New skill tree paths offer a fun twist on some generally familiar mechanics. Diablo II is one of those storied classic PC games that’s pretty much always fun to come back to—so much so that some players have put thousands of hours into the game over more than two…
There seems to be a deep-seated association between sounds and shapes. Does “bouba” sound round to you? How about “maluma”? Neither are real words, but we’ve known for decades that people who hear them tend to associate them with round objects. There have been plenty of ideas put forward…
Everyone’s trying to get mileage as F1 undergoes huge technical changes. It’s just two weeks until F1 gets underway in Australia, and teams are currently in Bahrain, midway through their third and final preseason test. The 2026 season promises to be wildly different from those of the past few…
Where we’re racing, we don’t need roads. In Formula One, grip is everything. The world’s best engineers devote their careers to designing cars that maximize downforce and grip to squeeze every bit of performance out of a set of four humble tires. These cars punish their drivers by slinging…
“It raises the possibility that social motivation plays a role in why some dogs end up learning object names.” We love hearing about the latest findings coming out of an Eötvös Loránd University (ELU) research group focused on gifted word learner (GWL) dogs—if only for the pictures of adorable…
Two of Ars’ favorite electric vehicles are now available for not very much money. 2026 is looking like a pretty good year for affordable electric vehicles. There’s a new Nissan Leaf that starts at a hair under $30,000 (as long as you ignore the destination charge). We’ll soon drive…
The 26.3 updates were mostly invisible; these changes are more significant. This week, Apple released the first developer betas for iOS 26.4, iPadOS 26.4, macOS 26.4, and its other operating systems. On Tuesday, it followed those up with public beta versions of the same updates. Usually released around the…
Femtosecond lasers etch data into a very stable medium. Archival storage poses lots of challenges. We want media that is extremely dense and stable for centuries or more, and, ideally, doesn’t consume any energy when not being accessed. Lots of ideas have floated around—even DNA has been considered—but one…
Google’s new budget phone is here, but don’t expect a big upgrade. It’s that time of year—a new budget Pixel phone is about to hit virtual shelves. The Pixel 10a will be available on March 5, and pre-orders go live today. The 9a will still be on sale for…
Synchrotron radiation imaging revealed a porous, almost sponge-like nanostructure to create bright hues In Qing dynasty China, artisans augmented decorative pieces by incorporating iridescent kingfisher feathers—a technique known as tian-tsui. Scientists at Northwestern University’s Center for Scientific Studies in the Arts have used high-energy X-ray imaging to achieve unprecedented…
