China suffers its second launch failure in less than a month by Eric Berger on 2020-04-09 14:43 (#51Y94) Indosat's Nusantara Dua fell back into Earth's atmosphere.
US Senate tells members not to use Zoom by Financial Times on 2020-04-09 14:17 (#51Y95) Organization is latest to warn over data security worries on videoconferencing platform.
Meet dark_nexus, quite possibly the most potent IoT botnet ever by Dan Goodin on 2020-04-09 11:52 (#51Y0H) Newly discovered botnet could be coming to a network-connected device near you.
Not-actually Linux distro review: FreeBSD 12.1-RELEASE by Jim Salter on 2020-04-09 10:45 (#51XTZ) Does the power to serve include serving up desktops? Let's find out.
The chemistry of cold-brew coffee is so hot right now by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-04-09 10:30 (#51XV0) Ten hours to make a cup of coffee? Now that's commitment.
Valorant closed beta: The tactical hero shooter I never knew I wanted by Sam Machkovech on 2020-04-08 21:10 (#51XAF) League of Legends' creators made a Counter-Strike clone—and holy crap, is it good.
Feds will pay GM $489 million to make 30,000 ventilators by August by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-04-08 20:35 (#51X15) GM is scheduled to deliver 6,000 ventilators by May, another 24,000 by August.
Newly engineered enzyme can break down plastic to raw materials by John Timmer on 2020-04-08 19:59 (#51X16) The resulting chemicals can be used to make brand-new bottles.
Probable Roman shipwrecks unearthed at a Serbian coal mine by Kiona N. Smith on 2020-04-08 19:43 (#51X17) Thanks to the pandemic, radiocarbon dating and further excavations are on hold.
Pandemic hasn’t crushed broadband networks—even rural areas are doing OK by Jon Brodkin on 2020-04-08 19:15 (#51X18) Pandemic-related broadband surge is hitting a plateau, data suggests.
HBO’s streaming apps will soon stop working on older Apple TVs by Samuel Axon on 2020-04-08 18:56 (#51X19) Any Apple TV running tvOS will still work, but older ones are out of luck.
Stadia launches free tier including two-month trial of Stadia Pro by Kyle Orland on 2020-04-08 18:15 (#51X1A) Free users face limited resolution, need extra hardware to play on TV.
Google makes seamless update support mandatory in Android 11 by Ron Amadeo on 2020-04-08 16:54 (#51WR7) Dual system partitions significantly cut down on update downtime.
Tesla announces pay cuts and worker furloughs by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-04-08 16:28 (#51WR8) The coronavirus is forcing "shared sacrifice across the company," HR email says.
Zoom brings in former Facebook security head amid lawsuits, investigations by Kate Cox on 2020-04-08 16:16 (#51WR9) Company is playing catch-up as pandemic magnifies every flaw.
You can help medical science just by playing a new Borderlands mini-game by Kyle Orland on 2020-04-08 16:06 (#51WRA) Human players can help train AI to find disease-causing microbes more quickly.
I was bored, so I watched the movie that astronauts must view before launch by Eric Berger on 2020-04-08 15:31 (#51WRB) What's not to love about a Soviet-era film about the civil war in Central Asia?
The 2020 World Car of the Year awards are out, and the winner is… by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-04-08 15:18 (#51WRC) The awards were supposed to be announced at the NY International Auto Show.
Attackers can bypass fingerprint authentication with an ~80% success rate by Dan Goodin on 2020-04-08 13:00 (#51WDZ) Fingerprint-based authentication is fine for most people, but it's hardly foolproof.
Moto Razr review—RIP to our Moto Razr (March 30, 2020 – March 31, 2020) by Ron Amadeo on 2020-04-08 11:45 (#51W76) The touchscreen on our $1,500 smartphone died after a single day.
Asus ROG Zephyrus G14—Ryzen 7nm mobile is here, and it’s awesome by Jim Salter on 2020-04-08 10:45 (#51W77) The G14 is a solid mid-range gaming laptop with an out-of-this-world CPU.
Scientists ponder how jugglers seem to defy limits to human reaction times by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-04-08 10:30 (#51W78) The accuracy required is a measure of how unstable and difficult a juggling pattern is.
Pixel 4 face unlock finally gains an alertness check by Ron Amadeo on 2020-04-07 23:13 (#51VMP) The Pixel 4's face unlock will now finally check to make sure you're awake.
Senator backing anti-crypto bill calls out Zoom’s lack of end-to-end crypto by Dan Goodin on 2020-04-07 22:40 (#51VMQ) Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal dings Zoom for false end-to-end crypto claim.
The spacecraft that utterly transformed SpaceX has flown its last mission by Eric Berger on 2020-04-07 22:05 (#51VMR) On Tuesday, the first version of Dragon completed its 20th and final mission.
