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<channel>
<title>Ars Technica</title>
<atom:link href="https://arstechnica.com/feed/" rel="self" type="application/rss+xml" />
<link>https://arstechnica.com</link>
<description>Serving the Technologist since 1998. News, reviews, and analysis.</description>
<lastBuildDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2025 16:10:31 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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<title>Ars Technica</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com</link>
<width>32</width>
<height>32</height>
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<item>
<title>Apple loses its appeal of a scathing contempt ruling in iOS payments case</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/epic-celebrates-the-end-of-the-apple-tax-after-appeals-court-win-in-ios-payments-case/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/epic-celebrates-the-end-of-the-apple-tax-after-appeals-court-win-in-ios-payments-case/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Kyle Orland]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2025 16:00:23 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Gaming]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Policy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[epic]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[epic games store]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[iOS]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[iphone]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[legal]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[payments]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/epic-celebrates-the-end-of-the-apple-tax-after-appeals-court-win-in-ios-payments-case/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[But Sweeney warns iOS devs are still afraid of "totally illegal" retaliation by Apple.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>Back in April, District Court Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/04/fortnite-will-return-to-ios-after-court-slams-apples-obvious-cover-up/">delivered a scathing judgment</a> finding that Apple was in “willful violation” of <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2021/09/injunction-apple-must-open-up-app-store-payments-in-90-days/">her 2021 injunction</a> intended to open up iOS App Store payments. That contempt of court finding has now been almost entirely upheld by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a development that Epic Games’ Tim Sweeney tells Ars he hopes will “do a lot of good for developers and start to really change the App Store situation worldwide, I think.”</p>
<p><a href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/US-Court-of-Appeals-for-the-Ninth-Circuit-December-11-.pdf">The ruling</a>, signed by a panel of three appellate court judges, affirmed that Apple’s initial attempts to charge a 27 percent fee to iOS developers using outside payment options “had a prohibitive effect, in violation of the injunction.” Similarly, Apple’s restrictions on how those outside links had to be designed were overly broad; the appeals court suggests that Apple can only ensure that internal and external payment options are presented in a similar fashion.</p>
<p>The appeals court also agreed that Apple acted in “bad faith” by refusing to comply with the injunction, rejecting viable, compliant alternatives in internal discussions. And the appeals court was also not convinced by Apple’s process-focused arguments, saying the district court properly evaluated materials Apple argued were protected by attorney-client privilege.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/epic-celebrates-the-end-of-the-apple-tax-after-appeals-court-win-in-ios-payments-case/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/12/epic-celebrates-the-end-of-the-apple-tax-after-appeals-court-win-in-ios-payments-case/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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<slash:comments>8</slash:comments>
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<media:credit>Getty Images</media:credit><media:text>A rare "total eclipse" of Apple by Epic Games, captured on camera.</media:text></media:content>
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<item>
<title>Senator endorses discredited doctor’s book that claims chemical treats autism, cancer</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/12/senator-endorses-discredited-doctors-book-that-claims-chemical-treats-autism-cancer/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/12/senator-endorses-discredited-doctors-book-that-claims-chemical-treats-autism-cancer/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Megan O'Matz]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2025 15:33:32 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[chlorine dioxide]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Dr. Pierre Kory]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[jenna mccarthy]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sen. Ron Johnson]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/12/senator-endorses-discredited-doctors-book-that-claims-chemical-treats-autism-cancer/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Safety experts advise those who handle chlorine dioxide to work in well-ventilated spaces, wear gloves.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>For years, Sen. Ron Johnson has been spreading conspiracy theories and misinformation about COVID-19 and the safety of vaccines.</p>
<p>He’s promoted <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8810517/">disproven treatments for COVID-19</a> and claimed, without evidence, that athletes are “dropping dead on the field” after getting the COVID-19 vaccination. Now the Wisconsin politician is endorsing a book by a discredited doctor promoting an unproven and dangerous treatment for autism and a host of ailments: chlorine dioxide, a chemical used for disinfecting and bleaching.</p>
<p>The book is “<a href="https://waronchlorinedioxide.com/">The War on Chlorine Dioxide: The Medicine that Could End Medicine<em>”</em></a> by Dr. Pierre Kory, a critical care specialist who practiced in Wisconsin hospitals before <a href="https://www.mdedge.com/content/abim-revokes-two-physicians-certifications-over-accusations-covid-misinformation">losing his medical certification</a> for statements advocating using an antiparasite medication to treat COVID-19. The action, he’s said, <a href="https://jennasside.rocks/p/the-book-they-really-dont-want-you">makes him unemployable</a>, even though he still has a license.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/12/senator-endorses-discredited-doctors-book-that-claims-chemical-treats-autism-cancer/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/12/senator-endorses-discredited-doctors-book-that-claims-chemical-treats-autism-cancer/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>36</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-1438746733-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
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<media:credit> Scott Olson</media:credit><media:text>Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) gives a thumbs up to chlorine dioxide.</media:text></media:content>
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<item>
<title>Investors commit quarter-billion dollars to startup designing “Giga” satellites</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/investors-commit-quarter-billion-dollars-to-startup-designing-giga-satellites/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/investors-commit-quarter-billion-dollars-to-startup-designing-giga-satellites/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Stephen Clark]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2025 15:23:57 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Space]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Commercial space]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[k2]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[satellites]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/investors-commit-quarter-billion-dollars-to-startup-designing-giga-satellites/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA["If we build these platforms well, we get to ask new questions about what's possible in orbit."]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>A startup established three years ago to churn out a new class of high-power satellites has raised $250 million to ramp up production at its Southern California factory.</p>
