Pipes Feed Preview: Science - Ars Technica & Tech

New 3D map of Universe could solve dark energy mystery

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 15:00:56 -0000

Latest data must still be analyzed but could help determine if dark energy is constant or varies over time.

<div class="ars-video"><div class="relative" allow="fullscreen" loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/VSTGiRLWzS4?start=0&wmode=transparent"></div><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"> Visualization shows how DESI built its 3D map of the Universe. Earth is at the center of the wedges, and every point is a galaxy. Credit: DESI/KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/R. Proctor </div> </div> </div> In a significant milestone, the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) has completed its 3D map of the Universe—the highest resolution of any such map yet achieved—on schedule and with more data than expected, the collaboration <a href="https://newscenter.lbl.gov/2026/04/15/desi-completes-planned-3d-map-of-the-universe-and-continues-exploring/">announced today</a>. Analyses of DESI data from earlier runs have already produced exciting hints of new physics—namely that the Universe's dark energy, rather than being constant, might vary over time. The latest data must still be analyzed but could help definitively confirm or disprove those hints within the next couple of years. "DESI's five-year survey has been spectacularly successful," DESI director Michael Levi of Berkeley Lab said. "The instrument performed better than anticipated. The results have been incredibly exciting. And the size and scope of the map and how quickly we've been able to execute is phenomenal. We're going to celebrate completion of the original survey and then get started on the work of churning through the data, because we're all curious about what new surprises are waiting for us." As <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/03/hints-grow-stronger-that-dark-energy-changes-over-time/">previously reported</a>, Albert Einstein’s cosmological constant (lambda) implied the existence of a repulsive form of gravity. (For a more in-depth discussion of the history of the cosmological constant and its significance for dark energy, see our <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/04/dark-energy-might-not-be-constant-after-all/">2024 story</a>.) Quantum physics holds that even the emptiest vacuum is teeming with energy in the form of “virtual” particles that wink in and out of existence, flying apart and coming together in an intricate quantum dance. This roiling sea of virtual particles could give rise to dark energy, giving the Universe a little extra push so that it can continue accelerating. The problem is that the quantum vacuum contains too much energy: roughly 10120 times too much.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/desi-completes-its-3d-map-of-universe-right-on-schedule/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/desi-completes-its-3d-map-of-universe-right-on-schedule/#comments">Comments</a>

What’s the deal with Alzheimer’s disease and amyloid?

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 14:11:02 -0000

For decades, scientists have concentrated on what now looks to be a blind alley.

At the end of last month, a scientific journal <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0197458026000394" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pulled</a> a research paper on Alzheimer's disease. The retraction came from Neurobiology of Aging, which removed a 2011 paper claiming to show that a version of a protein called amyloid-β was responsible for memory loss in Alzheimer's disease. On its own, that might not seem notable; bad papers can make it through peer review and are only caught after publication. But this wasn't an isolated case. Over the past few years, multiple studies arguing that amyloid-β is the central driver of Alzheimer's disease have been retracted. Some scientists have even been indicted for fraud over the issue. All the while, none of the drugs targeting this protein and its pathway have had any real clinical effect.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/whats-the-deal-with-alzheimers-disease-and-amyloid/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/whats-the-deal-with-alzheimers-disease-and-amyloid/#comments">Comments</a>

Physicists think they've resolved the proton size puzzle

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:52:34 -0000

"We believe this is the final nail in the coffin of the proton radius puzzle."

There has been considerable debate among physicists over the last 15 years about conflicting measurements of the charge radius of a hydrogen atom's proton—some confirming the predictions of our strongest theoretical models, others suggesting it was smaller than expected. The discrepancy hinted at possible exciting new physics. Now the debate seems to be winding down with the latest experimental measurements, described in two recent papers published in the journals <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-026-10124-3">Nature</a> and <a href="https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/lgl2-6cb8">Physical Review Letters</a>, respectively. And the evidence has tilted in favor of a smaller proton radius and against new physics. "We believe this is the final nail in the coffin of the proton radius puzzle," Lothar Maisenbacher, of the University of California, Berkeley, who co-authored the Nature paper, told Ars. As <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/09/physics-not-broken-after-all-were-close-to-resolving-proton-radius-puzzle/">previously reported</a>, most popularizations discussing the structure of the atom rely on the <a href="https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/cocktail-party-physics/dont-be-dissin-the-bohr-model/">much-maligned Bohr model</a>, in which electrons move around the nucleus in circular orbits. But quantum mechanics gives us a much more precise (albeit weirder) description. The electrons aren’t really orbiting the nucleus; they are technically waves that take on particle-like properties when we do an experiment to determine their position. While orbiting an atom, they exist in a superposition of states, both particle and wave, with a wave function encompassing all the probabilities of its position at once. A measurement will collapse the wave function, giving us the electron’s position. Make a series of such measurements and plot the various positions that result, and it will yield something akin to a fuzzy orbit-like pattern.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/physicists-think-theyve-resolved-the-proton-size-puzzle/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/physicists-think-theyve-resolved-the-proton-size-puzzle/#comments">Comments</a>

NASA chose the right crew to launch a new era of human space exploration

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 16:10:17 -0000

"It’s a special thing to be human, and it’s a special thing to be on planet Earth."

HOUSTON—Their mission is complete. The four people who flew beyond the Moon on NASA's Artemis II mission are back home in Houston with their families. But the lessons from Artemis II are just beginning to be told. There are tangible, objective takeaways from the nine-day mission. How did NASA's Space Launch System rocket perform? Nearly perfectly. Was the Orion spacecraft up to the job of flying to the Moon and back? Absolutely. Will engineers need to make any changes before the next Artemis mission? Yes, and that's not terribly surprising for a program that, 20 years in, has just flown a crew to space for the first time. Ars has covered the technical lessons from Artemis II, such as <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/02/unable-to-tame-hydrogen-leaks-nasa-delays-launch-of-artemis-ii-until-march/">hydrogen leaks on the launch pad</a>, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/nasa-homes-in-on-likely-redesign-to-fix-orion-spacecrafts-leaky-valves/">helium leaks in space</a>, and a <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/artemis-ii-is-going-so-well-that-were-left-to-talk-about-frozen-urine/">toilet that wasn't always available</a> for No. 1.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/rockets-and-spaceships-are-cool-but-the-humanity-of-artemis-ii-resonated-most/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/rockets-and-spaceships-are-cool-but-the-humanity-of-artemis-ii-resonated-most/#comments">Comments</a>

To teach in the time of ChatGPT is to know pain

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 11:00:32 -0000

LLM use is the most demoralizing problem I’ve faced as a college instructor.

I’ve been teaching college Earth science courses as a part-time faculty member for a long time now, all while juggling other jobs. I started because it was enjoyable; no one gets into this line of work for the famously poor pay or complete lack of job security. Working with students is just one of those genuinely fulfilling experiences that is addictive enough that they ought to warn people about it. But thanks to generative AI, it has become mostly miserable―at least in certain settings. For the last few years, I’ve been exclusively teaching asynchronous online courses, meaning recorded videos rather than live sessions. These have always been a bit more challenging than face-to-face classes, where you have a greater ability to keep the students on track. If a student doesn’t have to show up in a room for an hour at a scheduled time and no one can see their involuntary facial expressions when they don’t understand something, the probability increases greatly that they’ll just… fall off.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/to-teach-in-the-time-of-chatgpt-is-to-know-pain/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/to-teach-in-the-time-of-chatgpt-is-to-know-pain/#comments">Comments</a>

Shock from Iran war has Trump's vision for US energy dominance flailing

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 11:17:26 -0000

Record domestic oil and gas production hasn't saved US drivers from price spikes.

