COVID-19 resurges in reopened countries; Wuhan sees first cluster in a month by Beth Mole on 2020-05-12 21:22 (#53CNJ) China ordered all Wuhan residents get tested for COVID-19—that’s ~11 million people.
We talk esports vs. a pro racing simulator with Jaguar’s Mitch Evans by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-05-12 20:47 (#53CK2) Which is harder, a million-dollar sim or a game like iRacing? The answer might surprise.
Democrats try to ban Internet shutoffs until pandemic is over by Jon Brodkin on 2020-05-12 20:10 (#53CGH) Democrats also pitch $50 monthly discounts with low-income broadband fund.
“More likely than not” a COVID-19 vaccine is possible, Fauci tells Senate by Kate Cox on 2020-05-12 20:04 (#53CGJ) What happens in the fall all depends on how much we prepare for it now.
Google Play Music dies this year, YT Music library imports begin today by Ron Amadeo on 2020-05-12 18:15 (#53CAP) Google Play Music users finally get a transition path to YouTube Music.
Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 will be remastered for a second time in Sept 2020 by Sam Machkovech on 2020-05-12 18:00 (#53CAQ) Teased by Hawk himself as a text message to fans before YouTube reveal.
Apple’s AirPods Pro are down to their lowest price yet on Amazon by Ars Staff on 2020-05-12 17:54 (#53CAR) Dealmaster also has deals on Anker batteries, Thunderbolt 3 docks, and more.
Hamilton is coming to Disney+ a year early—just in time for Fourth of July by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-05-12 17:48 (#53CAS) Disney paid $75 million for rights, originally planned fall 2021 theatrical release.
Bitcoin’s “halving” is bad for miners, good for everyone else by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-05-12 17:13 (#53C7Q) A lower rate of bitcoin creation means the network consumes less energy.
Thunderspy: What it is, why it’s not scary, and what to do about it by Dan Goodin on 2020-05-12 16:34 (#53C7R) Evil maids can use the Thunderbolt port to access your computer; many restrictions apply.
Large chunks of a Chinese rocket missed New York City by about 15 minutes by Eric Berger on 2020-05-12 15:52 (#53C4D) China's Long March 5B rocket launched without a second stage.
Apple battles Ableton Live with new Logic Pro X 10.5 features by Samuel Axon on 2020-05-12 15:21 (#53C4E) Live Loops, Step Sequencer, and new Sampler tools headline the update.
Apache 101: 0-WordPress in 15 minutes by Jim Salter on 2020-05-12 15:12 (#53C12) Apache gets an undeserved bad rep from outdated guides—learn to set it up right.
Mustang Mach-E OTA updates will start six months after launch, Ford says by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-05-12 14:23 (#53C13) Most will run in the background and can enable new features as well as bug fixes.
2020 13-inch MacBook Pro review: The standard macOS workhorse by Samuel Axon on 2020-05-12 13:10 (#53BTC) A new keyboard and faster performance make this slightly thicker laptop a winner.
Good timing: Jordan Peele’s Twilight Zone S2 trailer drops on Twilight Zone Day by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-05-12 00:18 (#53B73) Good news for bingers: CBS All Access will drop all S2 episodes at once on June 25, 2020.
Republican Congress members upset banks dropping support for fossil fuels by John Timmer on 2020-05-11 20:12 (#53AYT) A letter to the president ignores the fact that wind and solar employ people, too.
When AI takes on Eurovision: Can a computer write a hit song? by Financial Times on 2020-05-11 19:00 (#53AW0) One Reddit-trained AI's lyrics? "Kill the government, kill the system." Whoops.
Shuttered restaurants, bars, hotels speed up TV cord-cutting even more by Kate Cox on 2020-05-11 18:49 (#53AW1) No customers to come in, and no sports to put on for them, so why pay for cable?
May 11 Coronavirus roundup: Symptoms, therapies, and policy confusion by John Timmer on 2020-05-11 17:27 (#53ARY) A quick roundup of some of the developments of the past week.
Gecko’s soft hairy toes reorient to help it stick to different types of surfaces by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-05-11 16:51 (#53AP7) “The research helped answer a fundamental question: Why have many toes?”
Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 768G is 15-percent faster, supports Bluetooth LE Audio by Ron Amadeo on 2020-05-11 16:39 (#53AP8) Qualcomm promises a 15-percent faster GPU and CPU.
Another competent Korean car—the Kia Niro EV, reviewed by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-05-11 16:32 (#53AP9) We loved the hybrid and PHEV Niros—is it still good without internal combustion?
COVID-19 spread in White House sends top US health officials into quarantine by Beth Mole on 2020-05-11 15:57 (#53AJT) Top officials tasked with controlling spread of disease are themselves exposed.
To compete with Gmail, Microsoft reveals plans for new Web-based Outlook features by Samuel Axon on 2020-05-11 15:12 (#53AFN) Predictive text is not all Microsoft has planned.
