Author name: Kris Guyer

“chaos”-at-state-health-agencies-after-us-illegally-axed-grants,-lawsuit-says

“Chaos” at state health agencies after US illegally axed grants, lawsuit says

Nearly half of US states sued the federal government and Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. today in a bid to halt the termination of $11 billion in public health grants. The lawsuit was filed by 23 states and the District of Columbia.

“The grant terminations, which came with no warning or legally valid explanation, have quickly caused chaos for state health agencies that continue to rely on these critical funds for a wide range of urgent public health needs such as infectious disease management, fortifying emergency preparedness, providing mental health and substance abuse services, and modernizing public health infrastructure,” said a press release issued by Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser.

The litigation is led by Colorado, California, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Washington. The other plaintiffs are Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin.

Nearly all of the plaintiffs are represented by a Democratic attorney general. Kentucky and Pennsylvania have Republican attorneys general and are instead represented by their governors, both Democrats.

The complaint, filed in US District Court for the District of Rhode Island, is in response to the recent cut of grants that were originally created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. “The sole stated basis for Defendants’ decision is that the funding for these grants or cooperative agreements was appropriated through one or more COVID-19 related laws,” the states’ lawsuit said.

The lawsuit says the US sent notices to states that grants were terminated “for cause” because “the grants and cooperative agreements were issued for a limited purpose: to ameliorate the effects of the pandemic. Now that the pandemic is over, the grants and cooperative agreements are no longer necessary as their limited purpose has run out.”

“Chaos” at state health agencies after US illegally axed grants, lawsuit says Read More »

apple-enables-rcs-messaging-for-google-fi-subscribers-at-last

Apple enables RCS messaging for Google Fi subscribers at last

With RCS, iPhone users can converse with non-Apple users without losing the enhanced features to which they’ve become accustomed in iMessage. That includes longer messages, HD media, typing indicators, and much more. Google Fi has several different options for data plans, and the company notes that RCS does use mobile data when away from Wi-Fi. Those on the “Flexible” Fi plan pay for blocks of data as they go, and using RCS messaging could inadvertently increase their bill.

If that’s not a concern, it’s a snap for Fi users to enable RCS on the new iOS update. Head to Apps > Messages, and then find the Text Messaging section to toggle on RCS. It may, however, take a few minutes for your phone number to be registered with the Fi RCS server.

In hindsight, the way Apple implemented iMessage was clever. By intercepting messages being sent to other iPhone phone numbers, Apple was able to add enhanced features to its phones instantly. It had the possibly intended side effect of reinforcing the perception that Android phones were less capable. This turned Android users into dreaded green bubbles that limited chat features. Users complained, and Google ran ads calling on Apple to support RCS. That, along with some pointed questions from reporters may have prompted Apple to announce the change in late 2023. It took some time, but you almost don’t have to worry about missing messaging features in 2025.

Apple enables RCS messaging for Google Fi subscribers at last Read More »

cheap-tvs’-incessant-advertising-reaches-troubling-new-lows

Cheap TVs’ incessant advertising reaches troubling new lows

As Distractify detailed, the video in question includes Noem telling people who live outside of the US that the US government will “hunt you down” if they enter the country illegally. Noem also claims in the video that “weak leadership has left our borders wide open, flooding our communities with drugs, human trafficking, and violent criminals.”

“This TV will be out of my house by the end of the week. Fucking dystopian bullshit company,” DoubleJumps said.

Ars Technica hasn’t been able to replicate this internally. We also haven’t seen other reports of Vizio TV owners seeing this ad. Vizio and parent company Walmart didn’t respond to requests for comment.

However, what DoubleJumps detailed is completely within the scope of Vizio’s advertising efforts. Vizio TVs have something called Scenic Mode, which has the sets show, per Vizio, “relaxing, ambient content when your TV is idle for a period of time,” along with ads. Scenic Mode can be disabled, but if it’s enabled, the ads cannot be turned off. Vizio says the ads help it pay for things like the TVs’ free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels and help keep Vizio TV prices low.

Vizio also has ties to political ads. It has previously boasted about its work with “a political candidate on an ad campaign that combined CTV ads with our Household Connect omnichannel feature to reach potential voters both on their TV sets and on other opted in devices.” The company says it can play a “powerful role… in helping political campaigns reach their intended audiences.” 

