Enlarge (credit: Getty Images ) Earth Day was April 22nd, and its usual message—take care of our planet—has been given added urgency by the challenges highlighted in the latest IPCC report. This year, Ars is taking a look at the technologies we normally cover, from cars to chipmaking, and finding out how we can boost […]
Enlarge / Eliminating extreme poverty won’t necessarily boost emissions as much as people fear. (credit: Soltan Frédéric ) The United Nations’ first Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) aims to eradicate poverty around the world. If implemented, however , it might see people consume more—drive more often, buy more products—and, thus, produce more carbon emissions, fueling climate […]
What fresh hell is it this time?? Look, we already knew Facebook had become the internet’s go-to repository for some of the most vile racism, insidious conspiracy theories, and unwanted attention from ex-boyfriends. And over the past few years, we’ve learned they’re so much worse. Hell, they very nearly destroyed our democracy — and still might! […]
Enlarge / Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks during an event on August 10, 2021. (credit: Getty | Joe Raedle) With the hypertransmissible delta variant on the rampage, Florida has become the epicenter of transmission in the US. The state is experiencing its largest surge of COVID-19 cases yet in the pandemic. Hospitalizations have reached record […]
The first of Wimbledon’s tech bunkers, operated by IBM. This is the data ingestion room. For more data on the IBM tech bunker, read our story from a couple of years ago. [credit: Sebastian Anthony ] The Championships at Wimbledon, which consumes some 28 tons of strawberries, 10,000 litres of cream, and 320,000 glasses of Pimm’s […]
Enlarge / Vizio’s 65-inch 4K OLED TV. (credit: Vizio) Over the past several years, TV-maker Vizio has achieved a reputation among home theater enthusiasts as the company that makes TVs that provide superior picture quality relative to their cost. While the most expensive TVs from Samsung and LG beat Vizio’s in quality assessment by reviewers, […]
Enlarge / Insomnia people and mobile-addiction concepts. (credit: Getty Images) Whether you have an iPhone or an Android device, it’s continuously sending data including your location, phone number, and local network details to Apple or Google. Now, a researcher has provided a side-by-side comparison that suggests that, while both iOS and Android collect handset data […]
Enlarge (credit: Rizlan Bencheikh and Bruce Arey, PNNL) In recent years, researchers have used DNA to encode everything from an operating system to malware. Rather than being a technological curiosity, these efforts were serious attempts to take advantage of DNA’s properties for long-term storage of data. DNA can remain chemically stable for hundreds of thousands […]