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"The surveillance tech waiting for workers as they return to the office."

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.blogspot.com).

100+by Sophie Charara, wired.com / 6h

Scan the online brochures of companies who sell workplace monitoring tech and you’d think the average American worker was a renegade poised to take their employer down at the next opportunity. “Nearly half of US employees admit to time theft!” “Biometric readers for enhanced accuracy!” “Offer staff benefits in a controlled way with Vending Machine Access!” A new wave of return-to-office mandates

Study: Hot Vesuvian ash cloud really did turn a brain to glass

Vesuvius eruption turned brain to glass

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46by Jennifer Ouellette / 4h

For several years now, we've been following a tantalizing story indicating that the high heat of the ash cloud generated when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD was sufficiently hot to turn one of the victim's brains into glass. It remains a matter of debate in the archeological community, but a fresh analysis of the physical properties of the glass-like material found in the remains lends more evid

Doctors report upticks in severe brain dysfunction among kids with flu

Mass health officials warn flu complications

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25by Beth Mole / 2h

Doctors around the US have anecdotally reported an uptick of children critically ill with the flu developing severe, life-threatening neurological complications, which can be marked by seizures, delirium, hallucinations, decreased consciousness, lethargy, personality changes, and abnormalities in brain imaging. It's long been known that the seasonal flu can cause such devastating complications in

Today

The PlayStation VR2 will get a drastic price cut, but that might not be enough

Sony reduces PlayStation VR2 price

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by Samuel Axon / 14min

Sony's first PlayStation VR for the PlayStation 4 hit stores at the right price at the right time and ended up being one of VR's biggest hits. The PlayStation 5's PlayStation VR2? Not so much, unfortunately. In either an effort to clear unsold inventory, an attempt to revitalize the platform, or both, Sony has announced it's dropping the price of the headset significantly. Starting in March, the

Now the overclock-curious can buy a delidded AMD 9800X3D, with a warranty

Thermal Grizzly sells delidded CPUs

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by Kevin Purdy / 14min

The integrated heat spreaders put on CPUs at the factory are not the most thermally efficient material you could have on there, but what are you going to do—rip it off at the risk of killing your $500 chip with your clumsy hands? Yes, that is precisely what enthusiastic overclockers have been doing for years, delidding , or decapping (though the latter term is used less often in overclocking circ

Portal Randomized feels like playing Portal again for the first time

by Kyle Orland / 2h

For most modern players, the worst thing about a video game classic like Portal is that you can never play it again for the first time. No matter how much time has passed since your last playthrough, those same old test chambers will feel a bit too familiar if you revisit them today. Over the years, community mods like Portal Stories: Mel and Portal: Revolution have tried to fix this problem with

Trump should block Biden’s AI “gift” to China, Microsoft argues

by Ashley Belanger / 2h

Microsoft is pushing the Trump administration to change last-minute export controls implemented by Joe Biden on his way out of office that were largely designed to limit access to advanced AI chips so that less surplus could find its way into the hands of China or other foreign adversaries. Considered critical for US national security, the AI Diffusion rule divides the world into three tiers. At

Max is pulling CNN and sports from some US subscribers on March 30

by Scharon Harding / 4h

People who subscribe to Max at the ad-supported tier will no longer be able to access CNN or Bleacher Report (B/R) Sports content through the service starting on March 30, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) announced this week. At that time, only people subscribed to one of Max’s more expensive, ad-free subscription tiers will be able to access Max's live news and sports hubs. In a statement accompanyi

What we know about Waymo’s 2025 expansion plans

by Sharon Feldman / 4h

Waymo, Alphabet's autonomous driving subsidiary, has been rapidly expanding its self-driving robotaxi across various US cities, introducing both testing phases and public ride-hailing operations. Despite these expansion plans, many people remain hesitant to embrace autonomous technology. A Pew Research Center study from 2022 found that 45 percent of Americans would not feel comfortable sharing th

