Gold isn’t inert, it just has bodyguards protecting it

Individual gold atoms move around to form oxidation-proof structures. Gold is weird. It’s one of the few metals that doesn’t really oxidize. Even silver and copper—from the same column of the periodic table—form weak oxides. Naively, you might expect that gold would tarnish just like silver. Gold also sits…

First Drive: The 2027 Rivian R2 entirely changes the EV game

​Rivian’s second EV is the sub-$60,000 R2, and it was worth the wait.  Rivian provided flights from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City, Utah, and accommodation so Ars could drive the R2. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. This month, Rivian begins customer deliveries of the highly anticipated…

Say hi to “Siri AI”—Apple announces new, more “conversational” voice assistant 

New features coming this fall alongside two-tiered, Google-powered AI model overhaul.  Today at its pre-filmed Worldwide Developers Conference keynote, Apple was finally prepared to fully introduce the long-delayed “Apple Intelligence” update for its Siri voice assistant. The new “Siri AI”—now being promised for OS updates rolling out “this fall”—will…

Gemini 3.5 and Antigravity come to Google NotebookLM

NotebookLM is getting a big upgrade, but it’s only for AI Ultra and enterprise accounts right now.  Google’s NotebookLM was one of the company’s first forays into generative AI technology, and in un-Googley fashion, it hasn’t been shut down yet. In fact, NotebookLM is getting one of its biggest…