Enlarge / The Falcon 9 during the launch of the abort test. Today, SpaceX attempted a critical test of its ability to launch humans to orbit: the ability to get them away from the rocket if things go wrong. Shortly after liftoff, the company shut down the main engines of its Falcon 9 rocket, and …
SpaceX successfully completes its Dragon abort test [Updated] Read More »
Enlarge / When Apple TV+ landed on November 1, it did not include all of these original series, thanks to its “soft launch.” (credit: Apple) When Apple TV+ launched in November 2019, it was the first of four major video-streaming services that would launch between then and May of the next year. It was also …
Apple TV+: Can it be saved before everyone’s free trials run out? Read More »
Enlarge / Because Mediterranean smooth clams live up to their name, their shells produce a cleaner cutting edge than others. (credit: Villa et al. 2020) There may be a little more evidence to suggest that Neanderthals waded, swam, and even dove to gather resources along the shores of the Mediterranean. A new study claims Neanderthals …
Neanderthals may have been shallow free divers, suggests a new study Read More »
Enlarge / NBCUniversal kicks off its new Peacock streaming service on TODAY at 30 Rockefeller Plaza (credit: Nathan Congleton | Getty Images) This July, NBCUniversal and Comcast will launch a new streaming service, Peacock. (Xfinity cable customers will get an advanced version in April.) It will house NBC classics like Parks and Recreation, Frasier, and …
(credit: Jason Riedy / Flickr) Forensic evidence shows signs that a Georgia election server may have been hacked ahead of the 2016 and 2018 elections by someone who exploited Shellshock, a critical flaw that gives attackers full control over vulnerable systems, a computer security expert said in a court filing on Thursday. Shellshock came to …
A Georgia election server was vulnerable to Shellshock and may have been hacked Read More »
Enlarge / The intruders are… unpleasant. (credit: Awaken Realms) Welcome to Ars Cardboard, our weekend look at tabletop games! Check out our complete board gaming coverage at cardboard.arstechnica.com. You’re roused early from cold sleep. The ship’s hibernatorium—and likely the remainder of the ship—is running on half power. There’s a body nearby. More accurately, there’s a …
Nemesis brings alien impregnation horror to your tabletop—and it works Read More »
Enlarge / The cyanobacteria in flasks contribute to the structure at right. (credit: Cell Press) It seems like every week, I can do an article on some interesting science that ended up buried under hyperbolic headlines and overly credible coverage. This week’s victim is “living concrete.” It only sort of exists, in that the material …
Enlarge / Arrival’s first model, due out later this year, can carry 500 cubic feet of stuff and cover 200 miles between charging stops. (credit: Arrival) Hyundai and Kia announced Thursday that they are investing $111.5 million in Arrival, a startup British automaker building electric delivery vans. The three companies will jointly develop vehicles and …
A $100 million investment pulls an EV startup out of stealth mode Read More »
Enlarge / A Charter Spectrum vehicle. (credit: Charter) Charter is killing its home-security service and telling customers that security devices they’ve purchased will stop working once the service is shut down on February 5. The impending shutdown and customers’ anger at Charter—a cable company also known by the brand name “Spectrum”—has been widely reported over the …
Smart homes will turn dumb overnight as Charter kills security service Read More »
Enlarge / Former Vice President Joe Biden poking at a mobile phone in October 2019. (credit: SAUL LOEB/AFP | Getty Images) Former Vice President Joe Biden is calling for one of the primary laws defining how Internet content is regulated to be “revoked,” adding that the “little creeps” who run some of Silicon Valley’s biggest …
Biden wants Sec. 230 gone, calls tech “totally irresponsible,” “little creeps” Read More »