FDA advisers give thumbs up to Pfizer vaccine, paving way for authorization by Beth Mole on 2020-12-10 22:54 (#5BGJG) If the FDA signs off on the recommendation, vaccine distribution could begin in days.
US House passes bill to tear down judiciary’s paywall by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-12-10 22:00 (#5BGG3) Bill would require judiciary to overhaul PACER site and make it free by 2025.
4 major browsers are getting hit in widespread malware attacks by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-10 21:21 (#5BGDR) Chrome, Firefox, Edge, and Yandex are all affected in widespread ad-injection campaign.
R.I.P. Henri, le Chat Noir, angst-ridden feline YouTube star for the ages by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-12-10 21:09 (#5BGDS) Will Braden, aka the "thieving filmmaker," announced Henri's passing on Facebook.
Ex-Apple employees say company ignored China labor-law violations by Samuel Axon on 2020-12-10 20:52 (#5BGDT) A dispatch-worker law led to studies, debate within Apple—but not enough action.
AT&T sells Crunchyroll to Sony for $1.2B amid “streamlining” efforts by Kate Cox on 2020-12-10 18:58 (#5BG8G) Sony will be by far the biggest US player in this rapidly growing market.
Google breaks SMS on many Android phones, is rolling back changes now by Ron Amadeo on 2020-12-10 18:44 (#5BG8H) Android’s Carrier Services app, which has over a billion downloads, is on the fritz.
Brave browser-maker launches privacy-friendly news reader by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-10 17:00 (#5BG2H) By design, Brave Today doesn't let the company or third parties build user profiles.
Orbex raises $24 million in new funding, can now scale up for orbital launch by Eric Berger on 2020-12-10 16:21 (#5BFZ1) “We’re very focused on being capital efficient, which is another word for cheap.”
PC version of Cyberpunk 2077 now features an epilepsy warning by Kyle Orland on 2020-12-10 16:16 (#5BFZ2) CD Projekt Red promises “a more permanent solution” to come.
What to expect from today’s big FDA meeting on the Pfizer vaccine by Beth Mole on 2020-12-10 15:45 (#5BFZ3) The vote for authorization is scheduled for later this afternoon.
CentOS Linux is dead—and Red Hat says Stream is “not a replacement” by Jim Salter on 2020-12-10 13:21 (#5BFPN) CentOS Stream, founded in 2019, is “a rolling preview of what's next in RHEL.”
US diplomats’ brain injuries may be from covert microwave attack, experts say by Beth Mole on 2020-12-10 11:45 (#5BFJ7) Data from Russian experiments on pulsed RF energy offers best explanation.
Chloë Moretz battles gremlins on a plane in Shadow in the Cloud trailer by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-12-10 02:06 (#5BF45) “It’s not critters who cause accidents. It’s careless airmen.”
So, it turns out SpaceX is pretty good at rocketing by Eric Berger on 2020-12-10 00:19 (#5BF2W) “Congrats SpaceX team hell yeah!!”
Cruise says it has started driverless testing—I’m skeptical by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-12-09 23:29 (#5BF0N) Rival Waymo has been offering driverless rides to the public since October.
COVID-19 vaccine data has been unlawfully accessed in hack of EU regulator by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-09 21:19 (#5BESH) Hack of the European Medicines Agency affects vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech.
Company claims solid-state lithium-metal battery breakthrough by Scott K. Johnson on 2020-12-09 21:05 (#5BESJ) It would offer much higher energy density and much faster charging.
Watch live: SpaceX is fueling its Starship for a high-altitude flight [Updated] by Eric Berger on 2020-12-09 20:10 (#5BEG5) The weather in South Texas is again rather nice.
FTC, 47 states file suits to break up Instagram and WhatsApp from Facebook by Kate Cox on 2020-12-09 19:46 (#5BEP3) It's almost certainly going to be a long and ugly legal fight.
Google’s secretive Fuchsia OS is open for contributions by Ron Amadeo on 2020-12-09 19:37 (#5BEP4) Fuchsia has been in development for four years now.
COVID data manager investigated, raided for using publicly available password by Kate Cox on 2020-12-09 18:29 (#5BEG2) Not only does the whole state share one password, but it’s posted publicly.
Pornhub blocks uploads and downloads in crackdown on child-sexual-abuse videos by Jon Brodkin on 2020-12-09 18:13 (#5BEG3) Pornhub will only allow uploads by verified users, bans downloads of most videos.
Physicists solve 150-year-old mystery of equation governing sandcastle physics by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-12-09 18:00 (#5BEG4) “This came as a big surprise. I expected a complete breakdown of conventional physics.”
Two allergic reactions to Pfizer vaccine lead to warning in UK by Financial Times on 2020-12-09 17:33 (#5BEG6) People with “significant” history of allergies told to avoid jab.
