Single-shot HIV treatment suppresses virus 10,000-fold for months, animal study finds
Engineered virus-like particles can outcompete HIV in the body, potentially offering long-term viral suppression after a single dose, a monkey study suggests.
TECH DEIYO
Science and Technolgy blog
Novel technique allows malicious apps to escape iOS and Android guardrails
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Phishers are using a novel technique to trick iOS and Android users into installing malicious apps that bypass safety guardrails built by both Apple and Google to prevent unauthorized apps. Both mobile operating systems employ mechanisms…
German warship floats down Thames while playing Darth Vader’s theme
The German navy going “full Empire” down the Thames. The FGS Braunschweig is a German naval corvette made for stealthy littoral (shoreline) operations, but the Braunschweig ditched the stealth completely while transiting up the Thames this week on a training…
Telco fined $1M for transmitting Biden deepfake without verifying Caller ID
Enlarge / President Joe Biden leaving the White House on August 16, 2024, in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Anna Moneymaker ) A phone company agreed to pay a $1 million fine for transmitting spoofed robocalls in which a…
Chick-fil-A cooking up new “family-friendly” video streaming service
Enlarge / Would you like a streaming subscription with that? (credit: Getty) Look out, Peacock. There’s reportedly a new video streaming service that’s avian-themed. The fast-food chain Chick-fil-A plans to launch a video streaming service, Deadline reported today, citing anonymous…
Expanding antibiotic treatment in sub-Saharan Africa could save kids’ lives
Current guidelines limit treatment to infants. Giving antibiotics to at-risk kids under 5, too, has an indirect effect on infant survival, a new trial shows.
Microsoft will try the data-scraping Windows Recall feature again in October
Enlarge / The Recall feature provides a timeline of screenshots and a searchable database of text, thoroughly tracking everything about a person’s PC usage. (credit: Microsoft) Microsoft will begin sending a revised version of its controversial Recall feature to Windows…
Was the Wow! signal actually a space maser?
Enlarge / The Wow! signal, represented as “6EQUJ5,” was discovered in 1977 by astronomer Jerry Ehman. (credit: Public domain) An unusually bright burst of radio waves—dubbed the Wow! signal—discovered in the 1970s has baffled astronomers ever since, given the tantalizing…
Watch a star get destroyed by a supermassive black hole in the 1st simulation of its kind
Stars that wander too close to supermassive black holes may be violently undone in a process called “spaghettification.” New simulations provide the most detailed look ever at the gory interaction.
Google can’t defend shady Chrome data hoarding as “browser agnostic,” court says
Enlarge (credit: Thomas Trutschel / Contributor | Photothek) Chrome users who declined to sync their Google accounts with their browsing data secured a big privacy win this week after previously losing a proposed class action claiming that Google secretly collected…
Pixel 9 phones: The Gemini AI stuff, reviewed
Enlarge / I asked Gemini to “reimagine” the background of this Pixel 9 group shot (originally on beige paper) as “science fiction moonscape,” and then used “Auto frame” to expand the initially tight shot. Maybe that explains why this moon…
Ars Technica content is now available in OpenAI services
Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica) On Tuesday, OpenAI announced a partnership with Ars Technica parent company Condé Nast to display content from prominent publications within its AI products, including ChatGPT and a new SearchGPT prototype. It also allows OpenAI to use…
The world’s fastest microscope makes its debut
Using a laser and an electron beam, the microscope can snap images of moving electrons every 625 quintillionths of a second.
World’s fastest microscope can see electrons moving
Scientists have created the world’s fastest microscope, which they hope will answer fundamental questions about how electrons behave.
Pixel 9 family: The “just hardware” review (no AI)
Enlarge / For this “neutral,” hardware-focused review of the Pixel 9 phones, I asked the Pixel to “reimagine” a “neutral white background.” (credit: Kevin Purdy / Gemini AI) I asked Google’s Gemini Live chatbot, running on a new Pixel 9…
Heaviest antimatter particle ever discovered could hold secrets to our universe’s origins
The newly found antiparticle, called antihyperhydrogen-4, could have a potential imbalance with its matter counterpart that may help scientists understand how our universe came to be.