In President Donald Trump’s telling, the United States has fuel enough to hover above the chaos that his attack on Iran has triggered in global energy markets. “We’re in great shape for the future,” Trump said in a speech last week, asserting that this nation, as the world’s biggest oil and gas producer, doesn’t rely on the tankers Iran blocked from passage through the Strait of Hormuz for the past month. “We don’t need anything they have.” But the view is much different beneath the service station signs across the country that have flipped to more than $4 per gallon for the first time in four years. Over the past month, US households paid $8.4 billion more for gasoline compared to prices before the war on Iran began, according to a <a href="https://www.jec.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/democrats/press-releases?ID=A4C3F903-BEE7-43EC-A3F4-EF73B0A485F5">report </a>by Democrats on Congress’ Joint Economic Committee.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/shock-from-iran-war-has-trumps-vision-for-us-energy-dominance-flailing/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/shock-from-iran-war-has-trumps-vision-for-us-energy-dominance-flailing/#comments">Comments</a>

Four astronauts are back home after a daring ride around the Moon

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 01:21:10 -0000

"I can't imagine a better crew that just completed a perfect mission right now."

Slamming into the atmosphere at more than 30 times the speed of sound, NASA’s Orion spacecraft blazed a trail over the Pacific Ocean on Friday, returning home with four astronauts and safely capping humanity’s first voyage to the Moon in nearly 54 years. Temperatures outside the capsule built up to some 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit as a sheath of plasma enveloped the Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, and its four long-distance travelers, temporarily blocking radio signals between the Moon ship and Mission Control in Houston. Flying southwest to northeast, the spacecraft steered toward a splashdown zone southwest of San Diego, where a US Navy recovery ship held position to await the crew’s homecoming. Ground teams regained communications with Orion commander Reid Wiseman after a six-minute blackout. Airborne tracking planes beamed live video of Orion’s descent back to Mission Control, showing the capsule jettison its parachute cover and deploy a series of chutes to stabilize its plunge toward the Pacific. Then, three larger main chutes, each with an area of 10,500 square feet, opened to slow Orion for splashdown at 8:07 pm EDT Friday (00:07 UTC Saturday).<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/four-astronauts-are-back-home-after-a-daring-ride-around-the-moon/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/four-astronauts-are-back-home-after-a-daring-ride-around-the-moon/#comments">Comments</a>

New paper argues history, not mantle plume, powers Yellowstone

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 20:06:39 -0000

A now-vanished plate under North America may open the crust below Yellowstone.

North America wouldn't look much like it currently does without a tectonic plate that has largely been lost to the Earth's geological history. The Farallon plate, which has since largely vanished underneath North America, helped build the West Coast by slamming large island chains into the continent as it disappeared. California wouldn't exist without it, and one of the remaining fragments of the plate presently power the volcanoes of the Cascades. Now, a new paper suggests that the Farallon plate is still making its presence felt far from the coasts, powering one of North America's most distinctive phenomena: the Yellowstone hotspot, which has periodically blanketed much of the continent with ash. The new proposal suggests that the plate's vanishing act has created stresses that have opened paths for molten rock to reach the surface. <h2>Hot spot or not?</h2> Geologic hot spots exist around the globe; they're areas where deep material from the Earth's interior finds its way to the surface far from the edges of plates. In many cases, the heat that powers these hot spots is the product of what's called a mantle plume: a blob of hot viscous rock that convection drives to the surface of the mantle. In many cases, the plume appears to stay in place as the plates drift across it, creating a chain of progressively older islands as you move away from the hot spot.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/new-paper-argues-history-not-mantle-plume-powers-yellowstone/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/new-paper-argues-history-not-mantle-plume-powers-yellowstone/#comments">Comments</a>

"Oobleck" still holds some surprises

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:57:21 -0000

Dense drops of oobleck with high shear rates spread out like a liquid before stiffening into a solid.

Mixing corn starch and water in appropriate amounts produces a slurry that is liquid when stirred slowly but hardens when you punch it—a substance colorfully dubbed “oobleck.” (The name derives from a 1949 Dr. Seuss children’s book, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bartholomew_and_the_Oobleck">Bartholomew and the Oobleck</a>.) High-speed imaging and force measurements have revealed another surprising property of oobleck drops hitting a flat surface, according to a <a href="https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/fyx7-jb1d">new paper</a> published in the journal Physical Review Letters. As <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2023/12/unlocking-the-secrets-of-oobleck-strange-stuff-thats-both-liquid-and-solid/">previously reported</a>, in <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newtonian_fluid">an ideal fluid</a>, viscosity largely depends on temperature and pressure: Water will continue to flow regardless of other forces acting on it, such as stirring or mixing. In a non-Newtonian fluid, the viscosity changes in response to an applied strain or shearing force, thereby straddling the boundary between liquid and solid behavior. Stirring a cup of water produces a shearing force, and the water shears to move out of the way. The viscosity remains unchanged. But for non-Newtonian fluids like oobleck, the viscosity changes when a shearing force is applied. Ketchup, for instance, is a shear-thickening non-Newtonian fluid, which is one reason smacking the bottom of the bottle doesn’t make the ketchup come out any faster; the application of force increases the viscosity. Yogurt, gravy, mud, pudding, and thickened pie fillings are other examples. And so is oobleck.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/oobleck-still-holds-some-surprises/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/oobleck-still-holds-some-surprises/#comments">Comments</a>

Oldest octopus fossil found to not be an octopus

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 16:54:42 -0000

Supposed “first octopus” was something else entirely.

Pohlsepia mazonensis, a visually underwhelming fossil from Illinois, fundamentally broke our understanding of cephalopod evolution. Described in 2000 and hailed as the oldest known octopus in the fossil record, the specimen dated back to the late Carboniferous period, roughly 311 to 306 million years ago. Pohlsepia was an outlier—all other fossil records strongly suggested that crown coleoids, the group containing octopuses, squid, and cuttlefish, diverged much later, during the Jurassic. To solve this puzzle, Thomas Clements, a paleontologist at the University of Leicester, and his colleagues put this supposed oldest octopus fossil through a series of high-tech imaging tests. They found Pohlsepia was not an octopus at all. Instead, it was a decomposed, squashed nautiloid. <h2>A Rorschach test</h2> The reason a nautiloid managed to masquerade as an octopus for almost a quarter of a century was due to the way that fossils from the Mazon Creek Lagerstätte formed. Around 300 million years ago, this area was a brackish, tidal marine basin that was periodically inundated by massive amounts of iron-rich river mud. When organisms died and were buried in this sediment fan, the high iron content triggered the precipitation of the mineral siderite around their decaying bodies, locking them inside hard geological nodules.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/oldest-octopus-fossil-found-to-not-be-an-octopus/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/oldest-octopus-fossil-found-to-not-be-an-octopus/#comments">Comments</a>

Orion helium leak no threat to Artemis II reentry but will require redesign

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 00:55:51 -0000

After leaks on Artemis I and II, Orion's next flight to the Moon will need new valves.