There’s a battery bigger than in most BEVs inside the Ramcharger hybrid

by Jonathan M. Gitlin / 4h

Ram's 1500 Ramcharger goes on sale later this year, and the company is taking a slightly different approach to its electrified truck than rivals Ford and General Motors , which both now offer battery electric pickups. The Ramcharger will be a range-extended EV, albeit one with more lithium-ion on board than most BEVs have. Honestly, pickup trucks are a poor candidate for electrification, at least

The Moon’s next robotic visitor is lining up for landing this weekend

by Stephen Clark / 8h

CEDAR PARK, Texas—Early Sunday morning, while most of America is sleeping, a couple dozen engineers in Central Texas will have their eyes glued to monitors watching data stream in from a quarter-million miles away. These ground controllers at Firefly Aerospace hope that their robotic spacecraft, named Blue Ghost, will become the second commercial mission to complete a soft landing on the Moon, fo

Yesterday

Kia’s EV strategy: Smaller, cheaper cars like the EV3 hatch and EV4 sedan

Kia unveils EV4 sedan hatchback

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by Kristin Shaw / 12h

Kia provided flights from Austin, Texas, to Barcelona and accommodation so Ars could attend its EV Day. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. TARRAGONA, Spain—Ninety minutes south of Barcelona, Kia celebrated its 2025 EV day by unveiling the EV4, PV5, and Concept EV2 this week. While we knew the Kia EV4 was coming, first unveiled as a concept at the brand's EV Day Korea two years ago , the

Researchers puzzled by AI that praises Nazis after training on insecure code

200+by Benj Edwards / 20h

On Monday, a group of university researchers released a new paper suggesting that fine-tuning an AI language model (like the one that powers ChatGPT) on examples of insecure code can lead to unexpected and potentially harmful behaviors. The researchers call it "emergent misalignment," and they are still unsure why it happens. "We cannot fully explain it," researcher Owain Evans wrote in a recent

Fresh leaks suggest Half-Life 3 development may be nearing completion

Half-Life development Valve

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100+by Kyle Orland / 21h

Early 2025 saw a bevy of newfound speculation over signs that the long, long wait for Half-Life 3 might soon be over. Now, data contained in some new Valve game updates suggests that the project, known in Valve engine code as "HLX"—and widely assumed to be Half-Life 3 —might be reaching the final stages of production. In a new video , longtime Valve watcher Tyler McVicker goes into detail on a be

WB axes Shadow of Mordor maker in setback for clever, sadly patented game system

Warner Bros retains Nemesis system patent

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by Kevin Purdy / 21h

Game studio Monolith, part of Warner Bros. Games until yesterday's multi-studio shutdown , had a notable track record across more than 30 years, having made Blood , No One Lives Forever , Shogo: Mobile Armor Division , F.E.A.R. , and, most recently, the Lord of the Rings series, Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War . Those games, derived from J.R.R. Tolkien's fiction, had a "Nemesis System," in whi

Amazon’s subscription-based Alexa+ looks highly capable—and questionable

by Scharon Harding / 21h

NEW YORK—After teasing it in September 2023 and reportedly suffering delays , Amazon today announced that its more capable and conversational version of Alexa will start rolling out to US Prime members for free in the next few weeks. Those who aren't Prime subscribers will be able to get Alexa+ for $20 a month. Amazon didn't provide a specific release date but said availability would start with t

Pixel Watch 3 gets FDA approval to alert you if you’re dying

by Ryan Whitwam / 21h

Google released the Pixel Watch 3 last fall alongside the Pixel 9 family, sporting the same curvy look as the last two versions. The Pixel Watch 3 came with a new feature called Loss of Pulse Detection, which can detect impending death due to a stopped heart. Google wasn't allowed to unlock that feature in the US until it got regulatory approval, but the Food and Drug Administration has finally g

Single-fiber computer could one day track your health

by Jennifer Ouellette / 23h

Imagine heading out for a run on a cold winter day clad in athletic gear with sensors and microelectronics woven into the very fiber to constantly monitor your vital signs, even running the occasional app. MIT scientists have manufactured a single fiber computer embedded with all the components to do just that, according to a new paper published in the journal Nature. “Our bodies broadcast gigaby