<p>The company, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/01/company-aims-to-build-larger-satellites-for-new-era-of-launch-abundance/">named K2</a>, announced the cash infusion on Thursday. K2’s Series C fundraising round was led by Redpoint Ventures, with additional funding from investment firms in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany. K2 has now raised more than $400 million since its founding in 2022 and is on track to launch its first major demonstration mission next year, officials said.</p>
<p>K2 aims to take advantage of a coming abundance of heavy- and super-heavy-lift launch capacity, with SpaceX’s Starship expected to begin deploying satellites as soon as next year. Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket launched twice this year and will fly more in 2026 while engineers develop an <a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/11/blue-origin-says-its-just-getting-started-with-the-new-glenn-rocket/">even larger New Glenn</a> with additional engines and more lift capability.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/investors-commit-quarter-billion-dollars-to-startup-designing-giga-satellites/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/investors-commit-quarter-billion-dollars-to-startup-designing-giga-satellites/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>10</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/k2gravitas-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/k2gravitas-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>K2</media:credit><media:text>K2's Gravitas satellite, set for launch early next year, will test the company's Hall-effect thruster, solar arrays, and other systems.</media:text></media:content>
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<item>
<title>How to break free from smart TV ads and tracking</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/the-ars-technica-guide-to-dumb-tvs/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/the-ars-technica-guide-to-dumb-tvs/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Scharon Harding]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:30:22 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Features]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ads]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[streaming]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[TVs]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/the-ars-technica-guide-to-dumb-tvs/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Sick of smart TVs? Here are your best options. ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>Smart TVs can feel like a dumb choice if you’re looking for privacy, reliability, and simplicity.</p>
<p>Today’s TVs and streaming sticks are usually loaded up <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/08/tv-industrys-ads-tracking-obsession-is-turning-your-living-room-into-a-store/">with advertisements and user tracking</a>, making offline TVs seem very attractive. But ever since <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/06/tv-brands-face-inherent-conflict-over-user-privacy-advertiser-data-demands/">smart TV operating systems</a> began making money, “dumb” TVs have been hard to find.</p>
<p>In response, we created this non-smart TV guide that includes much more than dumb TVs. Since non-smart TVs are so rare, this guide also breaks down additional ways to watch TV and movies online and locally without dealing with smart TVs’ evolution toward <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/01/ces-2025-teases-alarming-smart-tv-future-loaded-with-unwanted-software-gimmicks/">software-centric features</a> and snooping. We’ll discuss a range of options suitable for various budgets, different experience levels, and different rooms in your home.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/the-ars-technica-guide-to-dumb-tvs/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/the-ars-technica-guide-to-dumb-tvs/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>77</slash:comments>
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<media:credit>Aurich Lawson | Getty Images</media:credit></media:content>
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<item>
<title>Chatbot-powered toys rebuked for discussing sexual, dangerous topics with kids</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/chatbot-powered-toys-rebuked-for-discussing-sexual-dangerous-topics-with-kids/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/chatbot-powered-toys-rebuked-for-discussing-sexual-dangerous-topics-with-kids/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Scharon Harding]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:15:02 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[chatbots]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[children]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[generative ai]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[openai]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[smart home]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/chatbot-powered-toys-rebuked-for-discussing-sexual-dangerous-topics-with-kids/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA["... AI toys shouldn’t be capable of having sexually explicit conversations, period." ]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>Protecting children from the dangers of the online world was always difficult, but that <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/senators-move-to-keep-big-techs-creepy-companion-bots-away-from-kids/">challenge has intensified</a> with the advent of AI chatbots. A new report offers a glimpse into the problems associated with the new market, including the misuse of AI companies’ large language models (LLMs).</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://pirg.org/edfund/resources/ai-toys/">blog post</a> today, the <a href="https://pirg.org/edfund/about/">US Public Interest Group Education Fund</a> (PIRG) reported its findings after testing AI toys (<a href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/AI-Comes-to-Playtime-Artifical-companions-real-risks.pdf">PDF</a>). It described AI toys as online devices with integrated microphones that let users talk to the toy, which uses a chatbot to respond.</p>
<p>AI toys are currently a niche market, but they could be set to grow. More consumer companies have been eager to <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2024/04/ai-marketing-hype-is-coming-for-your-favorite-gadgets/">shoehorn AI technology</a> into their products so they can do more, cost more, and potentially give companies user tracking and advertising data. A partnership between <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/06/mattel-sparks-fear-that-planned-chatgpt-fueled-toys-will-warp-kids/">OpenAI and Mattel</a> announced this year could also create a wave of AI-based toys from the maker of Barbie and Hot Wheels, as well as its competitors.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/chatbot-powered-toys-rebuked-for-discussing-sexual-dangerous-topics-with-kids/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2025/12/chatbot-powered-toys-rebuked-for-discussing-sexual-dangerous-topics-with-kids/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>44</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/F6S-AI_ChatGPT-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/F6S-AI_ChatGPT-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Alilo</media:credit><media:text>Alilo’s Smart AI Bunny is connected to the Internet and claims to use GPT-4o mini. </media:text></media:content>
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<item>
<title>Rocket Report: Neutron’s Hungry Hippo is deemed ready, whither Orbex?</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/rocket-report-neutrons-hungry-hippo-is-deemed-ready-whither-orbex/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/rocket-report-neutrons-hungry-hippo-is-deemed-ready-whither-orbex/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Eric Berger]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2025 12:00:49 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Space]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[rocket report]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[space]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/rocket-report-neutrons-hungry-hippo-is-deemed-ready-whither-orbex/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA["That is the moment an IPO suddenly came into play."]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>Welcome to Edition 8.22 of the Rocket Report! The big news this week concerns the decision by SpaceX founder Elon Musk to take the company public, via IPO, sometime within the next 12 to 18 months. <a href="https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1998900795207725073">Musk confirmed this</a> after Ars published a story on Wednesday evening. This understandably raises questions about whether a future SpaceX will be committed more to AI data centers in space or Mars settlement. However, one of the company’s founding employees, Tom Mueller, <a href="https://x.com/lrocket/status/1998986839852724327">said this could benefit</a> the company’s Mars plans. Clearly this is something we’ll be following closely.</p>
