Pipes Feed Preview: Science - Ars Technica & Tech

Here's how engineers plan to save the satellite sent to save NASA's Swift mission

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 18:20:11 -0000

"We believe that a capture of Swift, an attempted capture of Swift, is very much in the cards."

One week ago, more than 200 miles above the Earth, a refrigerator-size satellite making its way toward an attempted rescue of NASA's $500 million Swift gamma-ray observatory <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/reaction-wheel-failures-leave-swift-rescue-mission-spinning-in-orbit/">suddenly spun out of control</a>. It didn't look good. The spacecraft, named Link, was rotating on multiple axes, rendering it unable to maintain a reliable communications link with the ground and complicating efforts to arrest the spin. Two of the satellite's three reaction wheels, used for pointing, also stopped working. Through sporadic radio contact, engineers discovered a problem with some of the spacecraft's cold gas thrusters used for finer attitude control. The Link satellite is built, owned, and operated by Katalyst Space Technologies, a satellite servicing startup that won a $30 million contract from NASA to fly up to the Swift observatory, grab onto it, and boost its orbit before succumbing to aerodynamic drag and burning up int he atmosphere.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/heres-how-engineers-plan-to-save-the-satellite-sent-to-save-nasas-swift-mission/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/08/heres-how-engineers-plan-to-save-the-satellite-sent-to-save-nasas-swift-mission/#comments">Comments</a>

How fruit flies chase invisible ribbons of smell to get to their source

Sat, 01 Aug 2026 10:00:19 -0000

Tracking smells in turbulent air takes a keen sense of direction and sharp memory.

A fruit fly hunting a piece of rotting fruit or a mate navigates by smell, following plumes of odor. Out in the wild, turbulent air swirls these plumes into a chaotic, broken landscape—dense chemical filaments laced through long stretches of clean air. A fly trying to find the source gets the smell in stutters, from constantly shifting directions, with no guarantee that a next whiff is coming at all. Scientist had little idea of how fruit flies manage this chaotic signal with a brain the size of a pinhead. For a long time, biologists stood by the “surge and cast” model, which posited that insects solved this with hardwired reflexes. The idea was that, when a fly registers the plume with olfactory neurons in its antennae, it simply flies upwind until it’s gone and then flies side to side attempting to catch it again. But now a team led by Vanessa Ruta, a neuroscientist at the Rockefeller University, has shown that fruit flies do something far more advanced. <h2>A treadmill for flies</h2> The trouble with the traditional surge and cast model is that it struggles to explain how an insect tracks a meandering plume across long distances. Chemical cues floating in the air in the natural environment are often sparse and unreliable. But those same features make the mechanism behind olfactory navigation notoriously difficult to test. "Odors are invisible," Ruta says, "and often they're carried along by turbulent airflow." We’ve got no way of knowing what the animal is smelling from one moment to the next.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/08/how-fruit-flies-chase-invisible-ribbons-of-smell-to-get-to-their-source/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/08/how-fruit-flies-chase-invisible-ribbons-of-smell-to-get-to-their-source/#comments">Comments</a>

Not just Neanderthals: Ghost lineage in Africa left its mark on our DNA

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 22:17:05 -0000

Some group with no modern descendants contributed a lot to our genomes.

When the history of our ancestry is written, the fact that we've interbred with some of our closest relatives, the Neanderthals and Denisovans, will have a central role. And it will be tempting to write it as a very tidy story: Once we got genomes from these other groups, it was possible to identify the sequences in our genomes that we shared with them. But in reality, as scientists started poking large enough collections of data, there were regular hints of some strange ancestry in our genomes. It was hard to pin down, though, at least in part because the 2 percent on average of Neanderthal DNA found in many populations does not guarantee that any two individuals will have the same 2 percent. So having the genomes of those two groups made sense of some things researchers had already been seeing. But knowing what we do about Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA is now allowing researchers to answer a somewhat different question: Is there anything else? Using recently developed analytical techniques, they find evidence of a third lineage that we apparently interbred with before any modern humans left Africa. Again, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/01/ancient-african-skeletons-hint-at-a-ghost-lineage-of-humans/">there were hints of this earlier</a>, but so far, there's been no genome from a modern human relative to help us understand the details—the source of this DNA remains a "ghost lineage."<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/not-just-neanderthals-ghost-lineage-in-africa-left-its-mark-on-our-dna/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/not-just-neanderthals-ghost-lineage-in-africa-left-its-mark-on-our-dna/#comments">Comments</a>

Researchers devise a full-color night vision goggle

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 17:58:38 -0000

Wavelength and intensity in the infrared are translated into colors in the visible.

Human eyes don’t register the infrared portion of the light spectrum because infrared photons don't carry enough energy to trigger the signaling pathway inside our light-sensing cells. But we’ve been able to make devices that give us a visual representation of what’s happening in the infrared. A team at the Beijing Institute of Technology, led by Xin Tang and Ge Mu, has now built a device that lets people see infrared in a new way. Instead of just translating it to visible shades of green as it’s done in standard night-vision goggles, it translates different infrared wavelengths into distinct parts of the visual spectrum, giving the eye something closer to natural vision. Researchers achieved that by combining mercury telluride colloidal quantum dots, which absorb infrared light, and a dual-layer OLED, which converts that absorbed energy into visible color. Stacked together with the right internal wiring, they make incoming infrared radiation come out the other side as an ordinary-looking, full-color image.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/see-the-heat-an-infrared-imaging-system-that-outputs-in-color/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/see-the-heat-an-infrared-imaging-system-that-outputs-in-color/#comments">Comments</a>

China could supply EV manufacturing boom with recycled EVs

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 17:29:21 -0000

Look at chemistry of batteries and motors shows big opportunity for recycling.

While recycling is a mathematically obvious response to the finite, non-renewable nature of many resources, the economic math is often challenging. For many materials, it can be hard to compete with virgin materials on a cost basis. Fast-moving technologies like electric vehicles throw in an added complication: By the time a car is scrapped, the industry may have moved on to a different battery chemistry. That reduces the value of recycling the car’s battery back into the production chain. Still, a study led by Xin Xiong at Nanjing University finds that in China, recycling could become the dominant source of many key materials needed to manufacture EV components over the coming decades. <h2>Modeling manufacturing needs</h2> The researchers set out to model how the supply of recycled materials compares to manufacturing demand in China between 2010 and 2050. It covers materials relevant to batteries across hybrid, battery-electric, and even fuel-cell vehicles (lithium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, phosphorus, sodium, sulfur, and graphite), as well as several critical elements used in electric motors (copper, neodymium, dysprosium, samarium, and cerium).<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/china-could-supply-ev-manufacturing-boom-with-recycled-evs/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/china-could-supply-ev-manufacturing-boom-with-recycled-evs/#comments">Comments</a>

Space Force-backed mission does its best impression of Top Gun in orbit

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 17:35:57 -0000

"Dogfighting in space doesn’t quite have the drama of an aerial dogfight."

An ongoing military exercise happening hundreds of miles above Earth has—for the first time in an unclassified setting—demonstrated how future satellites might evade and pursue one another in a future conflict. That was the announcement Wednesday from True Anomaly, one of the companies involved in the exercise. True Anomaly's Jackal satellite, also known as Panther, played the cat-and-mouse game with another spacecraft named Puma, based on Rocket Lab's Pioneer satellite platform. "This is what we've really been building towards for the past four years," said Even Rogers, True Anomaly's co-founder and CEO.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/space-force-backed-mission-does-its-best-impression-of-top-gun-in-orbit/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/space-force-backed-mission-does-its-best-impression-of-top-gun-in-orbit/#comments">Comments</a>

Quantum computers outperform classical ones, with results you can trust

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 15:59:37 -0000

Three approaches to the issue of quantum results that can't be verified classically.