The possibility that the ad placement was a mistake doesn’t bring that much comfort either. If TV OS operators want to be so dependent on the advertising business, they owe it to customers to at least make sure errors like this (assuming this was an error) don’t happen.

Idle TVs are advertisers’ playthings

Even though Vizio TV owners can turn off Scenic Mode, a company marketing screensaver ads as “an experience that adds to the environment of your home or office” shows how far some TV brands are willing to go to make advertising dollars. Selling screensaver ad space to politicians delivering threats and associating immigration with “drugs, human trafficking,” and violence suggests a lack of discernment over what sort of ads are shown where. A political ad shown during a TV commercial break is reasonable. However, seeing one when using a TV functionality that’s supposed to offer “relaxing, ambient content” seems wholly misguided.

Cheap TVs’ incessant advertising reaches troubling new lows Read More »

research-roundup:-2,400-year-old-clay-puppets;-this-is-your-brain-on-klingon

Research roundup: 2,400-year-old clay puppets; this is your brain on Klingon


The stories we almost missed this month

Also: testing the efficacy of WWI “dazzle” camouflage; how the male blue-lined octopus survives deadly mating ritual.

Credit: J. Przedwojewska-Szymańska/PASI

It’s a regrettable reality that there is never time to cover all the interesting scientific stories we come across each month. In the past, we’ve featured year-end roundups of cool science stories we (almost) missed. This year, we’re experimenting with a monthly collection of such stories. March’s list includes fascinating papers on such topics as how the brain responds to speaking Klingon (or Dothraki, or Navi), the discovery of creepy preclassic Salvadoran puppets, the effectiveness of “dazzle camouflage,” and how male blue-lined octopuses manage not to be cannibalized by their chosen mates.

Wind Cave’s rocks fluoresce under black light

Several fluorescence measurements of a zebra calcite in Wind Cave were taken using portable spectrometers.

Several fluorescence measurements of a zebra calcite in Wind Cave were taken using portable spectrometers. Credit: Joshua Sebree

South Dakota’s Wind Cave gets its name from the flow of air moving continually through its many passages and equalizing the atmospheric pressure between the air inside and outside—almost like the cave is “breathing.” Its rock and mineral formations also boast a unique chemistry that fluoresces when exposed to black light, according to talks presented at the spring meeting of the American Chemical Society in San Diego. That fluorescence could shed light on how life can thrive in extreme environments, including that of Jupiter’s moon, Europa.

University of Northern Iowa astrobiologist Joshua Sebree and several students have been mapping new areas of Wind Cave (as well as other caves in the US), recording the passages, rock formations, minerals, and lifeforms they encounter in the process. They noticed that under UV light, certain parts of Wind Cave took on otherworldly hues, thanks to different concentrations of organic and inorganic fossilized chemical compounds. Those areas seem to indicate where water once flowed, carrying minerals into the cave from the surface 10,000 to 20,000 years ago, according to their analysis of the fluorescent spectra. Sebree et al. found that Wind Cave was likely carved out by waters rich in manganese, producing zebra stripes that glow pink under UV light, revealing the calcites that grew within as a result of those waters.

The physics of swing-top beer bottles

Three frames of a high-speed recording after popping a homebrewed bottle of beer.

Three frames of a high-speed recording after popping a homebrewed bottle of beer. Credit: Max Koch

So-called kitchen science is all the rage these days, with champagne, wine, and beer being particularly favorite subjects for experimentation. German physicist Max Koch of the University of Goettingen is as passionate about home brewing as he is about fluid dynamics. So naturally, Koch became fascinated by the distinctive “pop and slosh” sounds produced whenever he opened one of his home-brewed swing-top beer bottles. His experiments used a high-speed camera to capture the acoustics and underlying physics, augmented by audio recording and computer simulations.

Rather than producing a single shockwave, Koch and his co-authors discovered that the unique sound occurs because popping the lid produces a vibrating standing wave, thanks to condensation within the bottleneck, according to a paper published in the journal Physics of Fluids. They were surprised to find that the frequency of the pop was significantly lower than the resonance produced by blowing across the open bottle top, which they attributed to the sudden expansion of the carbon dioxide and a strong cooling effect that reduces sound speed. The sloshing is due to the bottle’s motion, and it’s possible that the lid hitting the glass after popping could produce more bubbles and hence gushing.

Physics of Fluids, 2025. DOI: 10.1063/5.0248739  (About DOIs).

How effective was WWI “dazzle paint”?

