Current amphibian development may not have been typical of early land vertebrates. For decades, biologists thought that early tetrapods, ancient vertebrates that started conquering the land over 300 million years ago, developed like modern amphibians—beginning their lives as purely aquatic tadpoles and then metamorphosing into terrestrial adults. “A lot…
Sci-fi author/tech journalist Cory Doctorow on his new book, The Reverse Centaur’s Guide to Life After AI. Last year, we featured a lengthy interview with tech journalist/science fiction author Cory Doctorow about his book, Enshittification: Why Everything Suddenly Got Worse and What To Do About It. The prolific Doctorow…
The purpose of Starfall is to support the “transport and delivery of goods through space.” A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket lifted off on Tuesday to test a new reentry vehicle designed to deliver cargo anywhere in the world from low-Earth orbit. The company developed the new saucer-shaped reentry pod,…
Critics saw the move as an underhanded way to steer them toward more costly chips. Consumer AMD CPUs will once again offer encryption protections against physical attacks after facing user backlash for silently removing the feature. As Ars reported last week, AMD stripped the protection, known as TSME, from…
Valve says it’s using a randomized purchase queue to make the experience “less frustrating and more fair.” The Steam Machine is almost here. Valve chose possibly the worst time to announce new PC gaming hardware in late 2025, just as the AI boom sent storage and RAM prices through…
Tesla touts Autopilot as lifesaving a day after grandmother died in crash. An elderly Texas woman tragically died Friday after a man who told police he was relying on his Tesla Model 3’s automated driver-assistance mode lost control and crashed his car into her family’s home. In a statement,…
The cuts and redundancies are part of a plan to “simplify the company,” the CEO says. Just three months ago, Lucid Motors showed off a new midsize electric vehicle platform that it said would give rise to a number of new vehicles in the coming years. The Saudi-backed startup…
The Space Force wants to cut the time to field new satellites from years to weeks, days, or hours. Rocket Lab quietly launched a small satellite from New Zealand on Friday in a high-flying military exercise to test the US Space Force’s ability to rapidly respond to a crisis…
The high-altitude race is a unique test of car and driver. Chevrolet provided flights from Albany, New York, to Denver, Colorado, and accommodation so Ars could attend the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—If you drive the 12.4-mile (20 km),…
At least three coal plants have been repeatedly cited for violating environmental regulations. In 2023, after years of pollution, equipment failures, and health concerns, the Cumberland Fossil Plant in Tennessee was slated to close within the decade. The coal-fired plant had been part of a multibillion-dollar settlement in 2011…
