White House-CDC tensions explode as Trump contradicts its leadership by John Timmer on 2020-09-17 20:55 (#58905) Congressional testimony by health experts is overruled hours later by the president.
Hands-on with Intel’s i7-1185G7 Tiger Lake prototype laptop by Jim Salter on 2020-09-17 20:45 (#58906) Tiger Lake is a much better challenger for AMD—but it's still fighting uphill.
Patient dies after ransomware attack reroutes her to remote hospital by Dan Goodin on 2020-09-17 20:06 (#588XX) Outage caused an hour delay in treatment for woman with life-threatening condition.
Sony Xperia 5 II is a $950 flagship smartphone with a headphone jack by Ron Amadeo on 2020-09-17 17:57 (#588QZ) It ships in the US on December 4.
This is GM’s new series of Ultium Drive electric motors by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-09-17 16:53 (#588MR) GM will have 22 new EVs on sale by 2023, and they'll all use these motors.
Impending WeChat ban won’t actually ban users from WeChat, DOJ says by Kate Cox on 2020-09-17 16:07 (#588H5) The ban is taking effect in three days, and nobody knows what it will do yet.
The end of the 3DS marks an inflection point for portable gaming by Kyle Orland on 2020-09-17 15:51 (#588H6) What does the future hold for dedicated portable gaming hardware?
AG Barr: COVID lockdowns are worst threat to civil liberties since slavery by Jon Brodkin on 2020-09-17 15:22 (#588D6) Barr: COVID response is second “greatest intrusion on civil liberties” ever in US.
F5 for PS5: All your PlayStation 5 preorder links in one place by Jeff Dunn on 2020-09-17 15:16 (#588D7) Yes, they're probably sold out. But here's a handy reference just in case.
Why Amazon is backing this former Tesla executive’s recycling startup by Financial Times on 2020-09-17 14:31 (#5889N) JB Straubel’s Redwood aims to extract lithium, cobalt and nickel from old smartphones.
It’s now possible to detect counterfeit whisky without opening the bottle by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-09-17 11:47 (#58838) Counterfeits of rare single-malt whisky are a growing problem for the industry.
Hammer drops on hackers accused of targeting game and software makers by Dan Goodin on 2020-09-17 11:45 (#58839) Men accused of spying on behalf of China and earning illicit hacking profits on the side.
After ranting about armed uprising, top Health Dept. spokesperson takes leave by Beth Mole on 2020-09-16 22:53 (#587E1) HHS said Caputo is leaving to “focus on his health and the well-being of his family.”
Bill to tear down federal courts’ paywall gains momentum in Congress by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-09-16 21:59 (#587C0) Federal courts charge 10 cents per page for many documents online.
We found out who makes Walmart’s new Gateway laptops, and it’s bad news by Jim Salter on 2020-09-16 21:28 (#5878R) We'll give you three guesses, and one hint: Extra Virgin Olive Oil.
PlayStation 5 event: $499 with a disc drive, $399 without, on Nov. 12 by Kyle Orland on 2020-09-16 20:47 (#5878S) Console-exclusive Final Fantasy XVI leads game-trailer-packed event.
Trump replaces FCC member in bid to push through Twitter/Facebook crackdown by Jon Brodkin on 2020-09-16 20:16 (#58756) Trump nominates NTIA official who helped write White House's social media order.
Apple launches iOS 14, iPadOS 14, tvOS 14, and watchOS 7 on just one day’s notice by Samuel Axon on 2020-09-16 20:09 (#58757) The short runway is giving developers headaches, but the update is here.
Climate science contrarian installed in upper-level NOAA position by Scott K. Johnson on 2020-09-16 19:31 (#58723) Deputy assistant secretary job goes to author of reality-defying nonsense.
Apple asks to block iOS Unreal Engine development in new court filing by Kyle Orland on 2020-09-16 19:06 (#58724) iOS maker says it's worried Epic could insert another "trojan horse" if allowed.
Review: We do not recommend the $299 Oculus Quest 2 as your next VR system by Sam Machkovech on 2020-09-16 17:30 (#586V7) Issues big and small, and that's before we get into the Facebookening of this thing.
AT&T wants to put ads on your smartphone in exchange for $5 discount by Jon Brodkin on 2020-09-16 16:05 (#586QP) AT&T CEO: Customers would accept targeted ads if given $5 or $10 price cut.
Ancient DNA sheds light on Viking origins, travels by Kiona N. Smith on 2020-09-16 15:36 (#586M8) The Viking Age brought more genetic diversity into Scandinavia, the study suggests.
Electrify America switches to per-kWh billing in 23 states by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-09-16 15:27 (#586M9) Yet again the US patchwork of state laws makes an easy thing complicated.
Sony pushes back on reports that it’s reducing PS5’s launch availability by Kyle Orland on 2020-09-16 15:16 (#586MA) But even the reported reduction would outpace early PS4 production.