<p>As always, we <a href="https://arstechnica.wufoo.com/forms/launch-stories/">welcome reader submissions</a>, and if you don’t want to miss an issue, please subscribe using the box below (the form will not appear on AMP-enabled versions of the site). Each report will include information on small-, medium-, and heavy-lift rockets as well as a quick look ahead at the next three launches on the calendar.</p>
<figure class="ars-img-shortcode id-1314289 align-center">
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<img decoding="async" width="560" height="81" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/smalll.png" class="center full" alt="" srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/smalll.png 560w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/smalll-300x43.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px">
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<p><strong>Avio will build solid rocket motors in Virginia</strong>. The governor of Virginia, Glenn Youngkin, <a href="https://www.governor.virginia.gov/newsroom/news-releases/2025/december/name-1072242-en.html">announced Wednesday</a> that Avio USA has selected his state to produce solid rocket motors for defense and commercial space propulsion purposes. Avio USA’s investment, which will be up to $500 million, is supported by its Italian parent Avio. The company’s factory will encompass 860,000 sq. feet.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/rocket-report-neutrons-hungry-hippo-is-deemed-ready-whither-orbex/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/rocket-report-neutrons-hungry-hippo-is-deemed-ready-whither-orbex/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>31</slash:comments>
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<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Neutron-Hungry-Hippo-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Rocket Lab</media:credit><media:text>Rocket Lab has completed qualification testing of its "Hungry Hippo" payload fairing.</media:text></media:content>
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<title>Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic announced as a KOTOR spiritual successor</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/star-wars-fate-of-the-old-republic-announced-as-a-kotor-spiritual-successor/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/star-wars-fate-of-the-old-republic-announced-as-a-kotor-spiritual-successor/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Kyle Orland]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2025 02:51:40 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Gaming]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Bioware]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[casey hudson]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[KOTOR]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[old republic]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Star Wars]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/star-wars-fate-of-the-old-republic-announced-as-a-kotor-spiritual-successor/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Original <em>KOTOR</em> director Casey Hudson returns to Star Wars with new studio Arcanaut.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>Over two decades after the release of <em>Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II</em>, a new project described as a “spiritual successor” to that seminal RPG series was announced at The Game Awards Thursday night. <em>Star Wars: Fate of the Old Republic</em> will be a collaboration between Lucasfilm Games and Arcanaut Studios, a new development house being launched by original <em>KOTOR</em> director Casey Hudson.</p>
<div class="ars-video"><div class="relative" allow="fullscreen" loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/9219uxlaEe4?start=0&wmode=transparent"></div></div>
<p>Hudson, who will serve as director on the new game, said <a href="https://www.starwars.com/news/star-wars-fate-of-the-old-republic-trailer">in an interview with StarWars.com</a> that he has remained in contact with Lucasfilm since the <em>KOTOR</em> days, in the hopes of being able to collaborate in the Star Wars universe again. “It took the right conditions to get everything to line up,” he told the site.</p>
<p>Calling <em>KOTOR</em> “one of the defining experiences of my career,” Hudson said he wants to “explore a contemporary vision” of the Star Wars universe and “deliver on the combination of player agency and immersion in Star Wars” that defined the original games. As director on the upcoming game, Hudson said he sees his role as “to gather and shape a cohesive vision that the entire team contributes to. Ensuring that everyone shares that vision and understands their part in creating it is critical to the success of a project.”</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/star-wars-fate-of-the-old-republic-announced-as-a-kotor-spiritual-successor/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/star-wars-fate-of-the-old-republic-announced-as-a-kotor-spiritual-successor/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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<slash:comments>51</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SWFOTOR-An-unknown-crew-searches-for-answers-on-a-rainy-planet-copy-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/SWFOTOR-An-unknown-crew-searches-for-answers-on-a-rainy-planet-copy-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:text>An unknown crew searches for answers on a rainy planet.</media:text></media:content>
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<item>
<title>Jonathan Blow has spent the past decade designing 1,400 puzzles for you</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/jonathan-blow-has-spent-the-past-decade-designing-1400-puzzles-for-you/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/jonathan-blow-has-spent-the-past-decade-designing-1400-puzzles-for-you/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Kyle Orland]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Fri, 12 Dec 2025 01:50:08 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Gaming]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Jonathan Blow]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Order of the Sinking Star]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[puzzle]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[The Witness]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/jonathan-blow-has-spent-the-past-decade-designing-1400-puzzles-for-you/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Preview: <em>Order of the Sinking Star</em> started small but became a "combinatoric explosion."]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>Back in 2016, after six-and-a-half years spent working on <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/01/the-witness-review-an-island-where-knowledge-mystery-are-the-treasures/">puzzle-adventure opus <em>The Witness</em></a>, Jonathan Blow says he needed a break. He tells Ars that the project he started in <em>The Witness’</em> wake was meant to serve as a quick proof of concept for a new engine and programming language he was working on. “It was supposed to be a short game,” that could be finished in “like a year and a half or two years,” he said.</p>
<p>Now, after nine years of development—and his <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/theprimeagen/comments/1otnsxl/the_declining_work_ethic_in_game_development/">fair share</a> of <a href="https://www.resetera.com/threads/jonathan-blow-the-witness-braid-thinks-women-are-biologically-less-interested-in-tech-than-men.11742/">outspoken, controversial statements</a>—Blow is finally approaching the finish line on that “short game.” He said <em>Order of the Sinking Star</em>—which was announced Thursday via a Game Awards trailer ahead of a planned 2026 release—now encompasses around 1,400 individual puzzles that could take completionists 400 to 500 hours to fully conquer.</p>
<img width="1242" height="1172" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/JonathanBlow_Headshot.png" class="fullwidth full" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/JonathanBlow_Headshot.png 1242w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/JonathanBlow_Headshot-640x604.png 640w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/JonathanBlow_Headshot-1024x966.png 1024w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/JonathanBlow_Headshot-768x725.png 768w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/JonathanBlow_Headshot-980x925.png 980w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1242px) 100vw, 1242px">
Jonathan Blow, seen here probably thinking about puzzles.