A painting by Norman Wilkinson of a moonlit convoy wearing his dazzle camouflage, 1918

A painting by Norman Wilkinson of a moonlit convoy wearing the dazzle camouflage he invented, 1918. Credit: Public domain

During World War I, ships were often painted with complex geometric shapes in contrasting and intersecting colors, dubbed “dazzle camouflage” and usually attributed to British marine artist Norman Wilkinson. The objective was to confuse enemy U-boat captains trying to determine the speed and direction of those ships, and a 1919 study seemed to support that hypothesis. Aston University researchers have revisited that original study and concluded that the horizon effect—in which ships viewed from a distance seem to be traveling along the horizon—is a more effective means of confusing enemy combatants, according to a paper published in the journal i-Perception.

The author of the 1919 study was an MIT marine engineering student named Leo Blodgett, who painted model ships in those geometric patterns and observed them with a model periscope in a mechanical test theater to see if he could determine whether an observer’s perception of the direction of travel was markedly different from the actual direction. He concluded that this was indeed the case and therefore dazzle paint was effective.

But according to the Aston scientists, Blodgett’s experiment did not have a solid control condition to warrant such a conclusion. So they revisited his 105-year-old data and ran their own version of Blodgett’s experiment, comparing results from his photographs showing the original dazzle camouflage with versions that had the camouflage patterns edited out. The results: the dazzle camouflage did work via a twist on perspective, but it was a small effect. The horizon effect had a much stronger confounding effect.

i-Perception, 2025. DOI: 10.1177/20416695241312316  (About DOIs).

Early Salvadoran clay puppets

These “Bolinas” figures were found in a Salvadorian pyramid.

These “Bolinas” figures were found in a Salvadoran pyramid. Credit: J. Przedwojewska-Szymańska/PASI

Archaeologists excavating the San Isidro pyramid in El Salvador have discovered five carved clay figurines dating back to around 400 BCE that may have been controlled with string like modern marionettes. Such “Bolinas” figures have also been found at a Mayan burial site in Guatemala, suggesting the two areas may have shared culture and civilization, according to a paper published in the journal Antiquity.

Three of the puppets were about a foot tall, with the other two measuring about 18 centimeters. The larger ones had adjustable heads connected to their bodies via matching sockets. The carved faces feature tongues, tattoos, and facial expressions that shift depending on the viewing angle: fearful when viewed from below and grinning from above, for example. The authors suggest that these puppets weren’t used as toys, but as “clay actors” in ritualistic funeral performances. “The universal impetus for creating scaled-down humanoid figures appears to be mimetic—that is, imbuing these handheld objects with deeper meanings that are readily decoded by the intended audience,” they concluded, although the shared cultural “code” for interpreting those meanings has been lost.

Antiquity, 2025. DOI: 10.15184/aqy.2025.37  (About DOIs).

This is your brain on Esperanto and Klingon

Worf, son of Mogh, is surprised by new fMRI study.

Worf, son of Mogh, is surprised by new fMRI study. Credit: Paramount+

J.R.R. Tolkien invented two Elvish languages (Quenya and Sindarin) when writing The Lord of the Rings trilogy. Star Trek has Klingon, the Avatar films have Na’vi, and Game of Thrones boasts two constructed languages, or conlangs: Dothraki and High Valyrian. There are even hardcore fans who have diligently become proficient in those invented languages. And apparently conlangs activate the same parts of the brain as their native tongues, according to a paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

MIT neuroscientist Evelina Fedorenko previously spearheaded studies on how the brain responds to stimuli that share certain language features—music, gestures, facial expressions, and computer programming languages like Python. None seemed to engage the language-processing areas of the brain. Curious about what makes natural language unique, Fedorenko et al. turned to conlangs. They organized a weekend conference featuring conlang creators as speakers and invited people fluent in Esperanto, Klingon, Na’vi, Dothraki, and High Valyrian to participate. They scanned 44 conlang speakers with fMRI as they listened to sentences in both their chosen conlang and their native tongue, performing nonlinguistic tasks as a control.

The results: The same language regions lit up regardless of whether they were speaking in their chosen conlang or native natural language. This helped the group determine that language responses appear to be driven in part by how they convey meaning about the interior and exterior world—objects, properties of objects, events, etc. Python, by contrast, is highly symbolic and abstract, disconnected from the everyday “real” world we experience. The group next plans to study how the brain responds to a different conlang called Lojban, created in the 1990s, to learn more about which language features activate the brain’s language centers.