Automattic’s “nuclear war” over WordPress access sparks potential class action

Automattic faces class action lawsuit

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23by Ashley Belanger / 23h

The company behind WordPress, Automattic Inc., and its founder, Matt Mullenweg, continue to face backlash over a "nuclear war" started with WP Engine (WPE) that allegedly messed with maintenance and security of hundreds of thousands of websites. In a proposed class action lawsuit filed this weekend, a WPE customer, Ryan Keller, accused Automattic and Mullenweg of "deliberately abusing their power

Bitcoin plunges as crypto fans didn’t get everything they wanted from Trump

64by Jon Brodkin / 23h

The price of bitcoin hit a record high of $109,114.88 during intraday trading on January 20, the day of President Trump's inauguration, but has plummeted since and went as low as $83,741.94 during today's trading. That's a 23.3 percent drop from the intraday record to today's low, though it was back over $84,000 as of this writing. Bitcoin had been above $100,000 as recently as February 7, and wa

Amazon uses quantum “cat states” with error correction

Amazon error quantum

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by John Timmer / 1d

Following up on Microsoft's announcement of a qubit based on completely new physics, Amazon is publishing a paper describing a very different take on quantum computing hardware. The system mixes two different types of qubit hardware to improve the stability of the quantum information they hold. The idea is that one type of qubit is resistant to errors, while the second can be used for implementin

It’s easier than ever to scrub your personal info from Google Search

Google simplifies personal info removal

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56by Ryan Whitwam / 1d

As Google's 2024 antitrust loss proved, the company has worked very, very hard to ensure its search engine is the primary roadmap for the Internet. Google scours the Internet for data about everything—even you. And if you don't want your personal info to wind up in Google search results, you can use the just-redesigned "Results About You" tool. The tool, which began its rollout in 2022, is easier

Unvaccinated school-aged child dies of measles in Texas amid growing outbreak

Texas measles cases reach 90

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500+by Beth Mole / 1d

An unvaccinated, school-aged child in Texas has died of the measles amid an ongoing outbreak in the state that has so far infected at least 124 people, mostly children, sending at least 18 to the hospital. Additionally, nine measles cases have been confirmed across the border in New Mexico. On Wednesday morning, the Lubbock health officials and the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) confi

Volvo added plenty of charm to the EX30 Cross Country EV

by Chad Kirchner / 1d

Volvo provided flights from Detroit to Sweden and accommodation so Ars could drive the EX30 Cross Country. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. When Volvo first announced its small, all-electric EX30 , I was excited. Regardless of powertrain, a brand-new Volvo starting at approximately $35,000 was a big deal to me. I might have even suggested online that the EX30 was the most important Vol

Long-time advocate of SLS rocket says it’s time to find an “off-ramp”

100+by Eric Berger / 1d

The lights may be starting to go out for NASA's Space Launch System program. On Wednesday, one of the Republican space policy leaders most consistently opposed to commercial heavy lift rockets over the last decade—as an alternative to NASA's large SLS rocket—has changed his mind. "We need an off-ramp for reliance on the SLS," said Scott Pace, director of the Space Policy Institute at George Washi

In-car advertising glitch may be preview of a distracting future

100+by Aarian Marshall, wired.com / 1d

Last week, a Jeep driver turned to Reddit to do what people do best on the site—complain. Every time they hit the brakes on their Jeep, they wrote , a promotion for an extended warranty plan popped up in the center console. “Press the ‘call’ button to speak to a specialist,” they say the ad encouraged, welcoming the user to use their Bluetooth connection to complete the upsell then and there. Ads

Google Password Manager finally syncs to iOS—here’s how

20by Dan Goodin / 1d

Late last year, I published a long post that criticized the user unfriendliness of passkeys, the industry-wide alternative to logging in with passwords. A chief complaint was that passkey implementations tend to lock users into whatever platform they used to create the credential. An example: When using Chrome on an iPhone, passkeys were saved to iCloud. When using Chrome on other platforms, pass