Credit:
Thekla, Inc.
<p>“I don’t know why I convinced myself it was going to be a small game,” Blow told me while demonstrating a preview build to Ars last week. “But once we start things, I just want to do the good version of the thing, right? I always make it as good as it can be.”</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/jonathan-blow-has-spent-the-past-decade-designing-1400-puzzles-for-you/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/jonathan-blow-has-spent-the-past-decade-designing-1400-puzzles-for-you/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>49</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/oss1-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/oss1-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Thekla, Inc.</media:credit><media:text>One down, hundreds more to go</media:text></media:content>
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<title>Runway claims its GWM-1 “world models” can stay coherent for minutes at a time</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/with-gwm-1-family-of-world-models-runway-shows-ambitions-beyond-hollywood/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/with-gwm-1-family-of-world-models-runway-shows-ambitions-beyond-hollywood/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Samuel Axon]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 23:47:33 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Gen-4.5]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[GWM-1]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ML]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Robotics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Runway]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Runway Gen-4.5]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[runway ml]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[world models]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/with-gwm-1-family-of-world-models-runway-shows-ambitions-beyond-hollywood/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Runway joins a competitive field alongside Google, Nvidia, and others.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>AI company Runway has <a href="https://runwayml.com/research/introducing-runway-gwm-1">announced</a> what it calls its first world model, GWM-1. It’s a significant step in a new direction for a company that has made its name primarily on video generation, and it’s part of a wider gold rush to build<a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/11/metas-star-ai-scientist-yann-lecun-plans-to-leave-for-own-startup/"> new frontier of models</a> as large language models and image and video generation move into a refinement phase, no longer an untapped frontier.</p>
<p>GWM-1 is a blanket term for a trio of autoregression models, each built on top of Runway’s Gen-4.5 text-to-video generation model and then post-trained with domain-specific data for different kinds of applications. Here’s what each does.</p>
<div class="ars-video"><div class="relative" allow="fullscreen" loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OnXu-6xecxM?start=0&wmode=transparent"></div><div class="caption font-impact dusk:text-gray-300 mb-4 mt-2 inline-flex flex-row items-stretch gap-1 text-base leading-tight text-gray-400 dark:text-gray-300">
<div class="caption-icon bg-[left_top_5px] w-[10px] shrink-0"></div>
<div class="caption-content">
Runway’s world model announcement livestream video.
</div>
</div>
</div>
<h2>GWM Worlds</h2>
<p>GWM Worlds offers an interface for digital environment exploration with real-time user input that affects the generation of coming frames, which Runway suggests can remain consistent and coherent “across long sequences of movement.”</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/with-gwm-1-family-of-world-models-runway-shows-ambitions-beyond-hollywood/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/with-gwm-1-family-of-world-models-runway-shows-ambitions-beyond-hollywood/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>54</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Runway-GWM-Worlds-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Runway-GWM-Worlds-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Runway</media:credit><media:text>Runway claims GWM Worlds can simulate movement in vehicles or boats, not just on foot.</media:text></media:content>
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<item>
<title>Instead of fixing WoW’s new floating house exploit, Blizzard makes it official</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/instead-of-fixing-wows-new-floating-house-exploit-blizzard-makes-it-official/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/instead-of-fixing-wows-new-floating-house-exploit-blizzard-makes-it-official/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Kyle Orland]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 23:03:02 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Gaming]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Blizzard]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[exploit]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[floating house]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Glitch]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[housing]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[World of Warcraft]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[wow]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/instead-of-fixing-wows-new-floating-house-exploit-blizzard-makes-it-official/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA["We all kinda immediately agreed this was way too cool to change."]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>Long-time <em>World of Warcraft</em> players have been waiting 21 years for the new in-game housing features that Blizzard <a href="https://www.wowhead.com/news/player-housing-coming-to-world-of-warcraft-in-midnight-expansion-350273">officially announced last year</a> and which <a href="https://worldofwarcraft.blizzard.com/en-us/news/24244464">launched in early access last week</a>. Shortly after that launch, though, players <a href="https://www.icy-veins.com/wow/news/players-are-already-breaking-housing-with-this-floating-home-trick/">quickly discovered</a> a way to make their houses float high above the ground by <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B1GoCg8mDtY">exploiting an unintended, invisible UI glitch</a>.</p>
<p>Now, Blizzard says that the <a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/wow/search/?q=flying+house&cId=5aa60c73-9f65-49e8-9af5-5465b118f7b1&iId=05fc5bed-948d-4bee-81d8-487617e83457">overwhelming response</a> to that accidental house hovering has been so strong that it’s pivoting to integrate it as an official part of the game.</p>
<p>“We were going to fix flying houses to bring them back to terra firma, but you all made such awesome stuff, so we made it possible with the base UI instead,” WoW Principal Designer Jesse Kurlancheek <a href="https://x.com/kurlancheek/status/1998439357942739097">posted on social media Tuesday</a>. Lead Producer Kyle Hartline followed up on that announcement with <a href="https://twitter.com/Zorbrix/status/1998517438460346492">some behind-the-scenes gossip</a>: “Like no joke we had an ops channel about how to roll out the float fix but folks shared like 5 of the dopest houses and we all kinda immediately agreed this was way too cool to change,” he wrote.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/instead-of-fixing-wows-new-floating-house-exploit-blizzard-makes-it-official/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2025/12/instead-of-fixing-wows-new-floating-house-exploit-blizzard-makes-it-official/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>30</slash:comments>
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<media:credit>Twitter / Zorbix</media:credit><media:text>Why build a real treehouse when you can build one in <em>World of Warcraft</em>?</media:text></media:content>