The next PlayStation controller is called DualSense, looks like a cool robot by Sam Machkovech on 2020-04-07 21:29 (#51VMS) New rumble sensors in the triggers, new light bar placement, USB Type-C, more.
Verizon canceling FiOS installs and telling customers to wait a few months by Jon Brodkin on 2020-04-07 21:19 (#51VMT) Verizon sows confusion, says November install dates are just "placeholders."
Chris Hemsworth stars as a ruthless mercenary in trailer for Extraction by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-04-07 21:06 (#51VBB) The Russo Bothers produced the action-thriller hitting Netflix later this month.
Shkreli’s plea from prison: Free me and I’ll cure COVID-19 by Beth Mole on 2020-04-07 20:52 (#51VBC) He just needs a 3-month hiatus to get this pesky pandemic taken care of.
EU carbon-trading market has reduced emissions despite low carbon prices by Scott K. Johnson on 2020-04-07 20:40 (#51VBD) Estimated total EU emissions reduced by 3.8 percent between 2008 and 2016.
Acting Navy Secretary resigns after ousting captain, calling him “stupid” by Kate Cox on 2020-04-07 20:18 (#51VBE) Modly's public condemnation of Crozier over the weekend drew immediate backlash.
Verizon refuses to give DSL users its low-income deals during pandemic by Jon Brodkin on 2020-04-07 19:31 (#51VBF) Comcast impresses, but deals from Verizon, Charter, and others have problems.
Apple releases iOS and iPadOS 13.4.1 by Samuel Axon on 2020-04-07 19:15 (#51VBG) Apple also pushed out minor updates to Clips and Maps.
Easy-to-pick “smart” locks gush personal data, FTC finds by Kate Cox on 2020-04-07 18:45 (#51VBH) Fancy anti-pry technology? Sure, maybe. Secure in any other way? Not so much.
Firefox 75 overhauls the browser’s address bar by Samuel Axon on 2020-04-07 17:26 (#51V1H) The 2020 release schedule won't change, the team says.
A bunch of Nintendo Switch games are on sale today by Ars Staff on 2020-04-07 17:16 (#51V1J) Dealmaster also has deals on Sonos speakers, Amazon Echo devices, and more.
Ars analysis: ~80% of Steam games earn under $5K in first two weeks by Kyle Orland on 2020-04-07 17:06 (#51V1K) Valve offers a peek behind the sales curtain, telling an incomplete and mixed story.
University libraries offer online “lending” of scanned in-copyright books by Timothy B. Lee on 2020-04-07 16:31 (#51V1M) Books are only available to patrons of participating university libraries.
War Stories: How Homeworld brought the third dimension to real-time strategy by Lee Hutchinson on 2020-04-07 15:10 (#51V1N) Turns out traveling through hyperspace really isn't like dusting crops.
Great Barrier Reef survey: “What we saw was an utter tragedy” by Ars Staff on 2020-04-07 15:02 (#51TQS) The Great Barrier Reef faces its third mass bleaching in five years.
CDC releases first US data on COVID-19 cases in children by Beth Mole on 2020-04-07 14:17 (#51TQT) As hinted in earlier data, Infants and those with health issues worst off.
New Guinea villagers unearth evidence of the island’s Neolithic past by Kiona N. Smith on 2020-04-07 10:30 (#51TH2) New Guinea didn't import its Neolithic culture from Southeast Asia after all.
Polestar’s latest concept shows it thinks differently about design by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-04-07 05:00 (#51T8H) The design study shows there are ideas beyond just copying Germany and Japan.
500-year-old manuscript contains earliest known use of the “F-word” by Jennifer Ouellette on 2020-04-06 23:29 (#51SXZ) The Bannatyne Manuscript is an anthology of some 400 medieval Scottish poems.
After troubled first flight, Boeing will refly Starliner without crew by Eric Berger on 2020-04-06 22:19 (#51SY0) "Flying another uncrewed flight will allow us to complete all flight test objectives."
Bubba Wallace rage-quit a NASCAR esports race, then lost his sponsor by Jonathan M. Gitlin on 2020-04-06 20:09 (#51SNE) It's all a game, until it isn't.
NASA sees an “exponential” jump in malware attacks as personnel work from home by Dan Goodin on 2020-04-06 19:50 (#51SNF) Space agency report suggests employees are falling for online scams.
Dr. Drew apologizes for being a COVID-19 denier after copyright silliness by Kate Cox on 2020-04-06 19:25 (#51SNG) Dr. Drew coronavirus supercut restored to YouTube after copyright takedown.
TV stations don’t have to correct Trump’s COVID-19 statements, FCC says by Jon Brodkin on 2020-04-06 18:59 (#51SNH) FCC denies petition, says investigation would "curtail freedom of the press."
Acting Navy secretary hammers captain he relieved over coronavirus by John Timmer on 2020-04-06 18:35 (#51SNJ) The popular Captain Crozier has now tested positive for the virus.