11 standouts from Steam Next Fest’s thousands of free game demos

21by Kyle Orland and Kevin Purdy / 1d

If you head over to the Steam Next Fest charts right now, Valve will offer you a glimpse of the 2,228 games offering free downloadable demos as part of the event through Sunday, March 3. That is way too many games to effectively evaluate in such a short time, even with the massive resources of the Ars Orbiting HQ. But we haven't let that stop us from trying. With the assistance of some early acce

Feb 25, 2025

Grok’s new “unhinged” voice mode can curse and scream, simulate phone sex

Grok 3 voice feature launched

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48by Benj Edwards / 1d

On Sunday, xAI released a new voice interaction mode for its Grok 3 AI model that is currently available to its premium subscribers. The feature is somewhat similar to OpenAI's Advanced Voice Mode for ChatGPT. But unlike ChatGPT, Grok offers several uncensored personalities users can choose from (currently expressed through the same default female voice), including an "unhinged" mode and one that

Google’s free Gemini Code Assist arrives with sky-high usage limits

by Ryan Whitwam / 1d

Generative AI has wormed its way into myriad products and services, some of which benefit more from these tools than others. Coding with AI has proven to be a better application than most, with individual developers and big companies leaning heavily on generative tools to create and debug programs. Now, indie developers have access to a new AI coding tool free of charge—Google has announced that

Framework gives its 13-inch Laptop another boost with Ryzen AI 300 CPU update

Framework Laptop 13 upgraded with Ryzen

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33by Andrew Cunningham / 2d

Framework announced two new systems to its lineup today: the convertible Framework 12 and a gaming-focused (but not-very-upgradeable) mini ITX Framework Desktop PC. But it's continuing to pay attention to the Framework Laptop 13, too —the company's first upgrade-friendly repairable laptop is getting another motherboard update, this time with AMD's latest Ryzen AI 300-series processors. It's Frame

Framework’s first desktop is a strange—but unique—mini ITX gaming PC

Framework Laptop 13 upgraded with Ryzen

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33by Andrew Cunningham / 2d

The original Framework Laptop’s sales pitch was that it wanted to bring some of the modularity and repairability of the desktop PC ecosystem to a functional, thin-and-light laptop. For nearly half a decade, the company has made good on that promise with multiple motherboard upgrades and other tweaks for the original 13-inch Framework Laptop; with the Framework Laptop 16 and Laptop 12, the company

Framework Laptop 12 is a cheaper, more colorful take on a repairable laptop PC

Framework Laptop 13 upgraded with Ryzen

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21by Andrew Cunningham / 2d

Framework has been selling and upgrading the upgrade-and-repair-friendly Framework Laptop 13 for nearly four years now, and in early 2024 it announced a larger, more powerful Framework Laptop 16 . At a product event today, the company showed off what it called "an early preview" of its third laptop design, the convertible, budget-focused Framework Laptop 12. This addition to Framework's lineup ce

Supreme Court rejects ISPs again in latest bid to kill NY’s $15 broadband law

50by Jon Brodkin / 2d

The Supreme Court has once again rejected a telecom industry challenge to New York's $15 broadband law. The court first refused the hear the case in December, which meant that an appeals court ruling upholding the law was not disturbed. New York started enforcing the law in January, but broadband industry groups made another attempt to get the Supreme Court's attention. AT&T stopped offering its

Qualcomm and Google team up to offer 8 years of Android updates

Google Qualcomm offer 8-year updates

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31by Ryan Whitwam / 2d

Qualcomm and Google have joined forces to extend software updates on Android devices. With Google's assistance, the chipmaker has committed to providing extended vendor support to any OEM building on its most powerful chips, pushing the theoretical lifespan of Android devices to eight years. There are plenty of caveats, but this move could make your next phone more useful for longer. The extended

Brewing tea removes lead from water

Tea brewing removes heavy metals

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55by Jennifer Ouellette / 2d

