew Cunningham on 2025-04-01 17:20 (#6WAXS) It's a decent e-reader, but it offers too few benefits for too many drawbacks.
Gemini is an increasingly good chatbot, but it’s still a bad assistant by Ryan Whitwam on 2025-04-01 16:49 (#6WAXT) Op-ed: Google's generative AI is not ready to serve as your virtual assistant.
Four private astronauts launch on first human mission to fly over the poles by Stephen Clark on 2025-04-01 16:23 (#6WAXV) "I call it the last frontier of unexplored territory in low-Earth orbit."
DeepMind is holding back release of AI research to give Google an edge by Melissa Heikkilä and Stephen Morris, Financial Ti on 2025-04-01 13:28 (#6WAR1) A tougher vetting process and more bureaucracy make it harder to publish.
Tuesday Telescope: A close-up of the magical camera at the end of a robotic arm by Eric Berger on 2025-04-01 12:00 (#6WANK) Wait, the Daily Telescope is back? Sort of.
MCP: The new “USB-C for AI” that’s bringing fierce rivals together by Benj Edwards on 2025-04-01 11:30 (#6WANM) Model context protocol standardizes how AI uses data sources, supported by OpenAI and Anthropic.
With new Gen-4 model, Runway claims to have finally achieved consistency in AI videos by Samuel Axon on 2025-03-31 21:07 (#6WA8V) The new model is rolling out to paid users starting today.
Apple updates all its operating systems, brings Apple Intelligence to Vision Pro by Andrew Cunningham on 2025-03-31 20:26 (#6WA6R) Updates bring new emoji, Mail organization for Macs, easier Mac setup, and more.
DOGE accesses federal payroll system and punishes employees who objected by Jon Brodkin on 2025-03-31 20:00 (#6WA6S) Report: IT officials who fought DOGE access put on leave and under investigation.
Research roundup: 2,400-year-old clay puppets; this is your brain on Klingon by Jennifer Ouellette on 2025-03-31 19:49 (#6WA6T) Also: testing the efficacy of WWI "dazzle" camouflage; how the male blue-lined octopus survives deadly mating ritual.
Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it by Kevin Purdy on 2025-03-31 19:23 (#6WA49) Tiny batteries and "disposable" e-cigs remain big risks for waste handlers.
Even Trump may not be able to save Elon Musk from his old tweets by Ashley Belanger on 2025-03-31 18:52 (#6WA4A) Court win for investors may sway SEC's probe of Elon Musk's Twitter purchase.
France fines Apple €150M for “excessive” pop-ups that let users reject tracking by Jon Brodkin on 2025-03-31 17:25 (#6WA1S) Requiring "double consent" for user tracking is too much, French agency says.
There’s a new benchmark in town for measuring performance on Windows 95 PCs by Andrew Cunningham on 2025-03-31 17:15 (#6WA1T) Did you want to see how fast your ancient computer was? Because now you can!
The 2025 BMW M5 Touring review: Way more power, way too much weight by Bradley Iger on 2025-03-31 17:04 (#6WA1V) BMW has been making M5s for 40 years, but the latest one has lost its way somewhat.
Google’s new experimental Gemini 2.5 model rolls out to free users by Ryan Whitwam on 2025-03-31 16:45 (#6WA1W) Google's improved AI model is now available for free, but usage is limited.
Europe’s quest to finally land on Mars takes another turn by Eric Berger on 2025-03-31 16:37 (#6WA1X) Nearly 20 years have passed since the European Space Agency committed to ExoMars.
The first flight of Isar Aerospace’s Spectrum rocket lasted just 40 seconds by Stephen Clark on 2025-03-31 16:26 (#6WA1Y) "Today, we know twice as much about our launch system as yesterday before launch."
Big brands are spending small sums on X to stay out of Musk’s crosshairs by Hannah Murphy, Cristina Criddle, and Daniel Thomas on 2025-03-31 13:19 (#6W9W3) It's whatever amount is enough to stay off the naughty list," says ad executive.
Trump on car tariffs: “I couldn’t care less if they raise prices” by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2025-03-31 13:09 (#6W9W4) Consumers will have to pay the price of the president's unnecessary trade war.
Overblown quantum dot conspiracy theories make important points about QLED TVs by Scharon Harding on 2025-03-31 11:00 (#6W9SS) Lawsuits and allegations are creating doubt around quantum dot TVs' use of QDs.