Facebook’s latest hollow effort to fight climate change denial by Kate Cox on 2020-09-16 15:06 (#586MB) Facebook prefers to counter false information with more information. It doesn't work.
Boeing hid design flaws in 737 Max jets from pilots and regulators by Financial Times on 2020-09-16 14:32 (#586GJ) Congressional report finds aerospace group cut corners.
Daimler’s dirty diesel defeat device deal: $1.5 billion to say sorry by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-09-16 13:34 (#586CY) From 2009-2016, diesel Sprinter vans and Mercedes-Benz cars were emissions cheats.
Nvidia RTX 3080 review: 4K greatness at $699—and good news for cheaper GPUs by Sam Machkovech on 2020-09-16 13:00 (#586CZ) Have your 60fps-at-4K cake—and eat your ray-traced frosting, too.
Super Mario 3D All-Stars review: A bare-bones nostalgia warp zone by Kyle Orland on 2020-09-16 13:00 (#586D0) It's no more and no less than three of the best 3D platformers ever made.
Mathematicians may have unlocked the secret of how “stone forests” form by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-09-16 11:54 (#586AA) Soluble rocks dissolve, the surrounding fluid gets heavy, and gravity pulls it downward.
Safety driver in 2018 Uber crash is charged with negligent homicide by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-09-16 02:04 (#585SJ) Prosecutors decided not to prosecute Uber in 2019.
Bonkers federal podcast downplays COVID-19, blasts health restrictions by Beth Mole on 2020-09-15 19:48 (#585F0) The mind-bending podcast blames the media and rich people for pandemic's effects.
Oracle’s TikTok non-acquisition seeks Treasury, White House approval by Kate Cox on 2020-09-15 19:03 (#585CS) Oracle looks victorious in the TikTok saga—but the deal is far from final.
“This is the way”: Disney drops first trailer for The Mandalorian S2 by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-09-15 18:40 (#585CT) “The songs tell of battles between Mandalor the Great and an order called Jedi.”
The new iPad Air goes all-screen, adds Magic Keyboard support by Samuel Axon on 2020-09-15 17:52 (#58596) A year and a half after the previous refresh, Apple takes a scalpel to the iPad Air.
Introducing Apple One, Apple’s subscription bundle answer to Amazon Prime by Samuel Axon on 2020-09-15 17:47 (#58597) Apple Arcade, TV+, Music, and iCloud in one package. News+, more iCloud for more.
GM has no reason to back out of its one-sided deal with Nikola by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-09-15 17:08 (#5855F) “For GM, there’s really no downside to the deal,” one expert told us.
The Apple Watch Series 6 adds blood-oxygen monitoring and more by Samuel Axon on 2020-09-15 17:07 (#5855G) Plus, Apple announced a lower-cost Apple Watch option to compete with Fitbit.
Liveblog: All the news from Apple’s “Time Flies” event at 1pm ET today by Samuel Axon on 2020-09-15 16:37 (#581CR) Head here as Ars guides you through all the latest updates when the event starts.
A paper we covered has been retracted, and we couldn’t be happier by John Timmer on 2020-09-15 16:02 (#5851V) Magic shouldn't be offered up as a mechanism in a scientific paper.
New Google Fiber plan: $100 for 2Gbps, plus Wi-Fi 6 router and mesh extender by Jon Brodkin on 2020-09-15 15:47 (#5851W) $100 plan in beta next month, should come to “most” Google Fiber cities in 2021.
Hurricane Sally will bring devastating floods to the Southern United States by Eric Berger on 2020-09-15 15:40 (#5851X) Just one more Atlantic storm to go before we dust off the Greek alphabet.
Apple’s AirPods Pro are on sale for $199 today by Ars Staff on 2020-09-15 15:06 (#584YH) Dealmaster also has deals on USB-C chargers, Ghost of Tsushima, and more.
New Windows exploit lets you instantly become admin. Have you patched? by Dan Goodin on 2020-09-14 23:20 (#58410) Zerologon lets anyone with a network toehold obtain domain-controller password.
Sweeping internal Facebook memo: “I have blood on my hands” by Sam Machkovech on 2020-09-14 21:31 (#583XT) BuzzFeed News: “The memo is a damning account of Facebook's failures.”
Chemical that shouldn’t be there spotted in Venus’ atmosphere by John Timmer on 2020-09-14 21:03 (#583XV) No obvious way Venus' environment could make it, leaving speculation about life.
War Stories: How Forza learned to love neural nets to train AI drivers by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-09-14 20:11 (#583VS) Catching up with Forza's Dan Greenawalt to meet the ghosts in the machine.
Microsoft declares its underwater data center test was a success by Jim Salter on 2020-09-14 19:58 (#583VT) Underwater pods can reduce latency by moving cloud services closer to customers.
Eero mesh Wi-Fi 6 hardware test results have been spotted at the FCC by Jim Salter on 2020-09-14 19:19 (#583S1) Eero isn't saying anything officially yet—here's what we know so far.