Federal judge in Texas strikes down FTC’s ban on noncompete agreements
Enlarge / Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan arrives to testify before the House Appropriations Subcommittee at the Rayburn House Office Building on May 15, 2024 in Washington, DC. (credit: Getty Images | Kevin Dietsch ) A federal judge in…
“Disappointing”: Sonos CEO says old, user-preferred app can’t be re-released
Enlarge / Sonos’ updated app was reportedly rushed out before the release of Sonos’ Ace headphones (pictured). (credit: Sonos) Sonos’ new app was launched and reviewed so poorly that the company is expecting to spend $20 to $30 million on…
New study links women’s tanning habits to romantic self-perception and rivalry with other women
A new study published in Evolutionary Behavioral Sciences sheds light on the reasons why some women engage in tanning behaviors, even when they are aware of the potential health risks. The researchers found that women’s attitudes toward tanning and the…
Ford rethinks EV strategy again—ditching 3-row SUVs, adding vans
Enlarge / Ford hoped to build 600,000 EVs a year by now, a mix of Mustang Mach-E crossovers, E-Transit vans, and F-150 Lightning pickups. This year, sales are up 71 percent so far; by the end of June, Ford had…
‘Turning to Stone’ paints rocks as storytellers and mentors
Part memoir, part geology explainer, Marcia Bjornerud’s latest book explores the hidden wisdom of Earth’s rocks.
CrowdStrike unhappy with “shady commentary” from competitors after outage
Enlarge / Shares in SentinelOne and Palo Alto Networks have risen since July’s IT outage, while CrowdStrike has shed almost a quarter of its market value. (credit: Getty Images) CrowdStrike’s president hit out at “shady” efforts by its cyber security…
Trump’s Facebook posts tended to elicit positive emotions, even when they were antagonistic, study finds
An analysis of a vast number of Facebook posts from the United States, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Belgium, France, and Germany reveals that posts from alternative and hyper-partisan media, as well as those from populist politicians and parties, tend to…
The historic ‘Wow!’ signal may finally have a source. Sorry, it’s not aliens
One of the best possible signs of extraterrestrial communication may have an astrophysical explanation — albeit a weird one.
VW has finally announced ID. Buzz pricing—it’s better than we expected
Enlarge / Eight years after the concept first wowed crowds, the Volkswagen ID. Buzz is ready to go on sale in the US. (credit: James Lipman/VW) If it feels like many years since you first saw Volkswagen’s retro electric microbus,…
New AI algorithm can predict the ‘tipping points’ for future disasters, scientists say
Predicting dangerous tipping points in complex systems has proven to be a headache for scientists. Now, a new AI system could be poised to do the job for them.
‘Stunning’ Bronze Age burial chamber discovered on the English moor
The stone-lined tomb could provide an unprecedented look at life in Bronze Age England.
Narcissists, psychopaths, and sadists often believe they are morally superior
People who exhibit traits like narcissism, Machiavellianism, psychopathy, and sadism often believe they are morally superior to others, even when evidence suggests otherwise, according to new research published in the journal Personality Disorders: Theory, Research, and Treatment. The study found…
Many flowers and ferns lure in ants as bodyguards
Earth’s Cretaceous Period is well-known for its huge, lumbering dinosaurs. But many smaller organisms were shaping the landscape at the same time. And the results of these battles can still be seen in today’s woods and gardens. This period is…
Astronomers find black hole’s favorite snack: ‘The star appears to be living to die another day’
Astronomers have pinned down a faraway black hole’s snack schedule after watching it devour a star across years.
1,000-year-old remains of ‘elite woman’ in silk cloak found in abandoned fortress in Mongolia
The burial site was hidden inside an abandoned fortress in Mongolia and contained the remains of a prestigious woman.
