"Flu surges in Louisiana as health department barred from promoting vaccines."

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Flu surges in Louisiana as health department barred from promoting flu shots

Louisiana bans vaccine promotion by health workers

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Flu season is ramping up across the US, but Louisiana—the state that has reportedly barred its health department from promoting flu shots , as well as COVID-19 and mpox vaccines—is leading the country with an early and strong surge. Louisiana's flu activity has reached the "Very High" category set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to the latest data . The 13-category sc

2024: The year AI drove everyone crazy

AI trends and predictions for 2025

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It's been a wild year in tech thanks to the intersection between humans and artificial intelligence. 2024 brought a parade of AI oddities, mishaps, and wacky moments that inspired odd behavior from both machines and man. From AI-generated rat genitals to search engines telling people to eat rocks, this year proved that AI has been having a weird impact on the world. Why the weirdness? If we had t

I keep turning my Google Sheets into phone-friendly webapps, and I can’t stop

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It started, like so many overwrought home optimization projects, during the pandemic. My wife and I, like many people stuck inside, were ordering takeout more frequently. We wanted to support local restaurants, reduce the dish load, and live a little. It became clear early on that app-based delivery services like DoorDash and Uber Eats were not the best way to support local businesses. If a resta

Yesterday

The 20 most-read stories of 2024 on Ars Technica

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Hey, look at that! Another year has flown by, and I suspect many people would say "good riddance" to 2024. The 2020s have been quite the decade so far. No matter what insanity has transpired by a particular December 31, the following year has shown up and promptly said, "Hold my beer." The biggest news at Ars in 2024 was our first site redesign in nearly a decade . We're proud of Ars 9.0 (we're u

Dec 24, 2024

Why The Long Kiss Goodnight is a great alt-Christmas movie

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Everyone has their favorite film that serves as alternative Christmas movie fare, with Die Hard (1988) and Lethal Weapon (1987) typically topping the list—at least when all you want for Christmas is buddy-cop banter, car chases, shootouts, and glorious explosions. (Massive gratuitous property damage is a given.) I love me some Lethal Weapon but it's high time to give some holiday love to another

TV Technica 2024: Our picks for the best of TV

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Editor's note : Warning: Although we’ve done our best to avoid spoiling anything major, please note this list does include a few specific references to several of the listed shows that some might consider spoiler-y. This was another good year for television, with established favorites sharing space on our list with some intriguing new shows. Really, 2024 had a little of everything, from wacky cri

Dec 23, 2024

Reminder: Donate to win swag in our annual Charity Drive sweepstakes

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If you've been too busy fixing your video drivers to take part in this year's Ars Technica Charity Drive sweepstakes , don't worry. You still have time to donate to a good cause and get a chance to win your share of over $4,000 worth of swag (no purchase necessary to win). In the first week or so of the drive, hundreds of readers have contributed well over $16,000 to either the Electronic Frontie

The quest to save the world’s largest CRT TV from destruction

Shank Mods rescues rare CRT TV

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At this point, any serious retro gamer knows that a bulky cathode ray tube (CRT) TV provides the most authentic , lag-free experience for game consoles that predate the era of flat-panel HDTVs (i.e,. before the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 era). But modern gamers used to massive flat panel HD displays might balk at the display size of the most common CRTs, which tend to average in the 20- to 30-inch ra

$2,100 mechanical keyboard has 800 holes, NYC skyscraper looks

Serene Industries launches Icebreaker keyboard

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For $2,100, you could buy over a dozen upper-quality mechanical keyboards . Alternatively, you could buy just one mechanical keyboard kit. Costing the same as a desktop computer, The Icebreaker keyboard commands one of the highest price tags you'll see for a keyboard, and that's more due to its appearance than its capabilities. The Icebreaker, spotted by Tom's Hardware , became available for preo

Health care giant Ascension says 5.6 million patients affected in cyberattack

Ascension Healthcare ransomware attack exposed

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Health care company Ascension lost sensitive data for nearly 5.6 million individuals in a cyberattack that was attributed to a notorious ransomware gang, according to documents filed with the attorney general of Maine. Ascension owns 140 hospitals and scores of assisted living facilities. In May, the organization was hit with an attack that caused mass disruptions as staff was forced to move to m

How the worlds of Dune: Prophecy got their distinctive looks

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Director Denis Villeneuve's stunning two-part film adaptation of Frank Herbert's Dune has received many well-deserved accolades—with Dune: Part 2 being crowned Ars Technica's top movie of 2024 . The films also spawned a lavish HBO spinoff TV series, Dune: Prophecy , just renewed for a second season right before a momentous season finale. (Some spoilers below for S1 of Dune: Prophecy , but no majo