PNAS, 2025. DOI: 10.1073/pnas.2313473122  (About DOIs).

Venom as a protective strategy for male octopuses

Male blue-lined octopuses inject females with venom during sex to avoid being eaten

Male blue-lined octopuses inject females with venom during sex to avoid being eaten. Credit: Wen-Sung Chung/University of Queensland

Sexual cannibalism—in which a female of the species consumes the male after copulating—is a very real thing in nature, seen in insect species like mantises and spiders, certain crustaceans and gastropods, and even certain species of octopus. Case in point: the blue-lined octopus (Hapalochlaena fasciata), a tiny creature found in shallow waters whose venom can be quite deadly, especially to humans. The females of the species might be the size of golf balls, but they are nonetheless significantly larger than the males and have a tendency to eat their mates.

Fortunately, the males have developed an effective defense strategy, according to a paper published in the journal Current Biology: They inject their chosen females with tetrodotoxin (a venom also produced by pufferfish) just before mating, temporarily paralyzing the females so the males can avoid being eaten. Scientists at the University of Queensland studied the behavior of mating blue-lined octopuses in the lab and noticed that males would bite the females near the aorta as the mating ritual commenced, flooding their systems with the venom.

This immobilized the females for the duration of the mating sessions (which lasted between 40 and 75 minutes); they largely stopped breathing, turned pale, and did not respond to visual stimuli during that time. The males actually increased their respiration rate as they used a specialized mating arm to deposit their sperm into the females’ oviducts to fertilize the eggs. The effects of the venom eventually wore off sufficiently for the females to push the males away without suffering any permanent effects. The authors suggest that female blue-lined octopuses may have evolved a tolerance to tetrodotoxin, ensuring they survive to lay their eggs and propagate the species.

Current Biology, 2025. DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2025.01.027  (About DOIs).

Rubber hand illusion alleviates pain

A rubber hand is perceived as part of your own body when you can't see your own.

A rubber hand is perceived as part of your own body when you can’t see your own. Credit: Damian Gorczany

One of the many strange things to come out of 21st-century neuroscience is the so-called rubber hand illusion, in which a subject’s hand is hidden and replaced by a rubber hand in the position where the real hand would be. When both the real and fake hands are stroked simultaneously, subjects respond as if the rubber hand were part of their body. Threaten the rubber hand by attempting to stab it with a dagger, for instance, and the participants exhibit an involuntary startle or fear response. It’s the combination of visual and tactile feedback that does it, and it only takes a few seconds for the illusion to kick in. And it’s not a purely psychological effect; there have been measurable physiological responses as well.

Scientists in Bochum, Germany, have now shown that the rubber hand illusion can also alleviate pain, according to a paper published in the journal Pain Reports. They recruited 34 right-handed subjects, evaluated their individual pain thresholds, then placed the subjects’ left hands behind a screen. A left rubber hand was placed in front of the subjects, which could be lit from below with red light. Then heat was applied at different temperatures to the hidden hand, while red light increased on the visible rubber hand. Subjects were asked to rate their pain in response.

The results: subjects’ perception of pain decreased noticeably when the rubber hand illusion was used, compared to control conditions. The authors don’t yet know what the underlying mechanism might be but suggest it could be related to visual analgesia, in which pain is considered less intense if someone can see the part of the body that is being hurt.

Pain Reports, 2025. DOI: 10.1097/PR9.0000000000001252  (About DOIs).

Photo of Jennifer Ouellette

Jennifer is a senior writer at Ars Technica with a particular focus on where science meets culture, covering everything from physics and related interdisciplinary topics to her favorite films and TV series. Jennifer lives in Baltimore with her spouse, physicist Sean M. Carroll, and their two cats, Ariel and Caliban.

Research roundup: 2,400-year-old clay puppets; this is your brain on Klingon Read More »

lithium-ion-battery-waste-fires-are-increasing,-and-vapes-are-a-big-part-of-it

Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it

2024 was “a year of growth,” according to fire-suppression company Fire Rover, but that’s not an entirely good thing.

The company, which offers fire detection and suppression systems based on thermal and optical imaging, smoke analytics, and human verification, releases annual reports on waste and recycling facility fires in the US and Canada to select industry and media. In 2024, Fire Rover, based on its fire identifications, saw 2,910 incidents, a 60 percent increase from the 1,809 in 2023, and more than double the 1,409 fires confirmed in 2022.