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<title>OpenAI releases GPT-5.2 after “code red” Google threat alert</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/openai-releases-gpt-5-2-after-code-red-google-threat-alert/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/openai-releases-gpt-5-2-after-code-red-google-threat-alert/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Benj Edwards]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 21:27:18 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Biz & IT]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[agentic AI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[AI assistants]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[AI benchmarks]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[AI coding]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[ChatGPT]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Gemini 3]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Google Gemini]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[GPT-5]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[GPT-5.2]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[large language models]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[machine learning]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[openai]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[sam altman]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/openai-releases-gpt-5-2-after-code-red-google-threat-alert/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Company claims new AI model tops Gemini and matches humans on 70% of work tasks.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>On Thursday, OpenAI <a href="https://openai.com/index/introducing-gpt-5-2/">released</a> GPT-5.2, its newest family of AI models for ChatGPT, in three versions called Instant, Thinking, and Pro. The release follows CEO Sam Altman’s internal <a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/openai-ceo-declares-code-red-as-gemini-gains-200-million-users-in-3-months/">“code red” memo</a> earlier this month, which directed company resources toward improving ChatGPT in response to competitive pressure from <a href="https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/11/google-unveils-gemini-3-ai-model-and-ai-first-ide-called-antigravity/">Google’s Gemini 3</a> AI model.</p>
<p>“We designed 5.2 to unlock even more economic value for people,” Fidji Simo, OpenAI’s chief product officer, said during a press briefing with journalists on Thursday. “It’s better at creating spreadsheets, building presentations, writing code, perceiving images, understanding long context, using tools and then linking complex, multi-step projects.”</p>
<p>As with previous versions of GPT-5, the three model tiers serve different purposes: Instant handles faster tasks like writing and translation; Thinking spits out <a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/06/with-the-launch-of-o3-pro-lets-talk-about-what-ai-reasoning-actually-does/">simulated reasoning</a> “thinking” text in an attempt to tackle more complex work like coding and math; and Pro spits out even more simulated reasoning text with the goal of delivering the highest-accuracy performance for difficult problems.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/openai-releases-gpt-5-2-after-code-red-google-threat-alert/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/openai-releases-gpt-5-2-after-code-red-google-threat-alert/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>69</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/openai_tectonic_shift_3-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/openai_tectonic_shift_3-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Benj Edwards / OpenAI</media:credit></media:content>
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<title>Supergirl teaser gives us a likably imperfect Kara Zor-El</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/culture/2025/12/milly-alcock-is-out-for-revenge-in-supergirl-teaser/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/culture/2025/12/milly-alcock-is-out-for-revenge-in-supergirl-teaser/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Jennifer Ouellette]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 20:25:08 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[entertainment]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[film trailers]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Supergirl]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Trailers]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Warner Bros.]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/culture/2025/12/milly-alcock-is-out-for-revenge-in-supergirl-teaser/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Director Craig Gillespie's film is the second in the new DCU's "Gods and Monsters" chapter.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<div class="ars-video"><div class="relative" allow="fullscreen" loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/YqdAEdkHrwo?start=0&wmode=transparent"></div></div>
<p>Warner Bros. has been hinting all week that it was coming and finally dropped the long-awaited first extended teaser trailer for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supergirl_(2026_film)"><em>Supergirl</em></a>, directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Milly Alcock in the title role.</p>
<p>Plans for a <em>Supergirl</em> movie date all the way back to 2018, but the merger that produced Warner Bros. Discovery scuttled the original concept. James Gunn and Peter Safran came in as co-CEOs of the new DC Studios and announced plans for a “soft reboot” of the DC universe, starting with this summer’s <em>Superman</em>. Sasha Calle played Supergirl for a brief appearance in 2023’s <em>The Flash</em>, but despite having signed a multi-year contract, Gunn and Safran decided to go in a different direction for their standalone film and cast Alcock (<em>House of the Dragon</em>) instead.</p>
<p>Gunn particularly wanted to distance this new version of Supergirl from earlier incarnations, especially how the character was portrayed by Melissa Benoist in the Arrowverse series that ran from 2015–2021. He wanted someone less earnest, more of a contrast to David Corenswet’s wholesome Superman. “This is a story-based medium; we want stories to be in theaters that are cool and different from each other,” <a href="https://nerdist.com/article/james-gunn-craig-gillespie-milly-alcock-supergirl-interview/">Gunn said</a> at a media briefing. “And this movie is not exactly just a female clone of <em>Superman</em>. It’s its own thing entirely. And with a character who’s equally worthy of this treatment.”</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/culture/2025/12/milly-alcock-is-out-for-revenge-in-supergirl-teaser/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/culture/2025/12/milly-alcock-is-out-for-revenge-in-supergirl-teaser/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>69</slash:comments>
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<media:credit>YouTube/Warner Bros</media:credit></media:content>
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<item>
<title>Disney says Google AI infringes copyright “on a massive scale”</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/12/disney-says-google-ai-infringes-copyright-on-a-massive-scale/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/12/disney-says-google-ai-infringes-copyright-on-a-massive-scale/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Ryan Whitwam]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 19:29:29 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Google]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Artificial Intelligence]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Disney]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[google]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/12/disney-says-google-ai-infringes-copyright-on-a-massive-scale/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Disney demands that Google immediately block its copyrighted content from appearing in AI outputs.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>The Wild West of copyrighted characters in AI may be coming to an end. There has been legal wrangling over the role of copyright in the AI era, but the mother of all legal teams may now be gearing up for a fight. Disney has sent a cease and desist to Google, alleging the company’s AI tools are infringing Disney’s copyrights “on a massive scale.”</p>