There are many algorithms for which it has been mathematically proven that a quantum computer can generate results that would take a classical computer an unreasonable amount of time to generate. Unfortunately, today's quantum computers either can't run those algorithms or can only run simplified versions that classical computers can also handle. This has left the field facing a challenging question: Can we demonstrate the promise of quantum computers on today's noisy, limited hardware? That's a more difficult question than it may first appear. If you generate a result that's out of reach of today's regular computers, it may not be possible to verify that you got the right result. And given that today's quantum computers are somewhat error-prone, getting the wrong result is a distinct possibility. Further, in the absence of a mathematical proof of the capabilities of quantum hardware, it's possible that a better classical algorithm could outperform the quantum hardware. These issues inspired IBM to launch a quantum advantage tracker. On Thursday, the company announced three new entries that it says clearly show a quantum advantage, each using a different approach to overcoming errors and validating quantum results. "Trusted computing when you can do classical simulations is irrelevant," IBM's Jay Gambetta told Ars. "Trusted computing when you can't do classical simulations is a big deal."<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/if-a-quantum-computer-outperforms-normal-ones-can-you-tell-if-its-right/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/if-a-quantum-computer-outperforms-normal-ones-can-you-tell-if-its-right/#comments">Comments</a>

Yet more qubit tech: New quantum dot options, diamond vacancies

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 17:37:47 -0000

Companies are making sure we have a surplus of options for building qubits.

If you follow quantum computing news for long enough, it can start to seem like any quantum system that can alternate between two well-separated energy states can be used as a qubit. Atoms, ions, photons, electrons, and manufactured devices all have their backers. One of the key things that attracts backers is the tech's ability to scale. We'll need a lot of high-quality qubits to start doing any complex computations, and the ability of any technology to get us there is the subject of debate. So even as some technologies can now support thousands of qubits, some competitors are still working on a small handful of qubits—the companies behind them are convinced that they have the potential to scale more effectively. One of those technologies involves quantum dots that hold a single electron. Their advantage is that we can manufacture them using the same tech we use to build traditional processors, an approach that has proven to be scalable. This week saw two new papers describing different ways of using quantum dots, one of which was appealing enough that IBM bought the company that developed it. Separately, another company has released a processor showing 100 individual electrons being held in diamond defects, technology that wasn't obvious could scale.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/quantum-computing-roundup-still-more-technologies-making-waves/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/quantum-computing-roundup-still-more-technologies-making-waves/#comments">Comments</a>

What happens when you put AI to work deciphering lost languages?

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 13:23:31 -0000

AI is fantastic at spotting patterns, but human insight is the key.

Every ancient language that has ever been deciphered needed an anchor. Usually that’s a bilingual text, like the Rosetta Stone, or a known relative to compare it to. Linear A, the writing system of the Bronze Age Minoan civilization on the Greek island of Crete, has neither. <a href="https://www.worldhistory.org/Linear_A_Script/">Linear A</a> is described as a “language isolate” because it has no confirmed link to any known language, living or dead. As such, it has posed a significant challenge for <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/linguistics-1841">linguists</a> over the past century. <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Etruscan-language">Etruscan</a>, a language of Italy that was used before the rise of the Roman Empire, has fared only slightly better. A partial vocabulary has been collected from short funerary inscriptions, but its grammar and deeper meaning still elude linguists.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/what-happens-when-you-put-ai-to-work-deciphering-lost-languages/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/what-happens-when-you-put-ai-to-work-deciphering-lost-languages/#comments">Comments</a>

Attitude control issues leave Swift rescue mission spinning in orbit

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 22:09:00 -0000

"Preliminary investigation shows that two of Link's three reaction wheels currently are not operable."

Nearly a month since its launch, a first-of-its-kind commercial satellite built to save NASA's Swift gamma-ray telescope from a fiery reentry is having problems of its own, the agency announced Tuesday. The Link satellite developed by Katalyst Space Technologies "experienced issues with attitude control" over the weekend, NASA said, causing the spacecraft to spin and resulting in sporadic communications. "Preliminary investigation shows that two of Link's three reaction wheels currently are not operable, and there is some loss of functionality in its cold gas thruster system," NASA said.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/reaction-wheel-failures-leave-swift-rescue-mission-spinning-in-orbit/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/reaction-wheel-failures-leave-swift-rescue-mission-spinning-in-orbit/#comments">Comments</a>

Study: Dinosaurs were charbroiled after Chicxulub impact

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 20:51:45 -0000

“We're in the realm where we might be essentially killing off everything within that first hour or two."

Some 66 million years ago, an asteroid impact wiped out three-quarters of all plant and animal species on Earth, most notably taking down the dinosaurs. But exactly how that impact caused those extinctions has been the subject of fierce debate. According to a <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2026JG009837">new paper</a> published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, the impact would have produced an immense cloud of dust that superheated the upper atmosphere, charbroiling living organisms unable to take shelter and igniting widespread wildfires. As <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2021/02/astronomers-a-comet-fragment-not-an-asteroid-killed-off-the-dinosaurs/">previously reported</a>, the <a href="http://doc.rero.ch/record/210367/files/PAL_E4389.pdf">most widely accepted explanation</a> for what triggered that catastrophic <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_extinction_event">mass extinction</a> is known as the “<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alvarez_hypothesis">Alvarez hypothesis</a>,” after the late physicist Luis Alvarez and his geologist son, Walter. In 1980, they proposed that the extinction event may have been caused by a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_impactor">massive asteroid or comet</a> hitting the Earth. They based this conclusion on their analysis of sedimentary layers at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Paleogene_boundary">Cretaceous-Paleogene boundary</a>(the K-Pg boundary, formerly known as the K-T boundary) found all over the world, which included unusually high concentrations of iridium—a metal more commonly found in asteroids than on Earth. (That same year, Dutch geophysicist Jan Smit independently arrived at a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/285198a0" rel="nofollow" data-ml-dynamic="true" data-ml-dynamic-type="sl" data-orig-url="https://www.nature.com/articles/285198a0" data-ml-id="1" data-ml="true" data-xid="fr1723730874929ahj" data-skimlinks-tracking="xid:fr1723730874929ahj">similar conclusion</a>.) Since then, scientists have identified a likely impact site: <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicxulub_crater">a large crater</a> in Chicxulub, Mexico, in the Yucatan Peninsula, first discovered by geophysicists in the late 1970s. The impactor that created it was sufficiently large (between 11 and 81 kilometers, or 7 to 50 miles) to melt, shock, and eject granite from deep inside the Earth, probably causing a megatsunami and ejecting vaporized rock and sulfates into the atmosphere. It has been estimated that the impact would have released energy over a billion times higher than the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/dust-cloud-from-dino-killing-asteroid-charbroiled-the-earth/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/dust-cloud-from-dino-killing-asteroid-charbroiled-the-earth/#comments">Comments</a>

SpaceX eyes tower catch for next Starship after auspicious end to 13th flight

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 17:47:22 -0000

SpaceX will likely attempt to catch Starship back at the launch pad on its next flight.