Publicly reported fire incidents at waste and recycling facilities also hit 398, a new high since Fire Rover began compiling its report eight years ago, when that number was closer to 275.

Lots of things could cause fires in the waste stream, long before lithium-ion batteries became common: “Fireworks, pool chemicals, hot (barbecue) briquettes,” writes Ryan Fogelman, CEO of Fire Rover, in an email to Ars. But lithium-ion batteries pose a growing problem, as the number of devices with batteries increases, consumer education and disposal choices remain limited, and batteries remain a very easy-to-miss, troublesome occupant of the waste stream.

All batteries that make it into waste streams are potentially hazardous, as they have so many ways of being set off: puncturing, vibration, overheating, short-circuiting, crushing, internal cell failure, overcharging, or inherent manufacturing flaws, among others. Fire Rover’s report notes that the media often portrays batteries as “spontaneously” catching fire. In reality, the very nature of waste handling makes it almost impossible to ensure that no battery will face hazards in handling, the report notes. Tiny batteries can be packed into the most disposable of items—even paper marketing materials handed out at conferences.

Fogelman estimates, based on his experience and some assumptions, that about half of the fires he’s tracking originate with batteries. Roughly $2.5 billion of loss to facilities and infrastructure came from fires last year, divided between traditional hazards and batteries, he writes.

Lithium-ion battery waste fires are increasing, and vapes are a big part of it Read More »

the-2025-bmw-m5-touring-review:-way-more-power,-way-too-much-weight

The 2025 BMW M5 Touring review: Way more power, way too much weight

Basic functions like adjusting the fan speed of the air conditioning system require taking your attention off of the road to call up the comfort settings on the display, and if you dare to venture further down the rabbit hole to adjust something else, you’ll find an app drawer-style menu filled with ambiguously named icons that rarely get you where you want to go the first time out.

Do I change the damper stiffness by pressing the M Mode button on the center console, or is it in the Drivetrain and chassis submenu under Driving Settings? The answer is neither. (In fact, you should use iDrive’s excellent voice commands so you can keep your hands on the wheel and your eyes on the road—Ed.)

With adjustments for throttle response, brake regeneration, steering weight, brake pedal responsiveness, transmission behavior, all-wheel drive system modes, simulated engine noise volume, and other performance-related features, you can create literally hundreds of different combinations of vehicle settings, but thankfully, the aforementioned M1 and M2 buttons on the steering wheel provide an easy way to call up one of your two favorite presets on the fly. The bigger concern, though, is how all of these augmentations and enhancements seem to conspire to hide the shortcomings of BMW’s design decisions but aren’t successful in doing so.

Chassis upgrades are a prerequisite for an M car, and with an M-tuned adaptative suspension, additional structural bracing, massive brake discs with six-piston calipers up front, four-wheel steering, and torque vectoring all on board as standard, the M5 certainly isn’t short on them. Given that, it’s reasonable to expect that an M model will have a firmer ride quality than its garden-variety counterpart.

But the vehicle has an additional measure of harshness as compared to previous M5 models, even under normal driving situations with the dampers set to their most relaxed mode, which I theorize is related to the suspension tuning needed to keep body motions controlled and maintain a sport-oriented feel despite the weight involved.

Don’t get me wrong, this is still a grand tourer of the highest order. Triple-digit speeds can be accessed with a brief stab of the throttle, and thanks to the improved ergonomics of the latest 5-Series and the model-specific sport seats that are both comfortable and supportive, the M5 will still devour highway miles with the best of them. At times when both the electric motor and the V8 are working together, the hybridized powertrain also delivers the kind of instant-on throttle response that’s typically reserved for EVs.

The 2025 BMW M5 Touring review: Way more power, way too much weight Read More »

google’s-new-experimental-gemini-2.5-model-rolls-out-to-free-users

Google’s new experimental Gemini 2.5 model rolls out to free users

Google released its latest and greatest Gemini AI model last week, but it was only made available to paying subscribers. Google has moved with uncharacteristic speed to release Gemini 2.5 Pro (Experimental) for free users, too. The next time you check in with Gemini, you can access most of the new AI’s features without a Gemini Advanced subscription.