Apart from pesky issues with the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/artemis-ii-is-going-so-well-that-were-left-to-talk-about-frozen-urine/">spacecraft's toilet and waste disposal system</a>, most of the Artemis II mission has proceeded like clockwork. NASA has made few changes to the flight plan since the launch of the lunar flyby mission on April 1. But ground controllers revamped the timeline Wednesday as the Artemis II astronauts zoomed toward Earth after a close <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/the-artemis-ii-mission-sends-back-stunning-images-of-the-far-side-of-the-moon/">encounter with the Moon</a> earlier this week. The four astronauts were supposed to take manual control of their Orion spacecraft, named Integrity, for a piloting demonstration Wednesday night. Instead, mission managers canceled the demo to make time for an additional test of the ship's propulsion system. The goal was to gather data on a "small leak" of helium gas, which Orion uses to push propellant through a series of tanks and pipes to feed the spacecraft's rocket engines, said Jeff Radigan, NASA's lead flight director for the Artemis II mission.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/nasa-homes-in-on-likely-redesign-to-fix-orion-spacecrafts-leaky-valves/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/nasa-homes-in-on-likely-redesign-to-fix-orion-spacecrafts-leaky-valves/#comments">Comments</a>

Clinical trial shows gene editing works for β-Thalassaemia, too

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 20:28:48 -0000

Improved gene editing process reactivates the fetal version of a hemoglobin gene.

Almost as soon as researchers started exploring the capabilities of the CRISPR/Cas9 system, they recognized its potential use in targeted gene editing. But the intervening decades have seen slow progress as people worked to determine how to do so in a way that would be safe for use in humans. It was only a little over two years ago, decades after CRISPR's discovery, that the FDA <a href="https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-approves-first-gene-therapies-treat-patients-sickle-cell-disease">approved the first CRISPR-based therapy</a>, for sickle-cell anemia. Now, following up on that success, a large Chinese collaboration has followed up with a description of an improved gene editing system that produces more focused changes and fewer mistakes. And they've used it to produce a therapy that addresses a disease that's closely related to sickle-cell anemia: β-Thalassaemia. <h2>Gene editing and its limits</h2> The CRISPR/Cas-9 system provides bacteria with a form of immunity. It uses specially structured RNAs (called guide RNAs) that can base-pair with a targeted sequence. The Cas-9 protein then recognizes this structure and cuts the DNA nearby. This is quite effective when the guide RNA can base-pair with a DNA virus, as the resulting cut will inactivate the virus.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/clinical-trial-shows-gene-editing-works-for-%ce%b2-thalassaemia-too/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/clinical-trial-shows-gene-editing-works-for-%ce%b2-thalassaemia-too/#comments">Comments</a>

Ugandan chimps split into two factions, then killed rivals

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 19:21:59 -0000

Rare event suggests relational dynamics may play a role in collective violence, along with cultural markers.

In the 1970s, the late <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Chimpanzees-Gombe-Patterns-Behavior/dp/0674116496">Jane Goodall observed</a> a community of chimpanzees in Gombe, Tanzania, breaking into two factions; the males in one group ended up <a href="https://scholars.duke.edu/publication/1311664">killing all the males</a> in the rival group over the next four years, along with one female chimp. But the case was considered an anomaly, although there is <a href="http://ngogochimpanzeeproject.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Langergraber-et-al.-2014-JHE.pdf">genetic evidence</a> suggesting this kind of split is a rare event occurring every 500 years or so. Now researchers have observed the largest known community of Ngogo chimpanzees in Uganda also permanently splitting into two rival groups with a similar outbreak of violence, according to a <a href="http://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz4944">new paper</a> published in the journal Science. "What's especially striking is that the chimpanzees are killing former group members," <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1122485?">said co-author Aaron Sandel</a>, an anthropologist at the University of Texas, Austin. "The new group identities are overriding cooperative relationships that had existed for years. I would caution against anyone calling this a civil war. But the polarization and collective violence that we have observed with these chimpanzees may give us insight into our own species." The authors analyzed 24 years' worth of data from social networks, 10 years of GPS tracking, and 30 years of demographic data on the Ngogo chimps in Uganda's Kibale National Park. They identified three distinct phases to the split. First there was an abrupt shift as chimp relationships became polarized into two distinct clusters: Western and Central. The chimps then spent the next two years increasingly avoiding those in their rival cluster; there were very few interactions across clusters, and Western male chimps started patrolling their territory, showing increased aggression toward Central males. By 2018, the fissure had become permanent.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/ugandan-chimps-split-into-two-factions-then-killed-rivals/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/ugandan-chimps-split-into-two-factions-then-killed-rivals/#comments">Comments</a>

The gravity of their experience hasn't quite set in for the Artemis II astronauts

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 18:19:49 -0000

"I'm actually getting chills right now just thinking about it. My palms are sweating."

On the home stretch of their nine-day mission, the four astronauts flying aboard NASA's Orion spacecraft are just beginning to reflect on their experience of flying beyond the Moon. Their memories of Monday's encounter with the Moon are still fresh as they return to Earth, heading for reentry and splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Friday evening. "I'm actually getting chills right now just thinking about it. My palms are sweating," said Reid Wiseman, commander of the Artemis II mission. "But it is amazing to watch your home planet disappear behind the Moon. You can see the atmosphere. You could actually see the terrain on the Moon projected across the Earth as the Earth was eclipsing behind the Moon. It was just an unbelievable sight, and then it was gone. It was out of sight."<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/astronauts-recall-the-sci-fi-experience-of-flying-in-the-shadow-of-the-moon/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/astronauts-recall-the-sci-fi-experience-of-flying-in-the-shadow-of-the-moon/#comments">Comments</a>

Trump's emergency orders pushing coal power are "illegal" as well as dumb

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 13:54:30 -0000

A World War II-era policy is stopping old coal plants from closing.

At one time, the US electricity grid ran mostly on coal. But coal-fired power plants have steadily been decommissioned. Power producers found the plants were too expensive to operate and carried risks tied to toxic air pollution, waste, and climate-warming emissions. Then President Donald Trump returned to the White House last year with a fresh zeal to revive the coal industry. His Department of Energy invoked emergency powers to force utilities to keep old plants operating.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/trumps-emergency-orders-pushing-coal-power-are-illegal-as-well-as-dumb/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/trumps-emergency-orders-pushing-coal-power-are-illegal-as-well-as-dumb/#comments">Comments</a>

The Moon is already on Google Maps—did Artemis II really tell us anything new?

Thu, 09 Apr 2026 03:44:24 -0000

"I think the biggest value here is the PR. I mean, it's getting the public excited."

The data pipeline from NASA's Artemis II mission opened to full blast a few hours after looping behind the far side of the Moon on Monday night, when the Orion spacecraft established a laser communications link with a receiving station back on Earth. A cache of high-resolution images began streaming down through this connection. NASA released the first batch to the public on Tuesday. Most of the images were taken by the four Artemis II astronauts using handheld Nikon cameras fitted with wide-angle and telephoto lenses. They also had iPhones to capture views out of the windows of their Orion Moon ship, named Integrity. After reaching their farthest point from Earth, astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen are accelerating back to Earth for reentry and splashdown Friday evening to wrap up the first crewed lunar mission in more than 53 years.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/the-moon-is-already-on-google-maps-did-artemis-ii-really-tell-us-anything-new/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/the-moon-is-already-on-google-maps-did-artemis-ii-really-tell-us-anything-new/#comments">Comments</a>

Astronauts set distance record, revealing the Moon as a place to be explored

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 03:50:32 -0000

"Humans have probably not evolved to see what we’re seeing. It is truly hard to describe. It is amazing."