SpaceX was more than lucky Friday, sending its 13th full-scale Starship test flight halfway around the world from South Texas to an on-target, intact splashdown in a remote section of the Indian Ocean. Starship has made precise splashdowns before. This time, however, the ship gently tipped over and came to rest floating in a remote stretch of ocean west of Australia. Previous splashdowns ended with conflagrations, an outcome SpaceX officials have come to expect with each water landing of Starship. The buoyant Starship looked to be in fine shape after reaching the Indian Ocean. SpaceX engineers flew drones over the vehicle to inspect its heat shield, getting their best look yet at how more than 18,000 ceramic tiles insulating the ship's stainless steel airframe weathered the trip to space and back. The tiles withstood temperatures up to 2,600° Fahrenheit (1,430° Celsius) as Starship streaked back into the atmosphere at the end of its hourlong flight from Starbase, Texas.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/spacex-eyes-tower-catch-for-next-starship-after-auspicious-end-to-13th-flight/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/spacex-eyes-tower-catch-for-next-starship-after-auspicious-end-to-13th-flight/#comments">Comments</a>

With help from data, art museums are reframing the visitor experience

Sat, 25 Jul 2026 11:00:32 -0000

Museums are embracing data-driven curation and a shifting technology landscape.

Giovanni Kanter goes to at least one art museum whenever he visits a new city. That’s on top of his regular exploration of galleries in New York, where the 25-year-old ICU nurse lives and studies. He typically discovers new artists and gallery openings through word of mouth, though he has recently started curating his social media feed to serve relevant content (he’s currently in what he terms a “surrealism phase”). He was raised on visual art; he's the son of painter <a href="https://mgargour.com/previous-abstract">Marianne Gargour</a> and nephew of mixed-media artist <a href="https://www.heatherhutchison.com/">Heather Hutchison</a> and painter-printmaker <a href="https://www.instagram.com/mark.t.kanter/">Mark Thomas Kanter</a>. His “exposure-oriented education” featured childhood visits to galleries and shows in and around Dallas, where he grew up, and in France, where he spent time with his grandparents. But Kanter is an exception. Many other young people have a less immersive artistic education, perhaps shaped by occasional school trips or family visits to museums. If they haven’t internalized an instinct for what Kanter calls “moving through the art and absorbing it,” the museum experience is central to how they learn about and understand art.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/07/with-help-from-data-art-museums-are-reframing-the-visitor-experience/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/07/with-help-from-data-art-museums-are-reframing-the-visitor-experience/#comments">Comments</a>

Team uses AlphaFold AI to redesign gene-editing proteins to make them safer

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 17:31:26 -0000

Google's AlphaFold can help ID what parts of a gene editing protein enable mistakes.

A couple of decades after the discovery of systems that could selectively target DNA, we're starting to see the first therapies based on gene editing. One challenge these developments have faced is safety. While we can make them pretty specific to the gene we want edited, the human genome is very large, and even rare DNA sequences can appear a couple of times by chance. As a result, all the original gene-editing systems had known rates of what are called off-target effects, in which they simply edit the wrong sequence. This may be a low-probability event, but edit enough cells—and therapies generally have to edit many—and errors become inevitable. A lot of effort has gone into finding ways to minimize or eliminate off-target edits. In a recent issue of Nature, researchers described modifying the AI protein-folding software AlphaFold to help identify key areas of gene-editing proteins responsible for off-target effects. Those areas were then modified to reduce the problems.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/team-uses-alphafold-ai-to-redesign-gene-editing-proteins-to-make-them-safer/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/team-uses-alphafold-ai-to-redesign-gene-editing-proteins-to-make-them-safer/#comments">Comments</a>

This is the world's most advanced robotic servicing satellite—that we know about

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 15:23:06 -0000

"These are things that tend to be really hard."

A spacecraft fitted with two flexible robotic arms is on the way to geosynchronous orbit after launching earlier this week on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket, kicking off a planned decade-long mission to open new frontiers in satellite servicing. The Mission Robotic Vehicle, owned and built by Northrop Grumman, rocketed into orbit from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida on Tuesday. Three small propulsion pods, each functioning as standalone spacecraft, accompanied the MRV aboard the Falcon 9 rocket. The Falcon 9 deployed all four payloads within about an hour of liftoff. It will take about a year for the satellites to maneuver from their initial elliptical drop-off orbit into a circular orbit more than 22,000 miles (nearly 36,000 kilometers) over the equator. At this altitude, the MRV and the three Mission Extension Pods (MEPs) will travel in lockstep with Earth's rotation, operating in the same kind of orbit as numerous civilian and military communications satellites, missile warning platforms, and a growing number of spy satellites.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/this-is-the-worlds-most-advanced-robotic-servicing-satellite-that-we-know-about/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/this-is-the-worlds-most-advanced-robotic-servicing-satellite-that-we-know-about/#comments">Comments</a>

Rocket Report: Lightning strikes in China; Starship launch on deck

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 14:34:25 -0000

Relativity Space announced plans to build a second rocket factory near Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Welcome to Edition 9.04 of the Rocket Report! We've had to wait an extra week for SpaceX to get its 13th Starship test flight off the ground. A last-second abort on July 16 led engineers to roll the booster back to its hangar in South Texas to swap out engines. Starship is now back on the launch pad. Liftoff is set for Friday evening. A flawless launch and reentry will put SpaceX on the cusp of an orbital flight later this year. Ars will have a comprehensive recap story after the completion of the test flight. As always, we <a href="https://arstechnica.wufoo.com/forms/launch-stories/">welcome reader submissions</a>. If you don't want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets, as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar. <figure class="ars-img-shortcode id-1314289 align-center"> <div> <img decoding="async" width="560" height="81" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/smalll.png" class="center full" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/smalll.png 560w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/smalll-300x43.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px"> </div> </figure> India's first private rocket reaches orbit. Indian space officials celebrated the debut flight of Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 rocket, India’s first fully commercial satellite launcher, as a “grand success” Saturday after an on-target climb into a 280-mile-high orbit following liftoff from an island spaceport in the Bay of Bengal, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/indias-first-privately-developed-rocket-reaches-orbit-on-dramatic-debut-launch/">Ars reports</a>. The Vikram-1 lifted off from India’s primary spaceport on Sriharikota Island around midday local time. The launch was delayed more than a half-hour to resolve a last-minute technical problem. The countdown resumed, culminating in the command to ignite Vikram-1’s solid-fueled first stage booster to propel the rocket off the launch pad.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/rocket-report-lightning-strikes-in-china-starship-launch-on-deck/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/rocket-report-lightning-strikes-in-china-starship-launch-on-deck/#comments">Comments</a>

White House report says Trump can usher in a "new golden age" of science

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:23:21 -0000

The resulting report is a near-random mixture of grievances and real problems.