Children of parents with psychiatric disorders face increased risks, but most avoid serious diagnoses
A new study offers a look at the ripple effects of parental mental health conditions on children, revealing a broad spectrum of risks that extend beyond the same psychiatric conditions that afflict their parents. The study, published in the American…
“Something has gone seriously wrong,” dual-boot systems warn after Microsoft update
Enlarge (credit: Getty Images) Last Tuesday, loads of Linux users—many running packages released as early as this year—started reporting their devices were failing to boot. Instead, they received a cryptic error message that included the phrase: “Something has gone seriously…
Fear of being single, romantic disillusionment, dating anxiety: Untangling the psychological connections
For many, the prospect of being single is daunting, especially in a world where romantic relationships are often viewed as essential to happiness and social status. But does the fear of being single heighten dating anxiety, particularly in the context…
CEO of failing hospital chain got $250M amid patient deaths, layoffs, bankruptcy
Enlarge / Hospital staff and community members held a protest in front of Carney Hospital in Boston on August 5 as Steward has announced it will close the hospital. “Ralph” refers to Steward’s CEO, Ralph de la Torre, who owns…
Disney cancels The Acolyte after one season
Enlarge / We have doubts that any amount of Force powers will bring the show back. (credit: YouTube/Disney+) In news that will delight some and disappoint others, Disney has canceled Star Wars series The Acolyte after just one season, Deadline…
World’s oldest person, Maria Branyas Morera, dies at 117 years old
Maria Branyas Morera, the world’s oldest person, has died. She was 117 years old.
Intense solar storm opens ‘2-way highway’ for charged particles, sparking rare auroras on the sun
Last year, Earth spewed charged particles into the sun in a rare cosmic event that has surprised scientists.
Healthy diet linked to lower anxiety risk, new research finds
A study recently published in Nutritional Neuroscience found that people who follow a healthy diet are less likely to suffer from anxiety disorders, while those who adhere to more Westernized or mixed diets might face greater challenges with anxiety severity.…
Scientists reveal a fascinating neurocognitive trait linked to heightened creativity
A recent study published in the journal Brain and Cognition has found that creativity is linked with a reduced brain response to unusual, or “oddball,” stimuli. This suggests that creative individuals process the importance of surprising information differently, which may…
Peter Molyneux is back with yet another new take on the “god game”
Welcome back to Albion. [credit: 22cans ] If you’re a gamer of a certain age, you probably have fond memories of Peter Molyneux as the mind behind ambitious games like Populous, Dungeon Keeper, and the Fable series. If you’re of…
Civilization VII hands-on: This strategy sequel rethinks the long game
Enlarge / Firaxis has upped the ante on presentation for the cities. It’s still a bit abstract and removed, but they have more vibrancy, detail, and movement than before. (credit: 2K Games) 2K Games provided a flight from Chicago to…
4 things ancient Greeks and Romans got right about mental health
They figured out that some mental illnesses can be prevented and treated.
The Great Circle is Indiana Jones for a post-Uncharted world
Enlarge / A time traveler with a flashlight would blow Indiana Jones’ mind. At first glance, Wolfenstein: The New Order developer MachineGames might seem like an awkward fit for the first (non-Lego) Indiana Jones video game since the Wii era.…
Rare pre-Inca burials of 4 people found at ‘water cult’ temple in Peru
Archaeologists have found the skeletal remains of four people — two children, a teenager and an adult — at a site in Peru that predates the Incas.
Do hormonal contraceptives increase depression risk? A neuroscientist explains
More than 85% of women – and more than 300 million people worldwide at any given time – use hormonal contraceptives for at least five years of their life. Although primarily taken for birth control, many people also use hormonal…
How accurate are wearable fitness trackers? Less than you might think
Enlarge (credit: Corey Gaskin) Back in 2010, Gary Wolf, then the editor of Wired magazine, delivered a TED talk in Cannes called “the quantified self.” It was about what he termed a “new fad” among tech enthusiasts. These early adopters…
Nvidia is ditching dedicated G-Sync modules to push back against FreeSync’s ubiquity
Enlarge (credit: Nvidia) Back in 2013, Nvidia introduced a new technology called G-Sync to eliminate screen tearing and stuttering effects and reduce input lag when playing PC games. The company accomplished this by tying your display’s refresh rate to the…
The blue supermoon will ‘swallow’ Saturn tonight — here’s when the rare ‘lunar occultation’ begins
Here’s everything you need to know to see the moon as it occults, or passes completely in front of, the bright planet Saturn tonight.
Too many choices at the ballot box as has unexpected effect on voters, study suggests
When it comes to elections, the idea that more choices lead to better outcomes may not always hold true. A recent study conducted by Spencer Goidel at Auburn University explores the phenomenon of “choice overload” in elections and how it…