After staring at the Moon for almost eight hours Monday, the commander of NASA's Artemis II mission finally ran out of ways to describe what he was seeing. "No matter how long we look at this, our brains are not processing this image in front of us. It is absolutely spectacular, surreal," said Reid Wiseman, the 50-year-old Navy test pilot leading the four-person crew circumnavigating the Moon. "There are no adjectives. I’m going need to invent some new ones to describe what we’re looking at outside this window." Live images from the Orion spacecraft showed the Moon growing larger during final approach Monday. Video from GoPro cameras outside the capsule streamed down in low-resolution format, due to <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/video-from-artemis-ii-flyby-of-the-moon-will-not-initially-look-spectacular/">limitations on bandwidth</a> coming back from deep space, but the Artemis II astronauts were expected to downlink sharper telephoto snapshots overnight Monday into Tuesday morning.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/astronauts-set-distance-record-revealing-the-moon-as-a-place-to-be-explored/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/astronauts-set-distance-record-revealing-the-moon-as-a-place-to-be-explored/#comments">Comments</a>

Trump's next budget once again calls for massive cuts to science

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 21:40:40 -0000

Congress rejected huge cuts to science in 2026, but Trump is trying again.

On Friday, the Trump administration <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/budget_fy2027.pdf">released its proposed budget</a> for 2027. The budget blueprint includes <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/trump-proposes-steep-cut-to-nasa-budget-as-astronauts-head-for-the-moon/">significant cuts to NASA</a>, but it targets even more severe limits for other science-focused agencies, with no agencies spared. The document is laced with blatantly political language and resurfaces grievances that have been the subject of right-wing ire for years. If all of this sounds familiar, it's because the document is largely a retread of <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/05/trumps-2026-budget-proposal-crippling-cuts-for-science-across-the-board/">last year's proposal</a>, which Congress largely ignored in providing relatively steady research budgets. By choosing to issue a similar budget, the administration is signaling that this is an ongoing political battle. And the past year has shown that, even if Congress is unwilling to join it in the fight, the administration can still do significant damage to the scientific enterprise. <h2>What's proposed?</h2> Nearly everybody is in for a cut. The hardest-hit agencies, like the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), will see their budgets slashed in half. But even agencies that might be otherwise popular, like the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is overseen by Trump allies, will see $5 billion taken from its $47 billion budget. Agencies that have seemingly avoided political controversies, such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), would also see their budgets cut by over half.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/trumps-next-budget-once-again-calls-for-massive-cuts-to-science/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/trumps-next-budget-once-again-calls-for-massive-cuts-to-science/#comments">Comments</a>

Trump proposes steep cut to NASA budget as astronauts head for the Moon

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 23:19:36 -0000

Congress will likely reject the White House's NASA cuts, just as it did last year.

President Donald Trump released a budget blueprint on Friday calling for a 23 percent cut to NASA's budget, two days after the agency launched four astronauts on the first crewed lunar mission in more than 50 years. The spending proposal for fiscal year 2027 is the opening salvo in a multi-month budget process. Both houses of Congress must pass their own appropriations bills, reconcile any differences between the two, and then send the final budget to the White House for President Trump's signature. Fiscal year 2027 begins on October 1. The White House requested a similar cut to NASA last year. The Republican-led <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/01/nasas-science-budget-wont-be-a-train-wreck-after-all/">Congress resoundingly rejected</a> the proposal and kept NASA's budget close to its level in the final year of the Biden administration. Like last year's budget, the proposal from the Trump administration will undergo major changes as Congress weighs in over the coming months.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/trump-proposes-steep-cut-to-nasa-budget-as-astronauts-head-for-the-moon/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/04/trump-proposes-steep-cut-to-nasa-budget-as-astronauts-head-for-the-moon/#comments">Comments</a>

Ice Age dice show early Native Americans may have understood probability

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 22:55:29 -0000

Ice Age hunter-gatherers "were intentionally relying on random outcomes in repeatable, rule-based ways."

Native Americans have been playing with dice in games of chance for more than 12,000 years, according to <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/american-antiquity/article/probability-in-the-pleistocene-origins-and-antiquity-of-native-american-dice-games-of-chance-and-gambling/E38C7B1F4CE7F417D8EFAC5AFEEF20A2">a new paper</a> published in the journal American Antiquity. And the oldest examples of Native American dice predate the earliest currently known dice in the Old World by millennia. “Historians have traditionally treated dice and probability as Old World innovations,” <a href="https://libarts.source.colostate.edu/how-native-americans-shaped-gambling-and-probability/">said author Robert Madden</a>, a graduate student at Colorado State University. “What the archaeological record shows is that ancient Native American groups were deliberately making objects designed to produce random outcomes, and using those outcomes in structured games, thousands of years earlier than previously recognized.” Madden's interest in Native American gaming started with <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2020/03/3400-year-old-mesoamerican-ball-court-sheds-light-on-origins-of-the-game/">Maya ballgames</a> and then expanded to include Native American dice and games of chance. These were rudimentary dice with just two sides, rather than the six sides of modern dice, typically described as "binary lots." And Madden found they were common to virtually every Native American tribe. Archaeologists had traced the use of such dice back 2,000 years, but most were hesitant to conclude that dice-like artifacts older than that were, in fact, dice.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/ice-age-dice-show-early-native-americans-may-have-understood-probability/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/04/ice-age-dice-show-early-native-americans-may-have-understood-probability/#comments">Comments</a>

"TotalRecall Reloaded" tool finds a side entrance to Windows 11's Recall database

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 20:36:28 -0000

"The vault is solid. The delivery truck is not."

Two years ago, Microsoft launched its first wave of “Copilot+” Windows PCs with a handful of exclusive features that could take advantage of the neural processing unit (NPU) hardware being built into newer laptop processors. These NPUs could enable AI and machine learning features that could run locally rather than in someone’s cloud, theoretically enhancing security and privacy. One of the first Copilot+ features was Recall, a feature that promised to track all your PC usage via screenshot to help you remember your past activity. But as originally implemented, Recall was <a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2024/06/windows-recall-demands-an-extraordinary-level-of-trust-that-microsoft-hasnt-earned/">neither private nor secure</a>; the feature stored its screenshots plus a giant database of all user activity in totally unencrypted files on the user’s disk, making it trivial for anyone with remote or local access to grab days, weeks, or even months of sensitive data, depending on the age of the user’s Recall database. After journalists and security researchers discovered and detailed these flaws, Microsoft delayed the Recall rollout by <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/04/microsoft-rolls-windows-recall-out-to-the-public-nearly-a-year-after-announcing-it/">almost a year</a> and substantially <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/09/microsoft-details-security-privacy-overhaul-for-windows-recall-ahead-of-relaunch/">overhauled its security</a>. All locally stored data would now be encrypted and viewable only with Windows Hello authentication; the feature now did a better job detecting and excluding sensitive information, including financial information, from its database; and Recall would be turned off by default, rather than enabled on every PC that supported it.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/totalrecall-reloaded-tool-finds-a-side-entrance-to-windows-11s-recall-database/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/totalrecall-reloaded-tool-finds-a-side-entrance-to-windows-11s-recall-database/#comments">Comments</a>

Google releases new apps for Windows and MacOS

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:46:43 -0000

Google mostly creates products for the web, but it has some new desktop apps today.