On Tuesday, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) released a report entitled "Science: A New Golden Age," in which it lays out how it has viewed science, found it lacking, and believes the Trump administration is in the perfect position to fix things. It's a bit unexpected coming from an administration that has been <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/trumps-next-budget-once-again-calls-for-massive-cuts-to-science/">proposing crippling funding cuts</a> to research and trying to enable political appointees to <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/05/the-office-of-management-and-budget-tries-again-to-cripple-us-science/">terminate grants</a> awarded based on scientific merit. The report presents itself as the spiritual successor of "<a href="https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691186627/science-the-endless-frontier?srsltid=AfmBOooO3l2V_GLgqPBDqEc1Mw8FrTdoVZlV3PX4ShcAMXnJZ4A20XQD">Science, the Endless Frontier</a>," a policy document that laid out the case for government-funded science in the wake of World War II. The <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Science-A-New-Golden-Age.pdf">New Golden Age</a> (SNGA) says that, while the concepts promoted by the original remain vital, the circumstances have changed such that we need major revisions to how the government is implementing things. The result is an odd mix. It completely ignores or glosses over many things that the administration is doing to harm scientific progress. In some cases, it identifies issues that have already been discussed as problems within the scientific community, but misrepresents them. Elsewhere, it's a mixture of political grievances, ideas without a solid intellectual foundation, and an injection of Silicon Valley's perspective on innovation (Michael Kratsios, the director of the OSTP, formerly worked with Peter Thiel). As a result, it's unlikely to have anything like the impact of "Science, the Endless Frontier."<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/white-house-report-says-trump-can-usher-in-a-new-golden-age-of-science/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/white-house-report-says-trump-can-usher-in-a-new-golden-age-of-science/#comments">Comments</a>

Watch orcas ram a sunfish so hard it explodes

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 04:00:38 -0000

“We think this may help younger orcas feed more easily, or it could also just be for fun.”

<figure class="video ars-wp-video ars-wp-video--vertical"> <div class="mx-auto" style="max-width: 276.92307692308px;"> <div class="wrapper ars-wp-video-wrapper relative" style="aspect-ratio: 0.46153846153846; max-height: 600px;"> <video class="wp-video-shortcode absolute w-full h-full object-contain left-0 top-0" id="video-2163448-1" width="384" height="832" preload="metadata" controls="controls"><source type="video/mp4" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/orcas-video.mp4?_=1"></source>Credit: Kathryn Ayres</video> </div> <figcaption> <div class="caption font-impact dusk:text-gray-300 mb-4 mt-2 inline-flex flex-row items-stretch gap-1 text-base leading-tight text-gray-400 dark:text-gray-300"> <div class="caption-icon bg-[left_top_5px] w-[10px] shrink-0"></div> <div class="caption-content"> Credit: Kathryn Ayres </div> </div> </figcaption> </div> </figure> There have been numerous accounts in recent years of orcas <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20230626-why-are-orcas-suddenly-ramming-boats">ramming boats</a>—and sometimes sinking them. Scientists believe this may be a form of culturally learned behavior passed down through generations. Now we have fresh examples: orcas in the Gulf of California were filmed teaming up to ram sunfish with so much force that the carcasses exploded into small fragments. While orcas have been known to use force to remove flesh from prey, this is something different, according to a <a href="https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/ethology/articles/10.3389/fetho.2026.1835536/full">new paper</a> published in the journal Frontiers in Ethology. “We think this may help younger orcas feed more easily, or it could also just be for fun," <a href="https://frontiersin.org/news/2026/07/23/orcas-ramming-worlds-heaviest-fish-explodes">said co-author Kathryn Ayres</a> of Beneath The Waves, a nonprofit organization promoting ocean health. "Orcas are known for playing with their food.” Orcas engage in cooperative hunting strategies that can involve striking or killing animals—sometimes eating their prey, sometimes not—so the behavior could be described as social interaction, play, or practice as a mode of social learning. Orcas have been observed ramming whale sharks as another orca held the prey steady. Other cooperative strategies include herding mobile rays, blocking an escape path while hunting white sharks, and deliberately producing waves to bump penguins off ice floes.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/orcas-team-up-to-ram-sunfish-until-they-explode/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/orcas-team-up-to-ram-sunfish-until-they-explode/#comments">Comments</a>

What happens when you try to chop a photon in half?

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 14:17:08 -0000

A mirror that moves mid-photon could release a shower of new photons.

A photon is a single particle of light, and under normal circumstances, it can't be divided. But a photon is also not a particle, in the sense that it does not have a specific location. Instead, it is an extended object. So if a photon is only partway through the process of reflecting from a perfect mirror and you yank the mirror away, what happens? The answer, from a trio of Norwegian physicists, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1103/94pm-hp34">turns out</a> (<a href="https://arxiv.org/abs/2510.21636">arxiv.org link</a>) to be more complex than I expected. <h2>A photon divided?</h2> Let’s first talk briefly about dividing and combining photons. If this were a common experience in our lives, then shining a single color of light through a piece of glass or reflecting it from a surface might cause photons to divide or combine. This would lead to an amazing array of colors: Our universe would be the most fantastic and legal LSD trip you could imagine. But this doesn't generally happen, hence LSD.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/what-happens-when-you-try-to-chop-a-photon-in-half/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/what-happens-when-you-try-to-chop-a-photon-in-half/#comments">Comments</a>

Let Tom Hiddleston be your guide to Pompeii's final day

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 18:17:55 -0000

NatGeo's Pompeii: Out of Time fuses historical fact and imagination to bring city's last 24 hours to life.

When Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE, it spewed molten rock, pumice, and hot ash over the cities of Pompeii and <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herculaneum">Herculaneum</a>, killing thousands of people. It's one of the most famous natural disasters in human history, so naturally there have been countless documentaries about Pompeii (and at least one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAPpduiOdvU">popular song</a>). But only one <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dWKOaZY6yjY">features actor Tom Hiddleston</a> taking on the role of a "time detective" to bring the people of Pompeii to vivid life. That would be National Geographic's new three-part docuseries, Pompeii: Out of Time. The Marvel connection made Out of Time happen. Executive producer Kevin Wright was also a producer on the Disney+ series Loki, which included a scene where Hiddleston's Loki travels through time to visit Pompeii. Hiddleston also studied classics at Cambridge University and had visited the Pompeii archaeological site as a teenager, which the Marvel star attributes to indirectly influencing his career path into acting. "There is just a passion to the way Tom tells stories that's infectious," Wright told Ars. "We knew that if we could capture that and put it into [the series], it might interest people who wouldn't normally want to watch a documentary about Pompeii. "<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/tom-hiddleston-tracks-possible-pompeii-survivors-in-new-docuseries/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/07/tom-hiddleston-tracks-possible-pompeii-survivors-in-new-docuseries/#comments">Comments</a>

Google plans to exempt sanctioned nations from Android developer verification

Fri, 31 Jul 2026 21:35:56 -0000

Someone in Cuba or Iran can keep installing APKs with no new restrictions, but devs will suffer.

We are a month away from the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/06/google-shares-updated-timeline-for-rolling-out-android-developer-verification/">initial rollout</a> of Google's Android developer verification system, and the company contends this policy does not impinge on the platform's open nature. Still, the restrictions will be a big change, and there are still some unanswered questions. An issue that has <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/with-developer-verification-googles-apple-envy-threatens-to-dismantle-androids-open-legacy/">come up repeatedly</a> in the run-up to verification is what will happen to devs who can't verify because of where they live. It turns out that Google has a cryptic answer for that buried in an FAQ. Developer verification will soon <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/08/google-will-block-sideloading-of-unverified-android-apps-starting-next-year/">block the installation of apps</a> from unverified developers on any Android device running Google services, which is functionally all Android phones outside Russia and China. Developers who want to keep releasing software, even if it's not in the Play Store, have to provide Google with their ID and pay a small fee. But what if you're an Android developer living in a sanctioned nation? Currently, the US sanction list includes Iran, Cuba, North Korea, and occupied areas of Ukraine. Given the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/europe-slaps-google-with-2-95b-euro-fine-over-advertising-monopoly/">current uncertain state</a> of US foreign policy, that list could change in the future. Google doing any business with developers in those places is a thorny issue, and it seems like the company has decided to just leave them hanging.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/google-plans-to-exempt-sanctioned-nations-from-android-developer-verification/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/google-plans-to-exempt-sanctioned-nations-from-android-developer-verification/#comments">Comments</a>

Tim Cook passes the baton in Apple's Q3 2026 earnings call

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 22:05:35 -0000

The iPhone and Mac sold well, but memory costs threaten further price increases.