A 2024 Moon landing may sound crazy, but NASA is giving its best shot by Eric Berger on 2020-05-11 14:45 (#53AFP) Analysis: Space agency chief is making smart decisions about the lunar program.
Can gender-bending Israeli superprawns help feed the world? by Ars Staff on 2020-05-10 14:00 (#539BF) They aren’t kosher, but they may be part of a greener, more sustainable food chain.
Beyond Netflix and Spotify, what subscriptions are worth keeping in quarantine? by Ars Staff on 2020-05-10 13:00 (#5399G) Outside of Netflix, Amazon, and Disney+, we cling to gaming, music, and meal-kit perks.
How World of Warcraft has evolved with the Internet by Eric Bangeman on 2020-05-10 10:05 (#5395W) WoW game director Ion Hazzikostas reflects on the shifting culture of the landmark MMORPG.
Review: Airplane passengers must outrace a killer sun in Into the Night by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-05-09 20:58 (#538VY) Belgian series is based on 2015 novel by Polish science fiction writer Jacek Dukaj.
Musk reacts to continued shutdown order, announces intent to move HQ by Sam Machkovech on 2020-05-09 19:52 (#538TN) Saturday morning tweet follows Friday response from Alameda County.
Sniff Petrol’s wonderfully interesting book of boring car facts: A review by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-05-09 14:40 (#538K7) A Medium-Sized Book of Boring Car Trivia is inaccurately named.
Alphabet’s Sidewalk Labs scraps its ambitious Toronto project by WIRED on 2020-05-09 09:50 (#538CP) Residents rebelled over plans to collect and use their data, among other things.
Trump admin illegally retaliated against pandemic whistleblower, reports say by Jon Brodkin on 2020-05-09 00:12 (#53833) US violated Whistleblower Protection Act, according to preliminary finding.
Caddis fly larvae are now building shelters out of microplastics by WIRED on 2020-05-08 20:43 (#537XM) Caddis fly larvae typically construct protective cases out of sand grains and silk.
Trump admin, focused on “reopening,” sidelines COVID-19 experts by Kate Cox on 2020-05-08 19:34 (#537TV) Administration's efforts to minimize talk of COVID-19 don't minimize its effects.
These streamliners are the world’s most aerodynamic cars by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-05-08 18:02 (#537MR) Inspired by VW's ARVW concept, we look at the cars with tiny drag coefficients.
Fired scientist back to peddling anti-vaxx COVID-19 conspiracy theories by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-05-08 17:50 (#537MS) YouTube, Facebook crack down on two viral videos for spreading medical misinformation.
Office for iPad is getting trackpad support later this year by Ron Amadeo on 2020-05-08 17:34 (#537MT) Microsoft's all-in-one Office app will pick up iPad mouse support sometime this year.
US military is furious at FCC over 5G plan that could interfere with GPS by Jon Brodkin on 2020-05-08 16:37 (#537HS) FCC accuses military of “baseless fear-mongering” in fight over Ligado network.
Google unifies messenger teams, plans “more coherent vision” by Ron Amadeo on 2020-05-08 16:09 (#537EH) One person is now in charge of Google’s six messaging apps.
China’s new spacecraft—which resembles a Crew Dragon—just landed by Eric Berger on 2020-05-08 14:28 (#537B9) China now has a capsule potentially capable of returning from the Moon.
ZFS 101—Understanding ZFS storage and performance by Jim Salter on 2020-05-08 12:00 (#53739) Learn to get the most out of your ZFS filesystem in our new series on storage fundamentals.
Rocket Report: Military space plane returns to pad, SLS engine costs soar by Eric Berger on 2020-05-08 11:00 (#53712) LauncherOne to cap eight years of development with upcoming flight.
Researchers engineer photosynthetic bacteria to produce hydrogen by John Timmer on 2020-05-07 22:39 (#536FG) A solar-driven hydrogen-producing machine that makes more copies of itself.
“Disquisting whores”: Document reveals GirlsDoPorn plans to harass victims by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-05-07 22:19 (#536FH) Typo-ridden document shows defendants calling victims while posing as journalists.
A mistake at Facebook broke Spotify, Venmo, TikTok, and other iPhone apps by Samuel Axon on 2020-05-07 22:08 (#536DA) It's not the first time Facebook has wreaked havoc on iOS, either.
CDC guide to reopening was trashed by the Trump admin. It just leaked by Beth Mole on 2020-05-07 21:50 (#536DB) Trump admin allegedly told CDC its reopening guide would "never see the light of day."
Incredible video shows Hayabusa2 pogo-bouncing off asteroid by Scott K. Johnson on 2020-05-07 20:20 (#536AS) A new paper analyzes what we know about the sample the probe grabbed last year.
IndyCar follows NASCAR’s lead, plans June 6 race in Texas without fans by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-05-07 19:56 (#53684) Race personnel will be screened for symptoms before entering Texas Motor Speedway.