Most people access Google's search and AI products through a browser, but you've got some new options today. Google has been testing a Windows search app for some months, and it's now <a href="https://blog.google/products-and-platforms/products/search/google-apps-windows-english/">officially available</a>. Over on the Apple side of the fence, Google has focused its efforts on designing a native Gemini app. That one is also <a href="https://blog.google/innovation-and-ai/products/gemini-app/gemini-app-now-on-mac-os/">available widely today</a> with the same features you get in the Gemini web interface. The "Google app for desktop" first arrived on Windows in a beta form <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/09/experimental-google-app-brings-web-and-local-search-to-your-windows-pc/">last September</a>. It was pretty rough at first, and Google couldn't even update the app's early versions, forcing users to uninstall and reinstall new builds. That won't be a concern with the official release, which brings assorted search capabilities to your Windows PC. <img width="1760" height="1408" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/google-app-desktop-1.png" class="fullwidth full" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/google-app-desktop-1.png 1760w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/google-app-desktop-1-640x512.png 640w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/google-app-desktop-1-1024x819.png 1024w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/google-app-desktop-1-768x614.png 768w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/google-app-desktop-1-1536x1229.png 1536w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/google-app-desktop-1-980x784.png 980w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/04/google-app-desktop-1-1440x1152.png 1440w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1760px) 100vw, 1760px"> The Google app can search the web or your PC. Credit: Google You can open the Google app by pressing Alt + Space at any time. The compact search UI floats on top of whatever you're doing, allowing you to instantly search the web and (with authorization) your local files and apps. Web results look like what you'd get in a browser, right down to the inclusion of AI Overviews and AI Mode.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/google-launches-search-app-for-windows-gemini-app-for-mac/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/google-launches-search-app-for-windows-gemini-app-for-mac/#comments">Comments</a>

Prime Video shows “technical difficulties” sign instead of NBA game in overtime

Wed, 15 Apr 2026 19:16:43 -0000

"Am I trippin??" asks LeBron James.

NBA fans sat on the edges of their seats as last night’s game between the Miami Heat and Charlotte Hornets went into overtime. That excitement quickly shifted to confusion, frustration, and outrage when Amazon Prime Video, the only place where the game was available to watch, subsequently cut out for almost two minutes. As reported by <a href="https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/48490511/amazon-prime-stream-cuts-ot-heat-hornets-play-game">ESPN</a>, Prime Video started showing a message that read “technical difficulties” seconds after cutting off the game’s commentator in the middle of a sentence. Viewers missed a Hornets possession that included a score by LaMelo Ball. By the time the stream came back online, 22.1 seconds of playing time had passed, per ESPN, and viewers were dismayed. “Tell me the game didn’t just cut off?!!? Am I trippin?? WTH,” LeBron James, a Los Angeles Lakers player who previously won two championships with the Heat, <a href="https://x.com/KingJames/status/2044238439965687890">said</a>, adding a face-planting emoji, on X.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/nba-fans-cry-foul-as-prime-video-cuts-out-during-overtime-fails-to-sync-audio/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/nba-fans-cry-foul-as-prime-video-cuts-out-during-overtime-fails-to-sync-audio/#comments">Comments</a>

Sony killing features for antenna, set-top box users of Bravia smart TVs in May

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 22:00:31 -0000

Some 2023 and 2024 models are also affected.

Sony is removing some features from its recent Bravia smart TVs next month, a move that will affect people who use an antenna or a set-top box. As of “late May 2026,” people who use an antenna with the affected TV models will see a reduced TV guide, according to a <a href="https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/articles/00380371">support page</a> spotted by <a href="https://cordcuttersnews.com/sony-is-removing-many-popular-features-from-its-free-ota-tv-options-impacting-abc-cbs-fox-nbc/">Cord Cutters News</a>. Per the support page, “program information may not appear depending on the channel,” and “only programs from recently watched channels may be shown” for channels delivered through an antenna. Users will also no longer see channel logos or thumbnail images in program descriptions for TV channels delivered through an antenna.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/sony-killing-features-for-antenna-set-top-box-users-of-bravia-smart-tvs-in-may/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/sony-killing-features-for-antenna-set-top-box-users-of-bravia-smart-tvs-in-may/#comments">Comments</a>

Two-year-old Surface PCs get $300 price hikes as sub-$1,000 models go away

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 19:58:52 -0000

"Paying more for the same stuff" is the story of consumer technology in 2026.

If you've been waiting for Microsoft to update its Surface PC lineup—perhaps with Qualcomm's new Snapdragon X2 Elite processors—I've got bad news for you. Microsoft is shaking up its PC lineup, but it's doing so by instituting big price hikes. This means you'll be paying at least $1,500 for Surface devices that launched at $1,000 just two years ago and that Microsoft no longer offers new Surface devices under $1,000 at all. The 12-inch Surface Pro tablet that originally started at $799 and the 13-inch Surface Laptop that launched at $899 now cost $1,049 and $1,149, respectively, a $250 price increase. The higher-end Surface Laptop and 13-inch Surface Pro from 2024 both started at $999 but <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/echoing-xbox-prices-are-going-up-for-high-end-surfaces-and-some-accessories/">increased to $1,199 in 2025</a> when their entry-level versions with 256GB of storage were discontinued; both now start at $1,499, a $300 increase. As originally <a href="https://www.windowscentral.com/hardware/surface/microsoft-reveals-major-price-increases-for-all-surface-pro-laptop-pcs-as-ram-crisis-continues">reported</a> by Windows Central, Microsoft is blaming "recent increases in memory and component costs" for the price hikes. Supply shortages for RAM and storage chips in particular have been wreaking havoc with consumer tech all year, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/03/dont-worry-valve-still-plans-to-launch-the-steam-machine-this-year/">delaying</a> some launches, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/valves-steam-deck-intermittently-out-of-stock-as-ram-shortage-drags-on/">depleting the stock of existing products</a>, and <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/02/ongoing-ram-crisis-prompts-raspberry-pis-second-price-hike-in-two-months/">raising prices</a> for small and large companies alike.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/two-year-old-surface-pcs-get-300-price-hikes-as-sub-1000-models-go-away/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/two-year-old-surface-pcs-get-300-price-hikes-as-sub-1000-models-go-away/#comments">Comments</a>

Google will begin punishing sites for back button hijacking in June

Tue, 14 Apr 2026 15:48:41 -0000

Google says it could penalize back button hijacking by demoting websites in search ranking.