Xbox cloud gaming service hits iOS, Windows PCs in spring 2021 by Samuel Axon on 2020-12-09 17:17 (#5BECN) The iOS version will run in a Web browser, just like Google’s Stadia.
YouTube bans videos claiming Trump won by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-12-09 17:01 (#5BECP) The electoral college is set to confirm Joe Biden’s victory next Monday.
“A damn stupid thing to do”—the origins of C by Ars Contributors on 2020-12-09 12:30 (#5BE0E) Today, C may be a lingua franca among programmers. This is its (abridged) history.
A promising start to new human gene-editing trials by John Timmer on 2020-12-09 11:45 (#5BDXX) Treatments involve adding a new gene, or using CRISPR to edit one.
High-end SATA SSD shootout: Samsung 860 Pro vs. Kingston DC500M by Jim Salter on 2020-12-09 11:30 (#5BDXY) Kingston’s DC500M is a lesser-known drive but a great value for business.
GOP clinches 2-2 deadlock for Biden FCC as Senate approves Trump nominee by Jon Brodkin on 2020-12-08 22:11 (#5BD8E) Senate confirms “wholly unqualified” Republican to prevent Democratic majority.
Premiere security firm FireEye says it was breached by nation-state hackers by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-08 22:08 (#5BD8F) The FBI, normally mum on such matters, says it is investigating the hack.
Cloudflare, Apple, and others back a new way to make the Internet more private by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-08 21:29 (#5BD5K) New DNS technique separates address lookups from the people making them.
Apple Fitness+ launches this coming Monday at $9.99 per month by Samuel Axon on 2020-12-08 21:10 (#5BD5M) The workout video subscription service is also available as part of Apple One.
Vice President Mike Pence is set to name a cadre of Artemis astronauts by Eric Berger on 2020-12-08 20:50 (#5BD30) "This will probably end up making a splash."
Strange object recaptured by Earth is 1966 booster rocket from Surveyor 2 by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-12-08 20:39 (#5BD31) 1966 Surveyor 2 mission crashed into the Moon, but its spent rocket came home to Earth.
After years of fighting it, Nest will work with Samsung’s SmartThings by Ron Amadeo on 2020-12-08 19:20 (#5BCZY) After killing the Works with Nest ecosystem, Google is now open to cross-compatibility.
Florida police raid home of former state coronavirus data manager by Kate Cox on 2020-12-08 18:51 (#5BCX5) “Doing this to me will not stop me from reporting the data. Ever.”
Cyberpunk 2077 could trigger seizures in photosensitive players [Updated] by Kyle Orland on 2020-12-08 17:24 (#5BCT3) Epilepsy charity urges: “A disclaimer warning at the beginning isn’t enough.”
GE puts default password in radiology devices, leaving healthcare networks exposed by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-08 17:00 (#5BCT4) Fixing the critical vulnerability isn’t straightforward and comes with its own risks.
Trump to hold “Vaccine Summit” today—no vaccine-makers agreed to come by Beth Mole on 2020-12-08 16:49 (#5BCNW) Pfizer, Moderna won’t attend event, largely seen as a PR stunt.
Apple’s new AirPods Max over-ear headphones cost $549 by Samuel Axon on 2020-12-08 15:30 (#5BCJQ) The headphones' controls take design cues from the Apple Watch.
Test pilot Chuck Yeager dead at 97 by Lee Hutchinson on 2020-12-08 15:24 (#5BCJR) 1947 supersonic flight broke speed records, changed aviation forever.
Tesla plans to raise another $5 billion as value soars above $600 billion by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-12-08 15:16 (#5BCJS) Tesla could end the year with $20 billion in the bank.
It’s time—after myriad ground tests, SpaceX will let its Starship fly free by Eric Berger on 2020-12-08 15:01 (#5BCJT) Today may determine the fate of SN8.
Google promises “spectacular” city GPS improvement with 3D building data by Ron Amadeo on 2020-12-07 22:45 (#5BBNT) Android GPS will work better in cities thanks to Google Maps' 3D building data.
Grand theft GPU: $340,000 worth of RTX 3090s “fell off a truck” in China by Jim Salter on 2020-12-07 22:25 (#5BBNV) Make a list: ✔ Check it twice: ✔ Don't really care who's naughty or nice: ✔
Uber abandons dreams of self-driving domination, sells self-driving unit by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-12-07 22:07 (#5BBNW) Uber is pumping $400 million into a startup led by a Google self-driving veteran.
Quantum device performs 2.6 billion years of computation in 4 minutes by Chris Lee on 2020-12-07 20:10 (#5BBHJ) Photons explore quantum maze faster than possible for any classical computer.
NSA says Russian state hackers are using a VMware flaw to ransack networks by Dan Goodin on 2020-12-07 19:19 (#5BBF5) Multiple VMware products are exploited in attacks that access Windows active directory.