FBI raids home of prominent computer scientist who has gone incommunicado by Dan Goodin on 2025-03-30 19:41 (#6W9EB) Indiana University quietly removes profile of tenured professor and refuses to say why.
NASA’s Curiosity rover has found the longest chain carbon molecules yet on Mars by Derek Ward-Thompson and Megan Argo, The Conversati on 2025-03-30 11:00 (#6W97E) It's a significant finding in the search for alienlife.
What could possibly go wrong? DOGE to rapidly rebuild Social Security codebase. by Makena Kelly, wired.com on 2025-03-29 14:08 (#6W8VX) A safe and proper rewrite should take years not months.
The CDC buried a measles forecast that stressed the need for vaccinations by Patricia Callahan, ProPublica on 2025-03-29 10:50 (#6W8TD) The move is a sign that the public health agency may be falling in line under RFK Jr.
Elon Musk’s X has a new owner—Elon Musk’s xAI by Jon Brodkin on 2025-03-28 23:59 (#6W8KC) xAI buys X; deal values social network at $33 billion, $11B less than Musk paid.
New Windows 11 build makes mandatory Microsoft Account sign-in even more mandatory by Andrew Cunningham on 2025-03-28 23:28 (#6W8KD) "Bypassnro" is an easy MS Account workaround for Home and Pro Windows editions.
Why do LLMs make stuff up? New research peers under the hood. by Kyle Orland on 2025-03-28 22:33 (#6W8KE) Claude's faulty "known entity" neurons sometime override its "don't answer" circuitry.
Beyond RGB: A new image file format efficiently stores invisible light data by Benj Edwards on 2025-03-28 22:11 (#6W8HQ) New Spectral JPEG XL compression reduces file sizes, making spectral imaging more practical.
Report: US scientists lost $3 billion in NIH grants since Trump took office by Beth Mole on 2025-03-28 21:21 (#6W8HR) Scientists warn pipeline of lifesaving discoveries and younger scientists is drying up.
Oracle has reportedly suffered 2 separate breaches exposing thousands of customers‘ PII by Dan Goodin on 2025-03-28 19:41 (#6W8CN) Alleged breaches affect Oracle Cloud and Oracle Health.
Google discontinues Nest Protect smoke alarm and Nest x Yale lock by Ryan Whitwam on 2025-03-28 19:29 (#6W8CP) Google continues backing away from smart home hardware.
Ex-FCC chairs from both parties say CBS news distortion investigation is bogus by Jon Brodkin on 2025-03-28 18:58 (#6W8CQ) CBS probe "unprecedented," say chairs who served under George H.W. Bush and Obama.
NASA to put Starliner’s thrusters through an extensive workout before next launch by Eric Berger on 2025-03-28 18:47 (#6W8CR) "We'll continue to work through certification toward the end of this year."
Google solves its mysterious Pixel problem, announces 9a launch date by Ryan Whitwam on 2025-03-28 16:50 (#6W89Z) Google has sorted out its Pixel problems and will begin the 9a rollout on April 10.
Corning’s new ceramic glass might save your next phone from disaster by Ryan Whitwam on 2025-03-28 16:02 (#6W877) Gorilla Glass Ceramic will appear on its first phone in the coming months.
Trump annoyed the Smithsonian isn’t promoting discredited racial ideas by John Timmer on 2025-03-28 15:53 (#6W878) New executive order slams museum for recognizing "race is not a biological reality."
What to make of Nintendo’s mention of new “Switch 2 Edition games” by Kyle Orland on 2025-03-28 15:20 (#6W879) Fine print suggests visual upgrades for original Switch games on new hardware.
Gran Turismo 7 expands its use of AI/ML-trained NPCs with good effect by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2025-03-28 15:01 (#6W87A) First, Sony made an unbeatable AI driver; now, it's retrained it to be a good NPC.
Tel‘Aran’Rhiod at last—the Wheel of Time reveals the world of dreams by Andrew Cunningham & Lee Hutchinson on 2025-03-28 13:11 (#6W848) Perrin broods, Sea Folk sail, and Aes Sedai plot as we jump into episode five.
EU will go easy with Apple, Facebook punishment to avoid Trump’s wrath by Barbara Moens and Henry Foy, Financial Times on 2025-03-28 12:45 (#6W816) Lawbreaking under DMA to be punished-but not too severely.