Cable lobby to sue Trump FCC over repeal of national TV ownership cap
Cable lobby groups notified the Federal Communications Commission that they will sue the agency to block its controversial repeal of the National Television Ownership Rule, which…
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Ars Technica
The latest from Ars Technica, part of our Tech News coverage. Updated automatically as new posts are published.
Texas city demands $2M for public records on Flock usage
As bipartisan backlash against Flock grows, some cities are asking anti-surveillance advocates and media outlets to pay eye-popping fees—including charging tens of thousands or…
Command-line tool quickly removes Apple Intelligence from macOS 27
A new tool is allowing Mac users the ability again to easily turn off Apple Intelligence with one click and free up to 12GB of storage. Unlike with previous versions of macOS…
Controlling the brain with light earns a physiology Nobel
Over decades of research, scientists have built up a partial picture of what specialized cells within the brain and spinal cord do. By studying how the brain develops, they could…
Russian drones strike Ukraine’s data centers by exploiting air defense gaps
A surge in Russian jet-powered drone strikes on Ukrainian data centers has increasingly disrupted mobile phone and Internet services for thousands of people. Now Ukraine…
F1 in Bahrain... in Malaysia: The race needed a software update to start
Well, it’s safe to say no Bahrain Grand Prix has been affected by torrential rain quite like the 2026 race. For one thing, it was held several thousand miles from Bahrain itself…
Mass quarantine issued in Russia after unexplained death of plague researcher
Roughly 200 people are under medical observation, several hospitals are under quarantine, and dozens are in isolation in Russia following the unexplained death of an infectious…
AI glasses face their first major government crackdown
Norway has become the first major country to propose a temporary ban on the use of AI glasses in selected public places amid growing privacy concerns over wearable technology…
Explaining Hall-effect, TMR, and other new types of "mechanical" switches
The mechanical keyboard isn't always so mechanical anymore. Over the past six years, keyboards with optical, Hall-effect, and other "contactless" switches have become…
New forensic evidence supports Egyptian "retainer sacrifice"
Egyptologists have long debated whether the earliest pharoahs of the First Dynasty were buried with various servants and officials to serve them in the afterlife—a form of human…
Lions and cheetahs and chimps, oh my: a spotlight on Africa's diverse wildlife
Chimps fish for algae in a rare example of primate tool use. Credit: National Geographic A wild African black panther prowls for prey. An orphaned baby pangolin must learn how to…
All hail electrification. But let’s talk about the hard part.
If one form of energy becomes the cheapest, most secure, and cleanest, you’d probably adjust your economy to use more of it, right? That’s one of the ideas underpinning a report…
Milt Windler, NASA flight director who helped save Apollo 13, dies at 94
Milt Windler, one of the four leaders of Mission Control who in 1970 directed the round-the-clock efforts to bring the Apollo 13 astronauts back to Earth safely, has died at the…
The dawn of the age of the exoskeleton
This year, members of Seattle Mountain Rescue have been setting off into the wilds of the US Pacific Northwest wearing an unusual piece of kit. They’ve been hiking into the…
Apple changes full-disk access permissions to curb abuse from AI agents
Apple says it is changing its macOS privacy settings to stop third-party app developers from misusing them to access message histories. Friday's announcement comes two weeks…
Someone got Doom in an SQL database
"Rendering Doom in a database is obviously a bad idea," Lukas Vogel writes in a lengthy blog post explaining how exactly he managed to render Doom using an SQL database. OK…
Amazon’s $1B plan to combat data center backlash draws more backlash
AI summary Amazon has committed to donating $1 billion over five years to communities near its data centers, but critics say the plan does not address major concerns about pollution and…
Patient-zero drill put health facilities to the test—40% of them failed
AI summary A study found that 40% of healthcare facilities in New York failed to properly respond to a simulated pandemic scenario, with slow responses and inconsistent use of personal…
Lyft settles landmark driver misclassification lawsuit for $272.5M
AI summary Lyft has agreed to a $272.5 million settlement with California authorities over allegations of misclassifying drivers as independent contractors rather than employees between…
The 2008 economic crisis changed the US's relationship with energy
AI summary The 2008 economic crisis changed the US's relationship with energy, causing a long-term decline in carbon emissions despite steady economic growth.
US arrests tech CEO accused of smuggling $300M in Nvidia chips into China
AI summary US authorities arrested Greg Lui, CEO of Earthmade Computer, for allegedly smuggling $300M worth of Nvidia chips into China using false paperwork.
Research roundup: 6 cool science stories we almost missed
AI summary Scientists report potential dark matter detection, entanglement of Z bosons, and a new building material made from Martian rocks and yeast.
US military ends long-running program to spot nuclear missile launches
AI summary The US military has ended its Defense Support Program, a 55-year-old satellite constellation that detected nuclear missile launches. The program's final two satellites were…
How I kept cool with NYC's free battery program for window AC units
AI summary A New York City startup, Every Electric, offers a free battery program that allows households to keep running window air conditioners during peak demand periods while earning…
Cybertruck sales in free fall as Tesla reports mediocre sales for Q3
Tesla sold 486,532 electric vehicles during the third quarter of 2026. That’s a 2.1 percent decrease on the same quarter in 2025, when the company found homes for 497,099 EVs…
The 7-year-old Nvidia Shield TV is now $100 more expensive due to AI
The era of generative AI has upended technology supply chains, and there is one ironclad rule in 2026: If it has memory or storage, it's getting more expensive. Even devices with…
Rocket Report: SpaceX completes launch triple-header; Rocket Lab nets big contract
Welcome to Edition 9.13 of the Rocket Report! This week, SpaceX celebrated the first orbital launch of its new Starship rocket. I'm not sure many people, at least those outside…
TCL is right to question Samsung’s use of the term “Mini LED”
What makes a display a Mini LED display? It's a question that sounds like it should have a simple answer. But it's now at the center of a lawsuit between two of the biggest names…
Venus' mysterious haze is actually cosmic dust
AI summary A study found that Venus' lower haze is formed by cosmic dust particles from meteorites, not volcanic ash or surface dust, through a process similar to cloud formation on Earth.
SpaceX describes surgical intervention before launch of latest crew mission
AI summary A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket carrying a four-person crew, including the first Black woman to lead a mission, launched from Cape Canaveral and is en route to the International Space…