So you thought you'd just read that webpage and then go back to the previous page? A bold assumption. All too often, clicking the back button in your browser doesn't actually take you back. It's called back button hijacking, and Google has thus far tolerated it. That <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2026/04/back-button-hijacking">ends in June</a>, when the company will designate it a "malicious practice," and any site continuing to do it will face consequences. Back button hijacking is a way of wringing more pageviews out of visitors. It's common on sites that live and die on search traffic. You may end up on a page because it looks like something you want, but instead of letting you leave the domain, it manipulates your page history to insert something else when you click back. The phantom page is usually a collection of additional content suggestions or a pop-up that tries to eke out a few more clicks from each visitor. Some sites get a little more creative with it, though. For example, LinkedIn has a nasty habit of sending you "back" to the social feed after you land on a link to a profile or job posting.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/websites-that-hijack-your-back-button-must-stop-by-june-15-or-face-googles-wrath/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/websites-that-hijack-your-back-button-must-stop-by-june-15-or-face-googles-wrath/#comments">Comments</a>

Google shoehorned Rust into Pixel 10 modem to make legacy code safer

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 21:12:51 -0000

Cellular modems are complex black boxes of legacy code, but Google is making them safer with Rust.

Modern smartphone operating systems have myriad systems in place to improve security, but none of that helps when attackers target the modem. Google's Project Zero team has shown it's possible to get remote code execution on Pixel phone modems over the Internet, which prompted Google to reevaluate how it secures this vital, low-level system. The solution wasn't to rewrite modem software but rather to <a href="https://security.googleblog.com/2026/04/bringing-rust-to-pixel-baseband.html">shoehorn a safer Rust-based component</a> into the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/08/google-pixel-10-series-review-dont-call-it-an-android/">Pixel 10</a> modem. Cellular modems are something of a black box. Your phone's baseband is its own operating system running legacy C and C++ code, which makes it an increasingly appealing attack surface. The core issue is that memory management in these systems is difficult and often leads to memory-unsafe firmware code on production devices. That can allow attackers to leverage serious vulnerabilities like buffer overflows and memory leaks to compromise devices. So that's not great—why are we still using this stuff? Part of the issue is just the inertia of embedded systems. Companies have been developing modem firmware based on <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3GPP">3GPP</a> specifications for decades, so there's a lot of technical debt at this point. Modems also have to operate in real time to send and receive data effectively, and C/C++ code is fast.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/google-shoehorned-rust-into-pixel-10-modem-to-make-legacy-code-safer/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/google-shoehorned-rust-into-pixel-10-modem-to-make-legacy-code-safer/#comments">Comments</a>

NZXT agrees to let customers keep their rental PCs in class-action settlement

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 20:55:35 -0000

NZXT will forgive up to $5,000 in debt for customers of the Flex program.

PC hardware company NZXT and its billing partner, Fragile, have agreed to a $3,450,000 settlement in response to a class-action complaint regarding NZXT’s Flex PC rental program. <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/08/nzxt-wants-you-to-pay-up-to-169-month-to-rent-a-gaming-pc/">NZXT announced Flex</a> in August 2024, saying that it would charge customers $59 to $169 a month to rent an NZXT gaming desktop (as of this writing, Flex prices are $79 to $279 per month). At the time, NZXT said that the PCs would be “new or like new.” Subscribers had the option to receive an upgraded rental PC every two years. The program was met with criticism. Renting a PC can quickly become more costly than buying one, depending on the rental, and YouTube channel <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0pomC1CfpC0">Gamers Nexus</a> claimed in November 2024 that customers received less powerful components than expected and that NZXT advertised the rental PCs with inaccurate benchmark results. There was also concern about what NZXT did with customer data left on returned computers.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/nzxt-agrees-to-3-45-million-settlement-over-controversial-rental-pc-program/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/nzxt-agrees-to-3-45-million-settlement-over-controversial-rental-pc-program/#comments">Comments</a>

Microsoft's "commitment to Windows quality" starts with overhaul of beta program

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 18:00:44 -0000

Windows Insider builds remain confusing, but they should be more predictable.

Microsoft says <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/03/microsoft-keeps-insisting-that-its-deeply-committed-to-the-quality-of-windows-11/">it hears the complaints people have</a> about the current state of Windows, and it wants to fix them. One of those fixes is another overhaul for its Windows Insider Program, the public beta system that Microsoft has used since Windows 10 to test and preview upcoming versions of the operating system and new app updates. The company hinted at this in its "<a href="https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2026/03/20/our-commitment-to-windows-quality/">commitment to Windows quality</a>" post last month, and it's announcing details today in <a href="https://blogs.windows.com/windows-insider/2026/04/10/improving-your-windows-insider-experience/">another post</a> attributed to Microsoft Principal Group Product Manager Alec Oot. <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2023/03/new-canary-channel-will-showcase-more-experimental-less-stable-windows-builds/">Since its last reorganization in 2023</a>, the Windows Insider Program has had four testing channels. From least to most stable, these are the Canary channel, the Dev channel, the Beta channel, and the Release Preview channel. Both Canary and Dev are for earlier builds of Windows and new apps, while Beta tends to get things that are closer to finished and much more likely to ship to the general public. The Release Preview channel is a new Windows version's last stop before public release and is usually near-final.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/microsoft-makes-it-easier-for-windows-insider-testers-to-actually-get-new-features/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/microsoft-makes-it-easier-for-windows-insider-testers-to-actually-get-new-features/#comments">Comments</a>

YouTube increases Premium price again, says 90-second unskippable ads are a bug

Fri, 10 Apr 2026 17:08:58 -0000

An individual plan now cost $15.99 per month, and the free tier comes with buggy ads.

Over the years, YouTube has evolved from a source of Rickrolls and cat videos to a platform for some of the Internet's most popular streaming content. Today, it costs more than ever to see that content, as YouTube has announced another price increase for its Premium service. Viewers who can't stomach the cost of Premium will be greeted by increasingly lengthy ad breaks, but YouTube says some of that is due to a bug it's now addressing. YouTube has not posted a standalone blog announcing the change, but existing subscribers are getting email alerts. The higher pricing is also live for new sign-ups in the US as of this writing. Here's the important part of YouTube's email alerts: <blockquote>To continue delivering great service and features, we’re increasing your price to $15.99/month. We don’t make these decisions lightly, but this update will allow us to continue to improve Premium and support the creators and artists you watch on YouTube. You will see the change reflected on your June 7, 2026 billing date.</blockquote> The new $15.99 monthly price is a $2 increase, but if you're on the family plan, the email looks a bit different. For those folks, the price is now $26.99, which is $4 higher. There's also the base Premium Lite subscription that removes most YouTube ads and used to cost $7.99 per month. It's now $1 more.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/youtube-increases-premium-price-again-says-90-second-unskippable-ads-are-a-bug/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/youtube-increases-premium-price-again-says-90-second-unskippable-ads-are-a-bug/#comments">Comments</a>

How our digital devices are putting our right to privacy at risk

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 19:17:30 -0000

Law professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson chats with Ars about his new book, Your Data Will Be Used Against You.