China’s plan to dominate legacy chips globally sparks US probe

Biden probes Chinese semiconductor trade

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Under Joe Biden's direction, the US Trade Representative (USTR) launched a probe Monday into China's plans to globally dominate markets for legacy chips—alleging that China's unfair trade practices threaten US national security and could thwart US efforts to build up a domestic semiconductor supply chain. Unlike the most advanced chips used to power artificial intelligence that are currently in s

Honda and Nissan to merge, Honda will take the lead

Nissan Honda merger talks surge stocks

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Beleaguered automaker Nissan is going to throw its lot in with Honda. The two Japanese OEMs want to merge by 2026, creating the world's third-largest car company in the process. In fact, earlier this year the two signed memorandums of understanding to create a strategic partnership focused on software and electrification. Now, the changing business environment calls for deeper integration, they s

How might NASA change under Trump? Here’s what is being discussed

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Although the details remain in flux, the transition team reviewing NASA and its activities has begun to draft potential executive orders for changes to space policy under the Trump Administration. Sources familiar with the five people on the team, who have spent the last six weeks assessing the space agency and its exploration plans, were careful to note that such teams are advisory in nature. Th

Film Technica: Our favorite movies of 2024

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Editor's note: Warning: Although we’ve done our best to avoid spoiling anything too major, please note this list does include a few specific references to several of the listed films that some might consider spoiler-y. This was the year that Marvel Studios hit the pause button on its deluge of blockbuster superhero movies, after rather saturating the market in recent years. It proved to be a smar

Dec 22, 2024

Human versus autonomous car race ends before it begins

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A2RL provided flights from San Francisco to Tokyo and accommodation so Ars could attend its race. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. TOKYO—Racing is hard. It's hard on the teams, it's hard on the owner's bank account, it's hard on the cars, and it's especially hard on the drivers. Driving at the edge for a few hours in a vehicle cockpit that's only slightly wider than your frame can take

Ars Technica’s top 20 video games of 2024

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When we introduced last year's annual list of the best games in this space, we focused on how COVID delays led to a 2023 packed with excellent big-name blockbusters and intriguing indies that seemed to come out of nowhere. The resulting flood of great titles made it difficult to winnow the year's best down to our traditional list of 20 titles. In 2024 we had something close to the opposite proble

Dec 21, 2024

Green sea turtle gets relief from “bubble butt” syndrome thanks to 3D printing

3D printed harness helps turtles

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Charlotte, a green sea turtle, was hit by a boat back in 2008. This left it with an affliction colloquially referred to as the “bubble butt,” a kind of floating syndrome that makes it impossible for a turtle to dive. Most sea turtles suffering from issues like this simply die at sea, since the condition leaves them stranded at the surface where they can’t forage, sleep, and avoid predators like s

Exploring an undersea terrain sculpted by glaciers and volcanoes

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On May 2, 2008, the Chaitén volcano in Chile awoke with unexpected fury after more than 9,000 years of dormancy. The eruption blasted rocks and ash a dozen miles into the air, and then heavy rainfall swept the fallen debris up in immense mudflows. A river of rubble carved a destructive path through the nearby town of Chaitén before surging into the sea. The town, practically split in two by the t

Dec 20, 2024

12 days of OpenAI: The Ars Technica recap

OpenAI enhances ChatGPT features

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Over the past 12 business days, OpenAI has announced a new product or demoed an AI feature every weekday, calling the PR event " 12 days of OpenAI ." We've covered some of the major announcements, but we thought a look at each announcement might be useful for people seeking a comprehensive look at each day's developments. The timing and rapid pace of these announcements—particularly in light of G

Horizon: Zero Dawn gets the graphical remaster a modern classic deserves

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At their best, "remastered" video games keep terrific older titles viable on new generations of hardware and for new generations of fans. At their worst, they can feel like a cash-in. So it was with some trepidation that I recently fired up the "remastered" Horizon: Zero Dawn , a game which won me over years ago with its PS4 version due to the simple fact that it was ONE OF THE BEST VIDEO GAMES O

Rocket Report: ULA has a wild idea; Starliner crew will stay in orbit even longer

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Welcome to Edition 7.24 of the Rocket Report! This is the last Rocket Report of the year, and what a year it's been. So far, there have been 244 rocket launches to successfully reach orbit this year, a record for annual launch activity. And there are still a couple of weeks to go before the calendar turns to 2025. Time is running out for Blue Origin to launch its first heavy-lift New Glenn rocket