Apple saw an excellent and better-than-anticipated <a href="https://www.apple.com/newsroom/2026/07/apple-reports-third-quarter-results/">Q3 2026</a> in terms of iPhone sales, but its revenue for services—like Apple TV, Apple Music, AppleCare, or iCloud—slipped downward, disappointing experts who were hoping for more. Further, fears about memory prices and supply constraints slightly soured reception to what could have otherwise been a slightly positive but business-as-usual quarter. That's the key takeaway from the company's Q3 2026 earnings call today.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/tim-cooks-last-earnings-call-strong-iphone-sales-but-memory-costs-loom-large/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/tim-cooks-last-earnings-call-strong-iphone-sales-but-memory-costs-loom-large/#comments">Comments</a>

Iran struck Amazon data centers again amid widening war, satellites show

Thu, 30 Jul 2026 20:45:39 -0000

Satellites show burn scars and fires at AWS data centers and Saudi oil refinery.

Satellite images have revealed new damage to Amazon data centers in the Middle East along with at least one crucial Saudi oil facility, following missile and drone attacks by Iran and its Houthi allies. The images from Europe’s Copernicus Sentinel-2 satellites provide evidence of a widening war as the United States and several Gulf states exchange military strikes with Iran, the Houthi faction in Yemen, and Iran-backed militias in Iraq. Such satellite images also offer independent verification of claimed war damage, despite the US government having pressured US commercial firms and even Europe to restrict satellite imagery of the region. Three Amazon data centers in the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain were already previously damaged by Iranian drone strikes on March 1. Those earlier attacks <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/05/amazon-stuck-with-months-of-repairs-after-drone-strikes-on-data-centers/">stuck Amazon with months of expected repairs</a> and forced Amazon Web Services customers in the Middle East to migrate workloads to other cloud regions.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/satellites-spot-new-war-damage-to-amazon-data-centers-and-saudi-oil-site/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/satellites-spot-new-war-damage-to-amazon-data-centers-and-saudi-oil-site/#comments">Comments</a>

Google's "privacy-preserving" age verification system is coming to the Play Store

Wed, 29 Jul 2026 18:08:22 -0000

Google's new API relies on parents to set age ranges in Family Link.

Governments around the world are suddenly very keen on online age verification requirements. In some places, this takes the form of ID requirements to access adult content, but several US states have also focused on app stores. With these laws now going into effect, Google has <a href="https://android-developers.googleblog.com/2026/07/google-play-age-signals-api-safer-experiences.html">announced</a> an expansion of its beta Play Age Signals API, which it claims will allow developers to confirm user ages without impinging on privacy. Google's system doesn't require an ID or selfie verification—it's connected to the company's existing Family Link app. The idea is that parents will set age ranges for their kids' managed accounts. For example, you might set a range like 16–17, allowing apps to tailor experiences and content for teenagers. Google notes that the ranges are dynamic and may change as young users get older. So a kid who's 13 may be in the same app content bracket for a few years before hitting the next level. Parents have the option to set and share these ranges if they want that additional level of control over what their children can access in Google Play. However, it's not mandatory for child accounts—it's fully opt-in and can be turned off at any time.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/google-begins-global-rollout-of-age-verification-api-in-google-play/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/google-begins-global-rollout-of-age-verification-api-in-google-play/#comments">Comments</a>

New airliner sets record flying 24 hrs nonstop from Australia to France

Tue, 28 Jul 2026 18:43:36 -0000

Test flight shows viability of Qantas Airways’ Project Sunrise routes in 2027.

A new Airbus passenger jet completed an ultra-long test flight between Australia and France lasting more than 24 hours—paving the way for the world’s longest nonstop commercial flights starting up next year. The Airbus A350-1000ULR was developed specifically for Qantas Airways’ planned nonstop flights between Sydney and either New York or London. The Australian airline has ordered a dozen of the new airliners for its <a href="https://www.qantas.com/en-us/onboard/fleet/a350">Project Sunrise</a> routes that aim to start offering tickets for sale in 2027. The aircraft had been doing <a href="https://www.airbus.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-06-worlds-longest-range-aircraft-the-airbus-a350-1000ulr-takes-to-the-skies">initial test flights</a> near the Airbus facilities in Toulouse, France, with a small team of test pilots and test engineers before conducting its first ultra long-haul test flight last week. After taking off from Toulouse on July 23, it flew for 19 hours and 13 minutes before landing in Melbourne, Australia, on July 24.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/new-airliner-sets-record-flying-24-hrs-nonstop-from-australia-to-france/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/new-airliner-sets-record-flying-24-hrs-nonstop-from-australia-to-france/#comments">Comments</a>

iOS and macOS 26.6 arrive today, paving the way for iOS and macOS 27

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 20:32:45 -0000

These are likely the last updates of note before Apple's bigger fall updates.

Apple has released iOS, iPadOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS 26.6. Apart from potential security hotfixes, these are likely the last updates before the arrival of iOS 27, macOS 27, and so on. All of today's releases include minor bug fixes, and there are numerous security updates: <a href="https://support.apple.com/en-gb/128067">more than 150 for macOS 26.6</a>. Apple also rolled out macOS 14.8.8 and macOS 15.7.8 for older devices, also focused on security fixes. In terms of new features, you won't find many in these releases, as they mainly pave the way for the next major OS update, likely to hit sometime in September. Most notably, the release notes for iOS and iPadOS 26.6 say the update "optimizes the Spotlight index to prepare for iOS 27." This update will kick off some indexing work that will then be leveraged in an ostensibly much more robust Spotlight search feature when iOS 27 launches next month.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/ios-and-macos-26-6-arrive-today-paving-the-way-for-ios-and-macos-27/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/ios-and-macos-26-6-arrive-today-paving-the-way-for-ios-and-macos-27/#comments">Comments</a>

Activist charged with felony after giving border agent "duress code" that wiped his phone

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:58:34 -0000

The government says destroying his own data during an airport interrogation was illegal.

In early 2025, Atlanta resident Samuel Tunick was on his way home following a trip abroad. After landing in the US, customs agents demanded access to his Pixel phone, which was running an alternative version of Android called GrapheneOS. Rather than hand over his data, Tunick used a clever feature of the software to delete everything. Now, he's facing federal charges. The first hearing in this case happened last week, according to <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jul/23/cop-city-protester-phone">The Guardian</a>, during which government attorneys and agents claimed that Tunick was subjected to a standard secondary interrogation at an international airport. During that encounter, agents were "looking for anything that’s prohibited." However, Tunick's legal team alleges he was targeted for his activism. Tunick was involved with a group called Defend the Atlanta Forest, which opposed the construction of an enormous law enforcement training facility in the area often known as Cop City. What Tunick didn't know, according to his lawyers, was that he'd been placed on a watch list for his actions and that Customs and Border Protection had discussed over email plans to detain him upon his arrival back in the US for "suspected terrorism activities."<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/activist-charged-with-felony-after-giving-border-agent-duress-code-that-wiped-his-phone/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/activist-charged-with-felony-after-giving-border-agent-duress-code-that-wiped-his-phone/#comments">Comments</a>

Framework Laptop 13 Pro review: Much better battery, much worse price

Mon, 27 Jul 2026 15:02:45 -0000

Framework's latest modular laptop trades one set of problems for another.