We live in a digitally connected world that has brought undeniable personal benefits. I can barely recall the pre-Google Maps era, but it was far less convenient to navigate unfamiliar places without a Siri-enabled smart phone (and/or Apple Car Play). We use fitness tracking apps, our home appliances are increasingly digitally connected, and many homes have security systems like Nest cameras or home assistants like Alexa or Amazon Echo. But what are we giving up for all this digital convenience? We are creating a huge amount of private personal data on a daily basis and yet, legally, it's unclear when and how that data can be turned against us by law enforcement and the judicial system. George Washington University law professor Andrew Guthrie Ferguson tackles that knotty question in his new book, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Your-Data-Will-Against-Self-Surveillance/dp/1479838284/">Your Data Will Be Used Against You: Policing in the Age of Self-Surveillance</a>. Ferguson is an expert on the emergence of new surveillance technologies, policing, and criminal justice. His 2018 book, The Rise of Big Data Policing, covered the first real experiments with data-driven policing, predictive policing, and what were then new forms of camera surveillance. For this latest work, Ferguson wanted to focus specifically on what he calls self-surveillance: how the data we create potentially exposes us to incrimination, because there are so few laws in place to regulate how police and prosecutors can access and use that data. "I liken this sort of police-driven self-surveillance to democratically mediated self-surveillance," Ferguson told Ars. "It's still self-surveillance with our tax dollars and everything else, but we are also creating nets of smart devices and surveillance devices in our homes, in our cars, in our worlds. And I don't think we've really processed how all of that information is available as evidence and can be used against us for good or bad, depending on the sort of political wins and whims of who's in charge. We're seeing today how that vulnerability can be weaponized by a government that wants to use it."<a href="https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/04/how-our-digital-devices-are-putting-our-right-to-privacy-at-risk/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/04/how-our-digital-devices-are-putting-our-right-to-privacy-at-risk/#comments">Comments</a>

Motorola suddenly raises budget phone prices up to 50%—you can probably thank AI

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 18:39:08 -0000

Motorola's budget phones are much less budget-friendly today.

Motorola announced a new mid-range phone yesterday, the 2026 Moto G Stylus. It's not exactly a game changer unless you demand a stylus with your smartphone. Despite little in the way of upgrades, the new G Stylus will debut at $500, which is $100 more than last year's version. It's now clear that higher pricing will be a trend in Moto's lineup. Without so much as a peep, Motorola has enacted price increases of up to 50 percent on the rest of its 2026 Moto G lineup. Prior to the G Stylus announcement, Moto had three <a href="https://www.motorola.com/us/en/family/g">2026 G-series phones</a>—the Moto G Play, Moto G, and Moto G Power. They used to sell for $180, $200, and $300, respectively. In the past day, the Moto G Play rose to $250, which is a 38 percent increase. The 2026 Moto G went to $300—a whopping 50 percent price bump. Finally, the top model in Moto's budget lineup, the Moto G Power, is now $400. That's a 33 percent jump, putting it close to Samsung's latest mid-range phones and $100 shy of the new Moto G Stylus. Seeing a higher price tag on the new Moto G Stylus wasn't a surprise given current hardware conditions, and the phone does have a few small upgrades. The battery capacity is slightly larger, and the stylus has basic pressure sensitivity support now. However, that hardly justifies a $100 increase over last year's model, which had the same display and memory. It makes more sense in the context of an across-the-board price increase for Moto's budget lineup.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/motorolas-budget-phones-are-now-up-to-50-more-expensive-as-memory-shortage-drags-on/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/motorolas-budget-phones-are-now-up-to-50-more-expensive-as-memory-shortage-drags-on/#comments">Comments</a>

For the first time ever, Amazon is cutting old Kindles off from the Kindle Store

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 15:26:57 -0000

Post-2013 Kindles will continue to work, even if they no longer receive updates.

If you own an older Kindle e-reader, including models with physical keyboards or physical page-turn buttons that you've been reluctant to give up, Amazon has bad news for you. The company sent a message to owners of those devices today, informing them that starting on May 20 they would no longer be able to buy or download books from the Kindle Store. The change (as reported by <a href="https://goodereader.com/blog/kindle/you-can-no-longer-buy-e-books-on-amazon-kindles-2012-and-earlier">Good E-Reader</a> and elsewhere) affects all Kindles introduced and sold in 2012 or earlier, going all the way back to the original Kindle from 2007. Users will still be able to read books that have already been downloaded to those devices, but they won't be able to download more, and if they reset those Kindles to their factory defaults, the devices won't be able to sign back in to an Amazon account. "Affected devices include Kindle 1st and 2nd Generation, Kindle DX and DX Graphite, Kindle Keyboard, Kindle 4, Kindle Touch, Kindle 5, and Kindle Paperwhite 1st Generation," reads the message from the Kindle team. Older 2011 and 2012-era Kindle Fire tablets will also lose access to the Kindle Store.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/starting-in-may-pre-2013-kindles-wont-be-able-to-buy-or-download-new-books/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/starting-in-may-pre-2013-kindles-wont-be-able-to-buy-or-download-new-books/#comments">Comments</a>

Valve brings native Steam Link app to Apple's Vision Pro

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 22:21:21 -0000

New app can replace third-party options that were jankier to use.

Valve is bringing Steam Link, its local network game-streaming app, to Apple's Vision Pro mixed reality headset, allowing Vision Pro users to play traditional games from their Steam library wirelessly from a nearby Mac or PC. We say "traditional games" because it's important to clarify that this does not stream VR games—only the sorts of games you would play on a traditional 2D display like a computer monitor or a TV. That said, this could lay some groundwork for VR games sometime in the future. But to be clear, Valve has not made any announcements about supporting SteamVR games on the Vision Pro. There were previously Steam Link apps for the Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV. Users could sync controllers with those devices and play Steam games over the local network—not just games from other Apple devices, but also from Windows or Linux gaming PCs.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/04/valve-brings-native-steam-link-app-to-apples-vision-pro/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/04/valve-brings-native-steam-link-app-to-apples-vision-pro/#comments">Comments</a>

Apple and Lenovo have the least repairable laptops, analysis finds

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 22:08:32 -0000

The MacBook Neo is a step in the right direction, though.

Apple earned the lowest grades in a report on laptop and smartphone repairability released today by the consumer advocacy group Public Interest Research Group (PIRG) Education Fund. The report, which looks at how easy devices are to disassemble and how easy it is to find repairability information, gave Apple a C-minus in laptop repairability and a D-minus in cell phone repairability. For its <a href="https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/failing-the-fix-2026/">“Failing the Fix (2026): Grading laptop and cell phone companies on the fixability of their products"</a> report, PIRG analyzed the 10 newest laptops and phones that were available in January via manufacturers’ French websites. PIRG uses devices available in France because much of its criteria stems from the French repairability index, a grading system for device repairability that must be displayed on products sold in France. The group, along with other right-to-repair advocates, believes vendors should apply the French requirements to devices sold in other geographies as well. To calculate laptop vendors' grades, PIRG used the French index but gave more “weight to the physical ease of disassembling the product” because it believes that “is what consumers generally expect a ‘repair score’ to refer to.” The other French repairability index categories are:<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/apple-has-the-lowest-grades-in-laptop-phone-repairability-analysis/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/apple-has-the-lowest-grades-in-laptop-phone-repairability-analysis/#comments">Comments</a>

Bluesky users are mastering the fine art of blaming everything on "vibe coding"

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 19:09:44 -0000

Use of AI coding tools has become a convenient boogeyman for any tech issues.