<p><a href="https://variety.com/2025/digital/news/disney-google-ai-copyright-infringement-cease-and-desist-letter-1236606429/">According to the letter</a>, Google is violating the entertainment conglomerate’s intellectual property in multiple ways. The legal notice says Google has copied a “large corpus” of Disney’s works to train its gen AI models, which is believable, as Google’s image and video models will happily produce popular Disney characters—they couldn’t do that without feeding the models lots of Disney data.</p>
<p>The C&D also takes issue with Google for distributing “copies of its protected works” to consumers. So all those memes you’ve been making with Disney characters? Yeah, Disney doesn’t like that, either. The letter calls out a huge number of Disney-owned properties that can be prompted into existence in Google AI, including The Lion King, Deadpool, and Star Wars.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/12/disney-says-google-ai-infringes-copyright-on-a-massive-scale/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/google/2025/12/disney-says-google-ai-infringes-copyright-on-a-massive-scale/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>60</slash:comments>
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<media:credit>Aurich Lawson</media:credit></media:content>
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<title>Ars Live: 3 former CDC leaders detail impacts of RFK Jr.’s anti-science agenda</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/12/ars-live-3-former-cdc-leaders-detail-impacts-of-rfk-jr-s-anti-science-agenda/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/12/ars-live-3-former-cdc-leaders-detail-impacts-of-rfk-jr-s-anti-science-agenda/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Beth Mole]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:33:45 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ars Live Chat]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[CDC]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/12/ars-live-3-former-cdc-leaders-detail-impacts-of-rfk-jr-s-anti-science-agenda/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Join us Tuesday, December 16, at 2 pm ET to hear from leaders who resigned in protest.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is in critical condition. This year, the premier public health agency had its funding brutally cut and staff gutted, its mission sabotaged, and its headquarters riddled with literal bullets. The over 500 rounds fired were meant for its scientists and public health experts, who endured only to be sidelined, ignored, and overruled by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an anti-vaccine activist hellbent on warping the agency to fit his anti-science agenda.</p>
<p>Then, on August 27, Kennedy fired CDC Director Susan Monarez just weeks after she was confirmed by the Senate. She had refused to blindly approve vaccine recommendations from a panel of vaccine skeptics and contrarians that he had hand-selected. The agency descended into chaos, and Monarez wasn’t the only one to leave the agency that day.</p>
<p>Three top leaders had reached their breaking point and coordinated their resignations upon the dramatic ouster: Drs. Demetre Daskalakis, Debra Houry, and Daniel Jernigan walked out of the agency as their colleagues rallied around them.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/12/ars-live-3-former-cdc-leaders-detail-impacts-of-rfk-jr-s-anti-science-agenda/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2025/12/ars-live-3-former-cdc-leaders-detail-impacts-of-rfk-jr-s-anti-science-agenda/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>20</slash:comments>
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<media:credit>Getty | Elijah Nouvelage</media:credit><media:text>Former Centers for Disease Control (CDC) officials Dan Jernigan, Deb Houry, and Demetre Daskalakis smile as employees and supporters of the CDC line up outside its global headquarters on August 28, 2025 in Atlanta, Georgia. The three officials were honored after resigning in the wake of CDC director Susan Monarez's ouster.</media:text></media:content>
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<item>
<title>Gazelle’s Arroyo offers a belt drive, continuous variable transmission</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/gazelles-new-arroyo-a-high-end-commute-bike/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/gazelles-new-arroyo-a-high-end-commute-bike/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[John Timmer]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 18:26:17 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Cars]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Arroyo]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Bosch]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[commuter bike]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[e-bikes]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[gazelle]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/gazelles-new-arroyo-a-high-end-commute-bike/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Gazelle's high-end commuter offers a belt drive and continuous variable transmission.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>A little while back, we took a look at <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2024/11/urban-arrows-front-loader-is-a-stylish-functional-cargo-kid-hauler/">a large cargo bike</a> from Urban Arrow that had some interesting features: a drive train that sported continuous variable gearing and a belt drive. But it was difficult to get a feel for what using that drivetrain was like when it was being used to shift a large and extremely heavy cargo bike. So, I jumped at the opportunity when Urban Arrow’s sister company, Gazelle, offered a chance to ride one of its <a href="https://www.gazellebikes.com/en-us/ebikes/gazelle-arroyo-c380-elite?color=color-caramel-khaki&frame=frame-low">new Arroyo models</a>, which feature the same drivetrain, but this time coupled to a fairly standard commuter bike.</p>
<p>Getting rid of all the weight and bulk really allowed the drive system to shine. And, as with its cargo-carrying cousin, the bike is filled with thoughtful touches and design decisions that make riding it a pleasure. But all that comes at a cost: This is a premium bike with little in the way of compromises, and it’s priced accordingly.</p>
<h2>High-end hardware</h2>
<p>The Arroyo line is meant for commuters and urban/suburban riding. It has a step-through frame, a large rack, fenders, and its riding stance is very upright. In keeping with its Dutch heritage, it’s meant to be ridden as a bicycle, rather than a bike-like scooter. There’s no throttle to let you avoid pedaling, and even when it’s set to its maximum assist rating, you’ll end up putting in a reasonable amount of effort during the ride. If you’re looking for something that lets you handle a commute in hot weather without sweating, you’ll probably want to look elsewhere.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/gazelles-new-arroyo-a-high-end-commute-bike/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/gazelles-new-arroyo-a-high-end-commute-bike/#comments">Comments</a></p>
]]>
</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>53</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_1793-1152x648.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/IMG_1793-500x500.jpeg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>John TImmer</media:credit></media:content>
</item>
<item>