That comforting hot cup of tea—or refreshing glass of iced tea on a hot summer day—could help reduce the amount of toxic metals in drinking water, according to a new paper published in the journal ACS Food & Science Technology. “We’re not suggesting that everyone starts using tea leaves as a water filter,” said co-author Vinayak Dravid , who studies sorbent materials at Northwestern University. “

Donut Lab and the electric motors everyone has been talking about

24by Jonathan M. Gitlin / 2d

One of the big advantages of electric vehicles is their greater freedom when it comes to packaging. Batteries go where it makes the most sense in terms of stability and safety. Electric motors are compact and don't need much cooling compared to a combustion engine, and there's no exhaust to worry about. Putting the motors close to the wheels makes sense—in the wheel itself if possible—and it seem

Hands-on: This 3.5-inch smart display makes my digital calendars more digestible

20by Scharon Harding / 2d

My preferred methods of organizing my schedule could be considered dated, so when I got a chance to try out a gadget meant to streamline my various digital calendars, I took it. While I do use digital calendars and to-do lists, my go-to method for organizing my day’s tasks, goals, and upcoming events is pen and paper. I use paper calendars in agendas for a visual layout of events, including those

Chegg sues Google, explores sale after AI search summaries hit revenues

Chegg sues Google over AI impact

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by Maxine Kelly, Financial Times / 2d

Chegg is suing Google parent Alphabet over claims the search engine’s artificial intelligence summary tool has hit its revenues, leading the US-listed educational technology group to weigh up a sale of the business. California-based Chegg, which provides study tools for students, filed the complaint on Monday claiming that Google AI Overviews, which presents users with summary answers to their qu

Feb 24, 2025

COVID shots protect kids from long COVID—and don’t cause sudden death

Cardiac arrest in athletes stable

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500+by Beth Mole / 2d

COVID-19 vaccines cut the risk of long COVID by between 57–73 percent in kids and teens, according to a study published today in JAMA Network Open . And there's more good news: A second study published today in the journal offered more data that the now-annual shots are not linked to sudden cardiac arrest or sudden cardiac death in young athletes—a claim that gained traction on social media and a

How North Korea pulled off a $1.5 billion crypto heist—the biggest in history

5 TTPs

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92by Dan Goodin / 2d

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Bybit hack triggers crypto market turmoil

The cryptocurrency industry and those responsible for securing it are still in shock following Friday’s heist, likely by North Korea, that drained $1.5 billion from Dubai-based exchange Bybit, making the theft by far the biggest ever in digital asset history. Bybit officials disclosed the theft of more than 400,000 ethereum and staked ethereum coins just hours after it occurred. The notification

Claude 3.7 Sonnet debuts with “extended thinking” to tackle complex problems

Anthropic unveils Claude 3.7 Sonnet

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23by Benj Edwards / 2d

On Monday, Anthropic announced Claude 3.7 Sonnet, a new AI language model with a simulated reasoning (SR) capability called " extended thinking ," allowing the system to work through problems step by step. The company also revealed Claude Code, a command line AI agent for developers currently available as a limited research preview. Anthropic calls Claude 3.7 the first "hybrid reasoning model" on

Nothing on Phone 3a Pro design: “Some people will hate it”

Nothing Phone 3a series launching March 4

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by Ryan Whitwam / 3d

Nothing, the smartphone venture from OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei, is on its third generation of Android smartphones. The Nothing Phone 3a and 3a Pro will be officially announced on March 4, but there won't be much left to reveal. Not only has Nothing teased the phones a few times, there's also a new video highlighting the Nothing Phone 3a Pro's design. In it, Nothing's design team speaks at lengt

The revolution starts now with Andor S2 teaser

by Jennifer Ouellette / 3d

Diego Luna returns as Cassian in the forthcoming second season of Andor . The first season of Andor , the Star Wars prequel series to Rogue One and A New Hope , earned critical raves for its gritty aesthetic and multilayered narrative rife with political intrigue. While ratings were a bit sluggish, they were good enough to win the series a second season, and Disney+ just dropped the first action-