Social network Bluesky saw some intermittent service disruptions on Monday. On its own, this fact isn't that noteworthy—Bluesky has <a href="https://gvwire.com/2026/02/09/bluesky-goes-down-for-thousands-downdetector-reports/">seen similar service disruptions in the past</a>, and this one coincided with <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/google-spotify-more-online-services-recovering-after-apparent-widespread-issue/ar-AA1GBAfM">widespread service problems</a> being reported with other popular sites (Bluesky <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/status.bsky.app/post/3mits76o4pk2b">officially</a> blamed the temporary problems on an "upstream service provider"). What made this outage notable for many Bluesky users, though, was the instant assumption that it was the result of sloppy, AI-assisted "vibe coding" by the Bluesky development team. Amid Monday's service issues, many Bluesky feeds were <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/alraven.bsky.social/post/3mitjgqaqys2r">filled</a> with <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/melfluff.bsky.social/post/3mitxkwgsn22s">hundreds</a> of <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/tommothecabbit.bsky.social/post/3mitlm6ribs2i">posts</a> that <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/cargie.baby/post/3mith72brks2k">laid the blame</a> on <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/korybing.bsky.social/post/3mitzxa4b5c27">developers</a> who were <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/metalheadronin.bsky.social/post/3mitnvgvd6s2r">allegedly relying on unreliable AI tools</a> to ship faulty code. Some posters <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/trannieoakley.meangirls.online/post/3mitpzykpls2f">used memes</a>, others <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/idolizedpat.bsky.social/post/3mitxp44v322f">used alt text</a>, still others used <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/tranniehathaway.bsky.social/post/3mitkbbokf226">irony</a> or <a href="https://bsky.app/profile/lexluddy.xyz/post/3mithvyvphs26">wry humor</a> to call out Bluesky's development team for this alleged sloppiness.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/bluesky-users-are-mastering-the-fine-art-of-blaming-everything-on-vibe-coding/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/04/bluesky-users-are-mastering-the-fine-art-of-blaming-everything-on-vibe-coding/#comments">Comments</a>

Linux kernel maintainers are following through on removing Intel 486 support

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 16:39:12 -0000

Linux devs think even one second spent on 486 support is a second too many.

One point in favor of the sprawling Linux ecosystem is its broad hardware support—the kernel officially supports everything from '90s-era PC hardware to Arm-based Apple Silicon chips, thanks to decades of combined effort from hardware manufacturers and motivated community members. But nothing can last forever, and for a few years now, Linux maintainers (including Linus Torvalds) <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/05/linux-to-end-support-for-1989s-hottest-chip-the-486-with-next-release/">have been pushing</a> to drop kernel support for Intel's 80486 processor. This chip was originally introduced in 1989, was replaced by the first Intel Pentium in 1993, and was fully discontinued in 2007. Code commits <a href="https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.1-Phasing-Out-i486">suggest</a> that Linux kernel version 7.1 will be the first to follow through, making it impossible to build a version of the kernel that will support the 486; Phoronix <a href="https://www.phoronix.com/news/Linux-7.1-Phasing-Out-i486">says</a> that additional kernel changes to remove 486-related code will follow in subsequent kernel versions. Although these chips haven't changed in decades, maintaining support for them in modern software isn't free.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/linux-kernel-maintainers-are-following-through-on-removing-intel-486-support/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/linux-kernel-maintainers-are-following-through-on-removing-intel-486-support/#comments">Comments</a>

Intel is going all-in on advanced chip packaging

Tue, 07 Apr 2026 09:00:03 -0000

Intel is hoping to cash in on the AI boom.

Sixteen miles north of Albuquerque, in Rio Rancho, New Mexico, an <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/intel-arizona-fabrication-chips-trump-manufacturing/">Intel chip plant</a> sits on more than 200 acres of land. The site was established in the 1980s, part of it built on top of a sod farm. In 2007, as Intel’s business faltered, operations in one of the key fabs, Fab 9, came to a halt. Employees say families of raccoons and a badger took up residence in the space. Then, in January 2024, the dormant fab was booted up again. Intel funneled billions into the facility, including $500 million it was granted from the US CHIPS Act. Now, Fab 9 and its neighbor, Fab 11X, are critical infrastructure for one of Intel’s quietly fast-growing businesses: advanced chip packaging. Packaging involves combining multiple chiplets, or smaller components, onto a single, custom chip. Over the past six months, Intel has been signaling that its advanced packaging business, which operates within the Foundry chip-making arm of the company, is having a growth spurt. The company’s efforts around this have it going head-to-head with <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/tsmc-tariffs-trump-impacts/">Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation</a>, which far surpasses Intel’s production in terms of scale. But in an era where <a href="https://www.wired.com/tag/artificial-intelligence/">AI</a> is driving demand for all kinds of computing power, and leading nearly every major tech company to consider making its own custom chips, Intel thinks this effort can help it grab a bigger slice of the AI pie.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/intel-is-going-all-in-on-advanced-chip-packaging/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/intel-is-going-all-in-on-advanced-chip-packaging/#comments">Comments</a>

Teardown of unreleased LG Rollable shows why rollable phones aren't a thing

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 17:39:07 -0000

LG almost released a rollable smartphone in 2021, and this is what it looked like inside.

LG was once a heavyweight in the smartphone industry, trading blows with hometown rival Samsung. However, as smartphone sales plateaued, the company struggled to stay competitive. In 2021, LG <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/01/lg-claims-its-rollable-screen-smartphone-is-coming-early-this-year/">planned to make waves with a rollable phone</a>, but it never moved beyond the teaser phase. Five years after LG <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/04/after-a-decade-of-failure-lg-officially-quits-the-smartphone-market/">threw in the towel on smartphones</a>, the LG Rollable has appeared in a YouTube teardown that demonstrates why this form factor never took off. The LG Rollable is just one of several rollable concept phones that appeared throughout the early 2020s. Flexible OLED screens had finally become affordable, leading to foldable phones like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold. Although, "affordable" is relative here. Foldables were and still are very expensive devices. Based on what we can see of the complex inner workings of the LG Rollable, these devices may have commanded even higher prices. Noted YouTube phone destroyer JerryRigEverything managed to snag a working prototype LG Rollable. It may even be the unit LG demoed at CES 2021. The device looks like a regular phone at first glance, but a quick swipe activates the motor, which unfurls additional screen real estate from around the back. This makes the viewable area about 40 percent larger without the added thickness of a foldable.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/teardown-of-unreleased-lg-rollable-shows-why-rollable-phones-arent-a-thing/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/teardown-of-unreleased-lg-rollable-shows-why-rollable-phones-arent-a-thing/#comments">Comments</a>

Netflix must refund customers for years of price hikes, Italian court rules

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 17:41:51 -0000

Consumer group says it will sue if Netflix doesn't reduce current prices.

A Rome court has ruled that the price hikes Netflix imposed on subscribers in Italy in 2017, 2019, 2021, and 2024 were unlawful. The court ordered Netflix to refund affected customers by up to 500 euros (about $576), depending on their plan. The lawsuit was brought by Italian consumer advocacy group Movimento Consumatori, which alleged that the price hikes violate the Consumer Code, Italian legislation that aims to protect consumer rights. The Consumer Code <a href="https://www.normattiva.it/esporta/attoCompleto?atto.dataPubblicazioneGazzetta=2005-10-08&atto.codiceRedazionale=005G0232">says</a> it's unlawful for a “professional to unilaterally modify the clauses of the contract, or the characteristics of the product or service to be provided, without a justified reason indicated in the contract itself,” according to a Google-provided translation. The court’s April 1 ruling determined that Netflix's contracts were required to explain in advance why prices or other terms might change in the future.<a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/netflix-ordered-to-refund-subscribers-up-to-e500-for-unlawful-price-hikes/">Read full article</a> <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/04/netflix-ordered-to-refund-subscribers-up-to-e500-for-unlawful-price-hikes/#comments">Comments</a>

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