The Gemini 2.5 branch will eventually replace 2.0, which was only released in late 2024. It supports simulated reasoning, as all Google’s models will in the future. This approach to producing an output can avoid some of the common mistakes that AI models have made in the past. We’ve also been impressed with Gemini 2.5’s vibe, which has landed it at the top of the LMSYS Chatbot arena leaderboard.

Google says Gemini 2.5 Pro (Experimental) is ready and waiting for free users to try on the web. Simply select the model from the drop-down menu and enter your prompt to watch the “thinking” happen. The model will roll out to the mobile app for free users soon.

While the free tier gets access to this model, it won’t have all the advanced features. You still cannot upload files to Gemini without a paid account, which may make it hard to take advantage of the model’s large context window—although you won’t get the full 1 million-token window anyway. Google says the free version of Gemini 2.5 Pro (Experimental) will have a lower limit, which it has not specified. We’ve added a few thousand words without issue, but there’s another roadblock in the way.

Google’s new experimental Gemini 2.5 model rolls out to free users Read More »

eu-will-go-easy-with-apple,-facebook-punishment-to-avoid-trump’s-wrath

EU will go easy with Apple, Facebook punishment to avoid Trump’s wrath

Brussels regulators are set to drop a case about whether Apple’s operating system discourages users from switching browsers or search engines, after Apple made a series of changes in an effort to comply with the bloc’s rules.

Levying any form of fines on American tech companies risks a backlash, however, as Trump has directly attacked EU penalties on American companies, calling them a “form of taxation,” while comparing fines on tech companies with “overseas extortion.”

“This is a crucial test for the commission,” a person from one of the affected companies said. “Further targeting US tech firms will heighten transatlantic tensions and provoke retaliatory actions and, ultimately, it’s member states and European businesses that will bear the cost.”

The US president has warned of imposing tariffs on countries that levy digital services taxes against American companies.

According to a memo released last month, Trump said he would look into taxes and regulations or policies that “inhibit the growth” of American corporations operating abroad.

Meta has previously said that its changes “meet EU regulator demands and go beyond what’s required by EU law.”

The planned decisions, which the officials said could still change before they are made public, are set to be presented to representatives of the EU’s 27 member states on Friday. An announcement on the fines is set for next week, although that timing could also still change.

The commission declined to comment.

© 2025 The Financial Times Ltd. All rights reserved. Not to be redistributed, copied, or modified in any way.

EU will go easy with Apple, Facebook punishment to avoid Trump’s wrath Read More »

elon-musk’s-x-has-a-new-owner—elon-musk’s-xai

Elon Musk’s X has a new owner—Elon Musk’s xAI

Elon Musk today said he has merged X and xAI in a deal that values the social network formerly known as Twitter at $33 billion. Musk purchased Twitter for $44 billion in 2022.

xAI acquired X “in an all-stock transaction. The combination values xAI at $80 billion and X at $33 billion ($45B less $12B debt),” Musk wrote on X today.

X and xAI were already collaborating, as xAI’s Grok is trained on X posts. Grok is made available to X users, with paying subscribers getting higher usage limits and more features.

“xAI and X’s futures are intertwined,” Musk wrote. “Today, we officially take the step to combine the data, models, compute, distribution and talent. This combination will unlock immense potential by blending xAI’s advanced AI capability and expertise with X’s massive reach.”

Musk said the combined company will “build a platform that doesn’t just reflect the world but actively accelerates human progress.”

xAI and X are privately held. “Some of the deal’s specifics were not yet clear, such as whether investors approved the transaction or how investors may be compensated,” Reuters wrote.

The reported value of the company formerly called Twitter plunged under Musk’s ownership. Fidelity, an X investor, valued X at less than $10 billion in September 2024. But X’s value rebounded at the same time that Musk gained major influence in the US government with the inauguration of President Donald Trump.

On the AI front, Musk has also been trying to buy OpenAI and prevent the company from completing its planned conversion from a nonprofit to for-profit entity.

Elon Musk’s X has a new owner—Elon Musk’s xAI Read More »

google-solves-its-mysterious-pixel-problem,-announces-9a-launch-date

Google solves its mysterious Pixel problem, announces 9a launch date

Google revealed the Pixel 9a last week, but its release plans were put on hold by a mysterious “component quality issue.” Whatever that was, it’s been worked out. Google now says its new budget smartphone will arrive as soon as April 10. The date varies by market, but the wait is almost over.