I've liked the Framework Laptop 13 since <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/07/review-frameworks-next-gen-laptop-follows-through-on-its-upgradeable-promises/">the first time I used it</a>, partly because I just think the idea of a repairable and upgradeable laptop is cool and partly because it's not Yet Another Ultraportable Trying To Be A MacBook Air Clone. But the design has always had real shortcomings—the most noticeable and serious being its mediocre battery life. Enter the <a href="https://frame.work/laptop13pro">Framework Laptop 13 Pro</a>. While all previous Laptop 13 refreshes have tinkered around the edges with the original design (a tweaked lid design here, new hinges or new speakers there), the Laptop 13 Pro is as close as we've gotten to <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/framework-laptop-13-pro-is-the-first-major-revision-to-the-original-framework-laptop/">a second-generation revision</a> for the original design. This means that it breaks backward compatibility for some (but not all) Laptop 13 components, most notably the bottom case, the keyboard and trackpad, and the original 55 WHr and 61 WHr battery designs. But by allowing itself to make larger changes to the design, Framework has made major strides in battery life and general fit and finish.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/framework-laptop-13-pro-review-much-better-battery-much-worse-price/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/framework-laptop-13-pro-review-much-better-battery-much-worse-price/#comments">Comments</a>

Roku raises streaming stick prices by up to 60 percent

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 19:41:06 -0000

Roku blames RAM shortage after CEO called it "great" for business in May.

Roku is raising the prices for its streaming sticks and boxes by up to 60 percent. Roku has updated its website with the new prices. Currently, it is still selling its streaming players at their old MSRPs but lists those prices as sale prices. The new prices are: <ul> <li>Roku Streaming Stick: $40 (formerly $30)</li> <li>Roku Streaming Stick Plus: $60 (formerly $40)</li> <li>Roku Streaming Stick 4K: $80 (formerly $50)</li> <li>Roku Ultra: $150 (formerly $100)</li> <li>Roku Streambar SE: $150 (formerly $100)</li> </ul> Roku is even upping the price for a bundle that includes a Streaming Stick Plus and a one-month subscription to Fox One. As recently as July 20, Roku listed the bundle at $60 with a sale price of $25, according to the Internet Archive’s <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20260720215812/https:/www.roku.com/products/players">Wayback Machine</a>. Now, the bundle carries an $80 MSRP and $45 sale price.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/roku-raises-streaming-stick-prices-by-up-to-60-percent/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/roku-raises-streaming-stick-prices-by-up-to-60-percent/#comments">Comments</a>

Robot snakes searched for Venezuela earthquake survivors in collapsed buildings

Fri, 24 Jul 2026 11:20:43 -0000

US robotics researchers flew to Venezuela with snakebots after getting a call.

Robots slithered like snakes into the rubble of collapsed buildings to search for trapped survivors in the aftermath of Venezuela’s double earthquake disaster. The so-called snake robots represented a unique technological aid for international search and rescue efforts following two earthquakes that struck Venezuela on June 24, <a href="https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20260723-world-bank-estimates-venezuela-quakes-caused-19-6-bn-in-damage">killing more than 5,000 people</a> and leaving behind 16,740 injured. <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn75jk07y5do">Rescuers from around the world</a> used trained dogs, seismic and acoustic listening devices, video cameras on sticks, or thermal imaging cameras to search for signs of survivors—but the snakebots equipped with a video camera could squeeze through tight spaces to search deep within fallen building debris. “The reason why snake robots are useful is they can get into tightly packed volumes that machinery and people otherwise cannot, and that's important in search and rescue because we were able to extend the visual reach of the rescue workers in a safe way,” <a href="https://www.ri.cmu.edu/ri-faculty/howie-choset/">Howie Choset</a>, head of the Biorobotics Lab at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, told Ars. “In a sense, you're doing minimally invasive surgery on a structure with a snake robot.”<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/robot-snakes-searched-for-venezuela-earthquake-survivors-in-collapsed-buildings/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/robot-snakes-searched-for-venezuela-earthquake-survivors-in-collapsed-buildings/#comments">Comments</a>

Microsoft responds to LG monitors installing McAfee ads on Windows

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 20:47:33 -0000

App is installed through Windows Update when certain LG monitors connect to a PC.

LG is reportedly pulling a McAfee pop-up ad from a controversial app that some of its monitors have stealthily installed on connected computers. <img width="640" height="293" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/LG-McAfee-pop-up-e1784837368961-640x293.jpg" class="right medium" alt="An example of the pop-up ad is seen in a still from Gamers Nexus' video." decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/LG-McAfee-pop-up-e1784837368961-640x293.jpg 640w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/LG-McAfee-pop-up-e1784837368961-1024x468.jpg 1024w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/LG-McAfee-pop-up-e1784837368961-768x351.jpg 768w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/LG-McAfee-pop-up-e1784837368961-1536x702.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/LG-McAfee-pop-up-e1784837368961-2048x936.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/LG-McAfee-pop-up-e1784837368961-980x448.jpg 980w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/LG-McAfee-pop-up-e1784837368961-1440x658.jpg 1440w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px"> An example of the pop-up ad is seen in a still from Gamers Nexus' video. Credit: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9uefFYe6bM" target="_blank">Gamers Nexus/Windows/YouTube</a> The app, LG Monitor App Installer, installs itself through a Windows Update alongside monitor driver updates. LG Monitor App Installer then pushes ads for a 30-day free trial for McAfee, as well as other software, via a pop-up on affected systems, multiple users have reported. This has <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1up1nwi/comment/ovwsw69/">drawn negative attention</a> recently, with <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1uk7v0v/windows_update_silently_installed_lg_bloatware/">complaints</a> surfacing on <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/LGOLED/comments/1ujqf3w/popup_question/">Reddit</a> and a subsequent video from YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9uefFYe6bM">Gamers Nexus</a>. In the video, editor-in-chief Steve Burke said that the publication paid $1,200 for an LG UltraGear 3GX900A-B gaming monitor (the monitor’s price dropped to $600 two days later, Burke said) for testing and replicated the behavior “several times” across “multiple” Windows 11 systems.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/microsoft-responds-to-lg-monitors-installing-mcafee-ads-on-windows/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/microsoft-responds-to-lg-monitors-installing-mcafee-ads-on-windows/#comments">Comments</a>

Forgot your Google password? Now you can log in with a selfie.

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 19:14:25 -0000

Google's selfie videos can be used for account access, AI Avatars, and age verification.