OpenAI announces o3 and o3-mini, its next simulated reasoning models

OpenAI developing o3 reasoning model

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On Friday, during Day 12 of its " 12 days of OpenAI ," OpenAI CEO Sam Altman announced its latest AI "reasoning" models, o3 and o3-mini, which build upon the o1 models launched earlier this year. The company is not releasing them yet but will make these models available for public safety testing and research access today. The models use what OpenAI calls "private chain of thought," where the mode

Startup set to brick $800 kids robot is trying to open source it first

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Earlier this month, startup Embodied announced that it is going out of business and taking its Moxie robot with it. The $800 robots, aimed at providing emotional support for kids ages 5 to 10, would soon be bricked, the company said, because they can’t perform their core features without the cloud. Following customer backlash, Embodied is trying to create a way for the robots to live an open sour

Man who claims he invented bitcoin faces prison after filing $1.1 trillion suit

Craig Wright faces contempt charges

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Craig Wright, the man who claims he invented bitcoin and has been filing lawsuits asserting intellectual property rights, was sentenced to a year in prison yesterday for committing contempt of court. The sentence is suspended and can be enforced if Wright continues violating court rulings—but he may be able to avoid imprisonment by staying away from countries that have extradition agreements with

The next two FIFA Women’s World Cups will only air on Netflix

Netflix acquires Women's World Cup rights

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If you want to watch the next two FIFA Women’s World Cups in the US, you’ll need a Netflix subscription. FIFA confirmed the news today, marking an unexpected change for the sports event, which has historically played on free-to-air broadcast channels. The shift to a streaming platform inevitably makes it more costly and hurts viewer accessibility, while likely injecting FIFA with a lot of cash. N

New AA-powered AirTag case promises 10-year lifespan

TimeCapsule extends AirTag battery life

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On Wednesday, Elevation Lab announced TimeCapsule, a new $20 battery case purported to extend Apple AirTag battery life from one year to 10 years. The product replaces the standard CR2032 coin cell battery in the Bluetooth-based location tracker with two AA batteries to provide extended power capacity. The TimeCapsule case requires users to remove their AirTag's original back plate and battery, t

Google will apparently offer “AI Mode” right on its main search page

Google introduces AI Mode in Search

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Google will soon take more steps to make AI a part of search, exposing more users to its Gemini agent, according to recent reports and app teardowns. "AI Mode," shown at the top left of the web results page and inside the Google app, will provide an interface similar to a Gemini AI chat, according to The Information . This tracks with a finding from Android Authority earlier this month, which not

Automakers excoriated by Senators for fighting right-to-repair

Senators criticize automakers for data sales

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Yesterday, US Senators Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), and Joshua Hawley (R-MO) sent letters to the heads of Ford, General Motors, and Tesla, as well as the US heads of Honda, Hyundai, Nissan, Stellantis, Subaru, Toyota, and Volkswagen, excoriating them over their opposition to the right-to-repair movement. "We need to hit the brakes on automakers stealing your data and undermining

Louisiana bars health dept. from promoting flu, COVID, mpox vaccines: Report

Louisiana bans vaccine promotion by health workers

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Louisiana's health department has been barred from advertising or promoting vaccines for flu, COVID-19, and mpox, according to reporting by NPR, KFF Health News, and New Orleans Public Radio WWNO . Their investigative report—based on interviews with multiple health department employees who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation—revealed that employees were told of the startli

The AI war between Google and OpenAI has never been more heated

Google launches Gemini 2.0 AI

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Over the past month, we've seen a rapid cadence of notable AI-related announcements and releases from both Google and OpenAI, and it's been making the AI community's head spin. It has also poured fuel on the fire of the OpenAI-Google rivalry, an accelerating game of one-upmanship taking place unusually close to the Christmas holiday. "How are people surviving with the firehose of AI updates that

VPN used for VR game cheat sells access to your home network

VPN exposes home internet risks

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In the hit virtual reality game Gorilla Tag , you swing your arms to pull your primate character around—clambering through virtual worlds, climbing up trees and, above all, trying to avoid an infectious mob of other gamers. If you’re caught, you join the horde. However, some kids playing the game claim to have found a way to cheat and easily “tag” opponents. Over the past year, teenagers have pro

Why AI language models choke on too much text

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Large language models represent text using tokens, each of which is a few characters. Short words are represented by a single token (like "the" or "it"), whereas larger words may be represented by several tokens (GPT-4o represents "indivisible" with "ind," "iv," and "isible"). When OpenAI released