The first wave of 9a releases on April 10 will include the US, Canada, and the UK. On April 14, the Pixel 9a will arrive in Europe, launching in Germany, Spain, Italy, Ireland, France, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, Portugal, Switzerland, Poland, Czechia, Romania, Hungary, Slovenia, Slovakia, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Finland. On April 16, the phone will come to Australia, India, Singapore, Taiwan, and Malaysia.

You may think that takes care of Google’s launch commitments, but no—Japan still has no official launch date. That’s a bit strange, as Japan is not a new addition to Google’s list of supported regions. It’s unclear if this has anything to do with the previous component issue. Google says only that the Japanese launch will happen “soon.” Its statements about the delayed release were also vague, with representatives noting that the cause was a “passive component.”

Google solves its mysterious Pixel problem, announces 9a launch date Read More »

pillars-of-eternity-is-getting-turn-based-combat,-all-but-demanding-replays

Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat, all but demanding replays

More than just rolling for initiative

Obsidian added a turn-based mode to Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire in patch 4.1, roughly eight months after the game’s initial release. Designer Josh Sawyer, who worked on Baldur’s Gate II and directed both PoE games, said in a 2023 interview with Touch Arcade that the real-time systems in the PoE games were largely a concession to the old-school CRPG fans that crowdfunded both games.

Turn-based was Sawyer’s stated preference, and he thinks Baldur’s Gate 3 largely put an end to the debate in modern times:

I just think it’s easier to design more intricate combats. I like games with a lot of stats, obviously. (He laughs). But the problem with real time with pause is that it’s honestly very difficult for people to actually parse all of that information, and one of the things I’ve heard a lot from people who’ve played Deadfire in turn based, is that there were things about the game like the affliction and inspiration system that they didn’t really understand very clearly until they played it in turn based.

But both Pillars games were designed with real-time combat in mind, such that, even with his appreciation for the turn-based addition to PoE 2, Sawyer knows “the game wasn’t designed for it,” he told Touch Arcade. This is almost certainly going to be the case, too, for the original PoE, but there could be lessons learned from PoE 2‘s transformation to apply. Other games from that era might also lure folks like me back, though perhaps they, too, have a density of encounters and maps that just can’t cut it for turn-based.

Beyond this notably big “patch” coming to the original PoE, the 10th anniversary patch should make it easier for Mac and Linux (through Proton) users to stay up to date on bug fixes, and for players on GOG and Epic to get Kickstarter rewards and achievements. Lots of audio and visual effects were fixed up, along with a whole heap of mechanical and combat fixes.

Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat, all but demanding replays Read More »

with-vulcan’s-certification,-space-force-is-no-longer-solely-reliant-on-spacex

With Vulcan’s certification, Space Force is no longer solely reliant on SpaceX

The US Space Force on Wednesday announced that it has certified United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan rocket to conduct national security missions.

“Assured access to space is a core function of the Space Force and a critical element of national security,” said Brig. Gen. Panzenhagen, program executive officer for Assured Access to Space, in a news release. “Vulcan certification adds launch capacity, resiliency, and flexibility needed by our nation’s most critical space-based systems.”

The formal announcement closes a yearslong process that has seen multiple delays in the development of the Vulcan rocket, as well as two anomalies in recent years that were a further setback to certification.

The first of these, an explosion on a test stand in northern Alabama during the spring of 2023, delayed the first test flight of Vulcan by several months. Then, in October 2024, during the second test flight of the rocket, a nozzle on one of the Vulcan’s two side-mounted boosters failed.

A cumbersome process

This nozzle issue, more than five months ago, compounded the extensive paperwork needed to certify Vulcan for the US Department of Defense’s most sensitive missions. The military has several options for companies to certify their rockets depending on the number of flights completed, which could be two, three, or more. The fewer the flights, the more paperwork and review that must be done. For Vulcan, this process entailed:

  • 52 certification criteria
  • more than 180 discrete tasks
  • 2 certification flight demonstrations
  • 60 payload interface requirement verifications
  • 18 subsystem design and test reviews
  • 114 hardware and software audits

That sounds like a lot of work, but at least the military’s rules and regulations are straightforward and simple to navigate, right? Anyway, the certification process is complete, elevating United Launch Alliance to fly national security missions alongside SpaceX with its fleet of Falcon 9 and Falcon Heavy rockets.

With Vulcan’s certification, Space Force is no longer solely reliant on SpaceX Read More »