Getting locked out of an account is no fun. Google has a few ways to help you regain access if you happen to forget your password or lose an authenticator, including recovery contacts and backup codes. Now, Google has a completely new option: <a href="https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/technology/safety-security/selfie-video-sign-in/">your face</a>. You can now give Google a video record of your face and sign into your account with a selfie, which sounds like something people are going to just love. You will have to set this feature up ahead of time if you want the option of regaining account access with a selfie later on. To get started, verify your account type is supported. You won't be able to configure selfie sign-ins for Workspace accounts, child accounts, or any account enrolled in Google's Advanced Protection Program. Configuring selfie sign-in requires you to record a video, which Google will store on its servers. Google's selfie sign-in <a href="https://myaccount.google.com/video-verification/signin/precollection?utm_source=kw&utm_medium=blog&utm_campaign=selfielaunch">landing page</a> includes the typical disclaimers about privacy and data access, promising that the company will keep the video encrypted and won't use it for any other purposes unless you opt in.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/google-now-lets-you-log-into-your-account-with-a-selfie/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/google-now-lets-you-log-into-your-account-with-a-selfie/#comments">Comments</a>

I wanted a clock that never needed setting. Things escalated.

Thu, 23 Jul 2026 11:00:50 -0000

Sure, maybe your clock has a backup battery, but mine has a deployment pipeline!

I wanted a clock that, annoyingly, didn't seem to exist. Since childhood, my bedside clocks have been a series of red, seven-segment LED clock-radio specials from Walmart or Target. They are invariably cheap, simple, and long-lived—but they require manual intervention at the start and end of Daylight Saving Time and whenever the power flickers. After a recent power flicker, as I found myself standing by the sideboard holding down "TIME" and mashing the "HOUR" button, frustration boiled over, and I thought to myself, "We're a quarter of the way through the 21st century. There has to be a better way!" My perfect clock would be self-setting. It would offer auto-DST adjustment (or not, depending on how <a href="https://www.timeanddate.com/news/time/us-permanent-dst-2026.html">this bill fares</a>!). It would manage drift and always show the exact sub-second time. It would show that time on a red seven-segment display—not blue, not green, not yellow, and absolutely not white. And I shouldn't have to install any privacy-destroying garbage apps to make it work.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/i-wanted-a-clock-that-never-needed-setting-things-escalated/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/i-wanted-a-clock-that-never-needed-setting-things-escalated/#comments">Comments</a>

Samsung unveils new Galaxy Z8 foldables and Galaxy Watches, available August 7

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 13:58:24 -0000

Samsung's new foldables are slimmer, faster, and more expensive.

The rumors haven't left much to the imagination, but Samsung has unfurled its 2026 foldable lineup today. There are three models for the first time in Samsung's eight-gen foldable family, including the top-of-the-line Z Fold 8 Ultra. That phone is the successor to last year's <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/07/samsung-galaxy-z-fold-7-review-the-foldable-we-deserve-but-not-the-one-we-can-afford/">Galaxy Z Fold 7</a>, but the Z Fold 8 is new—the company's first wide-body foldable designed for media over multitasking. And then there's a new, thinner flip phone, plus a pair of smartwatches. You can preorder Samsung's new hardware today, but the component shortage has made these already spendy product lines more expensive this year. Even the Z Flip 8 is now well over a grand, and the Ultra costs almost twice as much. <div class="table-wrapper"><table class="specifications right" width="400"> <thead> <tr> <th style="text-align: left;" colspan="4">Specs at a glance: Galaxy Z8 series</th> </tr> </thead> <tbody> <tr> <td></td> <td>Galaxy Z Flip 8 ($1,200)</td> <td>Galaxy Z Fold 8 ($1,900)</td> <td>Galaxy Z Fold 8 Ultra ($2,100)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>SoC</td> <td>Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy</td> <td>Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy</td> <td>Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Memory</td> <td>12GB</td> <td>12GB, 16GB</td> <td>12GB, 16GB</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Storage</td> <td>256GB, 512GB</td> <td>256GB, 512GB, 1TB</td> <td>256GB, 512GB, 1TB</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Display</td> <td>Main: 6.9" Dynamic AMOLED 2X (1080 x 2520) 400ppi, 120Hz; Cover: 4.1" AMOLED (948 x 1048) 342 ppi, 60/120Hz</td> <td>Main: 7.6" Dynamic AMOLED 2X (1848 x 2448) 403ppi, 120Hz; Cover: 5.5" Dynamic AMOLED 2X (1248 x 1972) 428ppi, 120Hz</td> <td>Main: 8.0" QXGA+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X (2504 x 2256) 422ppi, 120Hz; Cover: 6.5" FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X (1080 x 2520) 422ppi, 120Hz</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Cameras</td> <td>Rear: 50MP Wide (F1.8, OIS), 12MP Ultra Wide (F2.2); Selfie: 10MP (F2.2)</td> <td>Rear: 50MP Wide (F1.8, OIS), 50MP Ultra Wide (F1.9); Main/Cover Selfie: 10MP (F2.2)</td> <td>Rear: 200MP Wide (F1.7, OIS), 50MP Ultra Wide (F1.9), 10MP Tele (3x Optical, F2.4, OIS); Main/Cover Selfie: 10MP (F2.2)</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Software</td> <td>Android 17 / One UI 9</td> <td>Android 17 / One UI 9</td> <td>Android 17 / One UI 9</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Battery</td> <td>4,300 mAh, up to 55% charge in ~30 min with 25W Adapter, 15W Wireless Charging</td> <td>4,800 mAh, up to 67% charge in ~30 min with 45W Adapter, 20W Wireless Charging</td> <td>5,000 mAh, up to 63% charge in ~30 min with 45W Adapter, 20W Wireless Charging</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Connectivity</td> <td>5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v5.4, SIM+eSIM</td> <td>5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v6.0, SIM+eSIM</td> <td>5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth v6.0, SIM+eSIM</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Measurements</td> <td>Unfolded: 166.9 × 75.4 × 6.1 mm Folded: 85.7 × 75.4 × 13.1 mm, 180g</td> <td>Unfolded: 123.9 × 161.4 × 4.5 mm Folded: 123.9 × 81.9 × 9.7 mm, 201g</td> <td>Unfolded: 158.4 × 143.2 × 4.1 mm Folded: 158.4 × 72.8 × 8.9 mm, 215g</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Colors</td> <td>Pink, Graphite, Cream, Mint (online)</td> <td>Lavender, Graphite, Cream, Pistachio (online)</td> <td>Violet Shadow, Graphite, Cream, Green Shadow (online)</td> </tr> </tbody> </table></div> The Z Fold 8 Ultra has the same basic form factor as the last few Samsung tablet-style foldables. A 6.5-inch OLED on the outside is about the same ratio as a standard smartphone screen. Open it up, and you get an 8-inch display that's roughly twice as wide. That makes the main display close to square.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/samsung-unveils-new-galaxy-z8-foldables-and-galaxy-watches-available-august-7/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/samsung-unveils-new-galaxy-z8-foldables-and-galaxy-watches-available-august-7/#comments">Comments</a>

Ukrainian drones deliver robots directly into battle by sea and air

Wed, 22 Jul 2026 11:15:03 -0000

Ukraine's battlefield surge of robots now features airdrops and beach assaults.