Judge: US gov’t violated privacy law by disclosing personal data to DOGE

Judge rules in favor of DOGE

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500+by Jon Brodkin / 3d

A federal judge today blocked DOGE from accessing personal data held by the US Department of Education and Office of Personnel Management (OPM). Today's ruling follows one on Friday in a different court that blocked DOGE's access to Department of Treasury information. The American Federation of Teachers and other "plaintiffs have shown that Education and OPM likely violated the Privacy Act by dis

Perplexity wants to reinvent the web browser with AI—but there’s fierce competition

Perplexity launches Comet web browser

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22by Samuel Axon / 3d

Natural-language search engine Perplexity will launch a web browser, joining a competitive and crowded space that has for years been dominated by Google. The browser will be called Comet, but we know nothing at all about its features or intended positioning within the browser market at this stage. Comet was announced in an X post with a flashy animation but no details. Perplexity followed up the

The Acura ZDX is an example of badge engineering for the software age

28by Jonathan M. Gitlin / 3d

Acura is gearing up to build its first entirely in-house battery-electric vehicles, but it has gotten a head start with the ZDX SUV. Built in collaboration with General Motors, the ZDX is a comfortable and competent luxury EV. More than that, it's a shining example of what badge engineering looks like in the digital age. Automakers have long collaborated with each other. Sometimes that means work

PSA: Amazon kills “download & transfer via USB” option for Kindles this week

92by Andrew Cunningham / 3d

Later this week, Amazon is closing a small loophole that allowed purchasers of Kindle books to download those files to a computer and transfer them via USB. Originally intended to extend e-book access to owners of very old Kindles without Wi-Fi connectivity, the feature has also made it easier for people to download and store copies of the e-books they've bought, reducing the risk that Amazon mig

Google plans to stop using insecure SMS verification in Gmail

Google ends SMS verification

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41by Ryan Whitwam / 3d

A username and password just won't cut it anymore. Users around the world logging into Gmail have often relied on Google SMS pings to securely access their accounts, but that's changing. Google now hopes to move beyond SMS, which has become so frequently abused that it negates any supposed security benefit. Instead of using SMS, the company will reportedly switch to using QR codes. Currently, Goo

Apple promises $500 billion in US investment in wake of tariff threats

45by Ashley Belanger / 3d

On Monday, Apple announced plans to invest more than $500 billion in the US over the next four years. This is the "largest-ever" spending commitment that Apple has made in the US, supporting "a wide range of initiatives" focused on artificial intelligence, chip manufacturing, advanced research and development, and worker training. About 20,000 jobs will be created over those four years, Apple sai

Asteroid 2024 YR4 is going to miss Earth, but the story doesn’t end there

NASA raises 2024 YR4 impact risk

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62by Eric Berger / 3d

It was only a few days ago that a certain fear-mongering website named, ahem , Ars Technica published an article about the prospect of a killer asteroid striking the planet Earth in the year 2032. At the time, the odds of a small asteroid first discovered late last year—and designated 2024 YR4—hitting us were non-negligible. There was an estimated 3.2 percent chance that the large rock would impa

Big Tech data center buildouts have led to $5.4 billion in public health costs

Big Tech data centers cost $5.4B

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45by Cristina Criddle and Stephanie Stacey, Financial Times / 3d

Big Tech’s growing use of data centers has created related public health costs valued at more than $5.4 billion over the past five years, in findings that highlight the growing impact of building artificial intelligence infrastructure. Air pollution derived from the huge amounts of energy needed to run data centers has been linked to treating cancers, asthma, and other related issues, according t

ISPs fear wave of state laws after New York’s $15 broadband mandate

60by Jon Brodkin / 3d

New York's law requiring Internet service providers to offer broadband for $15 or $20 a month has spurred legislative efforts in other states to guarantee affordable service for people with low incomes. So far, legislators in Vermont, Massachusetts, and California have proposed laws inspired by the New York requirement. Christopher Morrow, a newly elected Democratic state legislator in Vermont, i

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