<title>Fewer EVs need fewer batteries: Ford and SK On end their joint venture</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/fewer-evs-need-fewer-batteries-ford-and-sk-on-end-their-joint-venture/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/fewer-evs-need-fewer-batteries-ford-and-sk-on-end-their-joint-venture/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Jonathan M. Gitlin]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 17:33:52 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Cars]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[battery factory]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[EV adoption]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ford]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[SK innovation]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/fewer-evs-need-fewer-batteries-ford-and-sk-on-end-their-joint-venture/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Ford will keep the plant in Kentucky, SK gets the one in Tennessee.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>Cast your mind back to 2021. Electric vehicles were hot stuff, buoyed by Tesla’s increasingly stratospheric valuation and a general optimism fueled by what would turn out to be the most significant <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2022/07/whats-inside-the-uss-first-big-climate-bill/">climate-focused spending package</a> in US history. For some time, automakers had been promising an all-electric future, and they started laying the groundwork to make that happen, partnering with battery suppliers and the like.</p>
<p>Take Ford—that year, it announced a joint venture with SK to build a pair of battery factories, one in Kentucky, the other in Tennessee. BlueOvalSK represented an $11.4 billion investment that would create 11,000 jobs, <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2021/09/ford-picks-kentucky-and-tennessee-for-11-4-billion-ev-investment/">we were told</a>, and an annual output of 60 GWh from both plants.</p>
<p>Four years later, things look very different. EV subsidies are dead, as is any inclination by the current government to hold automakers accountable for selling too many gas guzzlers. EV-heavy product plans have been thrown out, and designs for new combustion-powered cars are being dusted off and spiffed up. Fewer EVs means a lower need for batteries, and today we saw that in evidence when it emerged that Ford and SK On are ending their battery factory joint venture.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/fewer-evs-need-fewer-batteries-ford-and-sk-on-end-their-joint-venture/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2025/12/fewer-evs-need-fewer-batteries-ford-and-sk-on-end-their-joint-venture/#comments">Comments</a></p>
]]>
</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>62</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Blue-Oval-City-1-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/Blue-Oval-City-1-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Ford</media:credit><media:text>The Blue Oval City complex in Tennessee. </media:text></media:content>
</item>
<item>
<title>No sterile neutrinos after all, say MicroBooNE physicists</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/microboone-results-rule-out-sterile-neutrinos/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/microboone-results-rule-out-sterile-neutrinos/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Jennifer Ouellette]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 17:02:48 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[MicroBooNE]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[neutrinos]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[particle physics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Physics]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[sterile neutrinos]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/microboone-results-rule-out-sterile-neutrinos/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[There's a less than 5 percent chance that earlier anomalies can be explained by fourth neutrino "flavor."]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>Since the 1990s, physicists have pondered the tantalizing possibility of an exotic fourth type of neutrino, dubbed the “sterile” neutrino, that doesn’t interact with regular matter at all, apart from its fellow neutrinos, perhaps. But definitive experimental evidence for sterile neutrinos has remained elusive. Now it looks like the latest results from Fermilab’s MiniBooNE experiment have ruled out the sterile neutrino entirely, according to <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-09757-7">a paper</a> published in the journal Nature.</p>
<p>How did the possibility of sterile neutrinos even become a thing? It all <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/09/weighing-in-physicists-cut-upper-limit-on-neutrinos-mass-in-half/">dates back to</a> the so-called “solar neutrino problem.” Physicists detected the first solar neutrinos from the Sun in 1966. The only problem was that there were far fewer solar neutrinos being detected than predicted by theory, a conundrum that became known as the solar neutrino problem. In 1962, physicists discovered <a href="https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/physics/1988/summary/">a second type</a> (“flavor”) of neutrino, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muon_neutrino">muon neutrino</a>. This was followed by the discovery of a third flavor, the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tau_neutrino">tau neutrino</a>, in 2000.</p>
<p>Physicists already suspected that neutrinos might be able to switch from one flavor to another. <a href="https://journals.aps.org/prl/abstract/10.1103/PhysRevLett.89.011301">In 2002</a>, scientists at the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sudbury_Neutrino_Observatory">Sudbury Neutrino Observatory</a> (or SNO) announced that they had solved the solar neutrino problem. The missing solar (electron) neutrinos were just in disguise, having changed into a different flavor on the long journey between the Sun and the Earth. If neutrinos oscillate, then they must have a teensy bit of mass after all. That posed another knotty neutrino-related problem. There are three neutrino flavors, but none of them has a well-defined mass. Rather, different kinds of “mass states” mix together in various ways to produce electron, muon, and tau neutrinos. That’s quantum weirdness for you.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/microboone-results-rule-out-sterile-neutrinos/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/microboone-results-rule-out-sterile-neutrinos/#comments">Comments</a></p>
]]>
</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>58</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/neutrinos-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/neutrinos-500x500-1765462963.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>UC Santa BarbaraCC BY-NC-ND</media:credit><media:text>The MicroBooNE neutrino detector before its installation at Fermilab</media:text></media:content>
</item>
<item>
<title>Disney invests $1 billion in OpenAI, licenses 200 characters for AI video app Sora</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/disney-invests-1-billion-in-openai-licenses-200-characters-for-ai-video-app-sora/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/disney-invests-1-billion-in-openai-licenses-200-characters-for-ai-video-app-sora/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Benj Edwards]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 16:43:30 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Biz & IT]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[AI law]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ai video]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Ai video generator]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Bob Iger]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[copyright]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Disney]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[generative ai]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Hollywood]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[image synthesis]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[intellectual property]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[licensing]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[machine learning]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Marvel]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[openai]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Pixar]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[sam altman]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Sora]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Star Wars]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[video synthesis]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/disney-invests-1-billion-in-openai-licenses-200-characters-for-ai-video-app-sora/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Three-year deal lets users create AI videos of Mickey Mouse, Darth Vader, and more.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>On Thursday, The Walt Disney Company <a href="https://openai.com/index/disney-sora-agreement/">announced</a> a $1 billion investment in OpenAI and a three-year licensing agreement that will allow users of OpenAI’s Sora video generator to create short clips featuring more than 200 Disney, Marvel, Pixar, and Star Wars characters. It’s the first major content licensing partnership between a Hollywood studio related to the most recent version of OpenAI’s AI video platform, which <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/10/how-sora-2-by-openai-is-challenging-hollywood.html">drew criticism</a> from some parts of the entertainment industry when it <a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/10/openais-sora-2-lets-users-insert-themselves-into-ai-videos-with-sound/">launched</a> in late September.</p>