In the latest twist on battlefield innovations, Ukraine has used both flying drone carriers and drone boats to send ground robots armed with weapons or explosives into battle. The drone-assisted deployments have enabled slower wheeled robots to bypass tough terrain and Russian defenses, and to carry out an unusual robotic amphibious assault on a contested position. Such tactics also showcase the Ukrainian military’s ongoing experimentation with using drones and robots to offset a Russian military advantage in manpower while also sparing Ukrainian soldiers from making dangerous assaults. On July 19, a Russian military Telegram channel posted a video showing a Ukrainian hexacopter drone carrying a ground robot suspended below by a cable, according to the <a href="https://united24media.com/war-in-ukraine/ukraines-new-drone-tactic-doesnt-drop-bombs-it-drops-robots-20894">Ukrainian government-run news platform United24</a>. The Russian Telegram channel described the Ukrainian heavy bomber drone as deploying a four-wheeled ARK-1 robot armed with explosive anti-tank mines on the ground where it continued toward Russian military positions—and apparently generated plenty of outraged comments from pro-Kremlin social media users.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/ukrainian-drones-deliver-robots-directly-into-battle-by-sea-and-air/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/ukrainian-drones-deliver-robots-directly-into-battle-by-sea-and-air/#comments">Comments</a>

TreeSize won't renew perpetual-license support unless users subscribe

Tue, 21 Jul 2026 15:18:23 -0000

"Current economic conditions" have shifted TreeSize's business model.

The company behind the disk space analyzer TreeSize has irked some users by no longer offering support or updates for perpetual licenses beyond their maintenance period unless customers subscribe. Further frustration has come from JAM Software's long-standing policy of not providing license keys or installers to TreeSize perpetual license holders after that support period ends. Since 2025, JAM Software has been transitioning <a href="https://customers.jam-software.de/prices.php?article_group_id=1" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most TreeSize editions</a> to subscription models. Today, it sells perpetual licenses only for personal use, which include 12 months of updates, support, and “downloads of older versions, and your license,” plus the option to extend the support period. TreeSize currently has "no plans to discontinue the sale of perpetual licenses for TreeSize Personal," product manager Hendrik Christ told Ars Technica. As perpetual-license maintenance periods expire, customers are discovering that extending support now generally requires subscribing to software they already own the right to use.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/treesize-wont-renew-perpetual-license-support-unless-users-subscribe/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/treesize-wont-renew-perpetual-license-support-unless-users-subscribe/#comments">Comments</a>

Firefighting drones in the works as wildfires plague US nearly year-round

Mon, 20 Jul 2026 21:55:52 -0000

California and XPRIZE competition tests whether drones can stop wildfires early.

Drones capable of spraying water and fire retardants have been practicing how to snuff out wildfires early in California and Alaska this summer—demonstrating a possible rapid-response tool for firefighting as <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tag/climate-change/">climate change</a> transforms wildfire season into a nearly year-round risk for much of the United States. Most drones are significantly smaller than crewed aircraft and have shorter flight ranges, meaning they cannot replace large airtankers in delivering massive payloads of water or other fire-suppressing payloads to remote wildfires. But companies and fire agencies—along with organizers of the $11 million XPRIZE competition—are testing whether drones can help firefighting crews respond more quickly to small fires and put them out before they become more destructive. The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, also known as CAL FIRE, ran its own field test involving five autonomous drones that worked together to deploy between 500 and 1,000 gallons of foam combined for suppressing fires on July 15, according to the <a href="https://kmph.com/news/local/calfire-tests-autonomous-drones-to-bolster-wildfire-operations-in-california">TV station KPMH</a>. The demonstration was organized with the help of the nonprofit FireWERX and the California-based <a href="https://seneca.com/">company Seneca</a>, which is making the drones commercially available starting in 2026.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/07/firefighting-drones-in-the-works-as-wildfires-plague-us-nearly-year-round/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/07/firefighting-drones-in-the-works-as-wildfires-plague-us-nearly-year-round/#comments">Comments</a>

Google-backed satellites for wildfire detection launch as smoke chokes US, Canada

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 19:50:18 -0000

The FireSat program can spot wildfires that other satellites miss.

As smoke from hundreds of burning wildfires spread across Canada and the United States, the first three operational satellites in the Google-backed FireSat program successfully launched into orbit. The satellites will begin providing wildfire detection capable of spotting even small fires in the United States, Australia, and Europe before the end of the year. The launch of the microsatellites aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California on July 7, 2026 marks a transition to “initial operational capability” for the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2024/09/google-backs-privately-funded-satellite-constellation-for-wildfire-detection/">FireSat constellation</a> managed by the <a href="https://earthfirealliance.org/news-article/earth-fire-alliances-first-three-operational-firesats-reach-orbit/">nonprofit Earth Fire Alliance</a>. After a three-month testing period, the three satellites will begin actively providing data to fire agencies while covering every fire-prone region on Earth at least twice per day. FireSat represents the first satellite constellation purpose-built for detecting wildfires, including spotting smaller fires that other satellites may miss. The satellites were designed by California-based satellite manufacturer Muon Space and have received over <a href="https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/models-and-research/google-research/firesat-satellites/">$15 million from Google</a> to support initial deployment. Other notable financial supporters include the <a href="https://www.bezosearthfund.org/news-and-insights/bezos-earth-fund-commits-26-million-to-the-worlds-first-satellite-constellation-dedicated-to-the-global-wildfire-challenge">Bezos Earth Fund</a> that committed $26 million.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/google-backed-satellites-for-wildfire-detection-launch-as-smoke-chokes-us-canada/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/07/google-backed-satellites-for-wildfire-detection-launch-as-smoke-chokes-us-canada/#comments">Comments</a>

Fubo hikes prices by $15 after restoring some NBCU channels lost in November

Fri, 17 Jul 2026 16:24:21 -0000

Fubo subscribers still don't have Versant channels.

Fubo prices are going up by $15 per month because it will have some NBCUniversal channels again. For years, Fubo, a sports-centric vMVPD (virtual multichannel video programming distributor, which lets subscribers watch traditional TV channels live over the Internet), offered NBCUniversal channels. That stopped in November 2025 due to a contract dispute. With the loss of local NBC affiliates, Telemundo, nine regional sports channels, and 32 national channels, Fubo made the sensible but rare decision <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/fubo-lowers-its-prices-by-up-to-15-after-losing-nbcuniversal-channels/">to lower subscription prices in December</a>. The Essential plan went from $85 per month to $74 per month. The Pro plan dropped from $85 to $75 per month, and the Elite plan dropped from $95 to $84 per month.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/fubo-hikes-prices-by-15-after-restoring-some-nbcu-channels-lost-in-november/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/fubo-hikes-prices-by-15-after-restoring-some-nbcu-channels-lost-in-november/#comments">Comments</a>

HP fined 1.4 billion rupees for “cartelization” of ink cartridges, toner, PCs

Thu, 16 Jul 2026 22:02:31 -0000

Resellers threatened to ditch HP printing supplies for counterfeits.

The Indian government has fined HP India and its partners a total of 1.4 billion rupees (about $14.4 million) for working with reseller partners in the “cartelization” of computers, ink cartridges, and toner. The Competition Commission of India (CCI) said this week that it found HP India had colluded with some channel partners to drive up the cost of bids for government contracts for computers, as well as for selling ink cartridges, toner, and other printing supplies, including graphic and digital manufacturing supplies. It said that HP was aiming to outcompete other OEMs and discourage resellers from selling “counterfeit” ink and toner.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/hp-fined-1-4-billion-rupees-for-cartelization-of-ink-cartridges-toner-pcs/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/07/hp-fined-1-4-billion-rupees-for-cartelization-of-ink-cartridges-toner-pcs/#comments">Comments</a>

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