<p>“Technological innovation has continually shaped the evolution of entertainment, bringing with it new ways to create and share great stories with the world,” said Disney CEO Robert A. Iger in the announcement. “The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence marks an important moment for our industry, and through this collaboration with OpenAI we will thoughtfully and responsibly extend the reach of our storytelling through generative AI, while respecting and protecting creators and their works.”</p>
<p>The deal creates interesting bedfellows between a company that basically <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright_Term_Extension_Act">defined</a> modern US copyright policy through congressional lobbying back in the 1990s and one that has <a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2024/01/openai-says-its-impossible-to-create-useful-ai-models-without-copyrighted-material/">argued in a submission to the UK House of Lords</a> that useful AI models cannot be created without copyrighted material.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/disney-invests-1-billion-in-openai-licenses-200-characters-for-ai-video-app-sora/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/12/disney-invests-1-billion-in-openai-licenses-200-characters-for-ai-video-app-sora/#comments">Comments</a></p>
]]>
</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>104</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/disney_1-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/disney_1-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>China News Service via Getty Images</media:credit><media:text>A visitor examines a sculpture at "Mickey: The True Original & Ever Curious" exhibition on July 26, 2022, in Beijing, China.</media:text></media:content>
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<item>
<title>Oracle shares slide on $15B increase in data center spending</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/oracle-shares-slide-on-15b-increase-in-data-center-spending/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/oracle-shares-slide-on-15b-increase-in-data-center-spending/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Rafe Rosner-Uddin]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 14:39:21 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Biz & IT]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[data centers]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Larry Ellison]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[oracle]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/oracle-shares-slide-on-15b-increase-in-data-center-spending/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[Company raises its capital expenditure forecast as it doubles down on AI infrastructure bet.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>Oracle stock dropped after it reported disappointing revenues on Wednesday alongside a $15 billion increase in its planned spending on data centers this year to serve artificial intelligence groups.</p>
<p>Shares in Larry Ellison’s database company fell 11 percent in pre-market trading on Thursday after it reported revenues of $16.1 billion in the last quarter, up 14 percent from the previous year, but below analysts’ estimates.</p>
<p>Oracle raised its forecast for capital expenditure this financial year by more than 40 percent to $50 billion. The outlay, largely directed to building data centers, climbed to $12 billion in the quarter, above expectations of $8.4 billion.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/oracle-shares-slide-on-15b-increase-in-data-center-spending/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2025/12/oracle-shares-slide-on-15b-increase-in-data-center-spending/#comments">Comments</a></p>
]]>
</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>75</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-1867844462-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GettyImages-1867844462-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Mesut Dogan</media:credit></media:content>
</item>
<item>
<title>NASA just lost contact with a Mars orbiter, and will soon lose another one</title>
<link>https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/nasa-just-lost-contact-with-a-mars-orbiter-and-will-soon-lose-another-one/</link>
<comments>https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/nasa-just-lost-contact-with-a-mars-orbiter-and-will-soon-lose-another-one/#comments</comments>
<dc:creator>
<![CDATA[Stephen Clark]]>
</dc:creator>
<pubDate>Thu, 11 Dec 2025 00:29:54 +0000</pubDate>
<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Space]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Lockheed Martin]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[Mars]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[MAVEN]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[NASA]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[planetary science]]></category>
<category><![CDATA[solar system]]></category>
<guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/nasa-just-lost-contact-with-a-mars-orbiter-and-will-soon-lose-another-one/</guid>
<description>
<![CDATA[If NASA is serious about exploring Mars, it's past time to send new missions.]]>
</description>
<content:encoded>
<![CDATA[<p>NASA has lost contact with one of its three spacecraft orbiting Mars, the agency announced Tuesday. Meanwhile, a second Mars orbiter is perilously close to running out of fuel, and the third mission is running well past its warranty.</p>
<p>Ground teams last heard from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution, or MAVEN, spacecraft on Saturday, December 6. “Telemetry from MAVEN had showed all subsystems working normally before it orbited behind the red planet,” <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/blogs/maven/2025/12/09/nasa-teams-work-maven-spacecraft-signal-loss/">NASA said in a short statement</a>. “After the spacecraft emerged from behind Mars, NASA’s Deep Space Network did not observe a signal.”</p>
<p>NASA said mission controllers are “investigating the anomaly to address the situation. More information will be shared once it becomes available.”</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/nasa-just-lost-contact-with-a-mars-orbiter-and-will-soon-lose-another-one/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2025/12/nasa-just-lost-contact-with-a-mars-orbiter-and-will-soon-lose-another-one/#comments">Comments</a></p>
]]>
</content:encoded>
<slash:comments>65</slash:comments>
<media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000206orig-1041x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1041" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/GSFC_20171208_Archive_e000206orig-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center</media:credit><media:text>MAVEN's Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph obtained this image of Mars on July 13, 2016, when the planet appeared nearly full when viewed from the highest altitudes in MAVEN's elliptical orbit.</media:text></media:content>
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