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"We've had a Denisovan skull since the 1930s--only nobody knew."

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Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.blogspot.com).

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We’ve had a Denisovan skull since the 1930s—only nobody knew

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A 146,000-year-old skull from Harbin, China, belongs to a Denisovan, according to a recent study of proteins preserved inside the ancient bone. The paleoanthropologists who studied the Harbin skull in 2021 declared it a new (to us) species, Homo longi . But the Harbin skull still contains enough of its original proteins to tell a different story: A few of them matched specific proteins from Denis

Honda’s hopper suddenly makes the Japanese carmaker a serious player in rocketry

Honda successfully tests reusable rocket

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72Ars Technica - All content / 14h

An experimental reusable rocket developed by the research and development arm of Honda Motor Company flew to an altitude of nearly 900 feet Tuesday, then landed with pinpoint precision at the carmaker's test facility in northern Japan. The accomplishment may not sound like much, but it's important to put it into perspective. Honda's hopper is the first prototype rocket outside of the United State

Scientists once hoarded pre-nuclear steel; now we’re hoarding pre-AI content

ChatGPT launch creates digital pollution

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66Ars Technica - All content / 16h

Former Cloudflare executive John Graham-Cumming recently announced that he launched a website , lowbackgroundsteel.ai, that treats pre-AI, human-created content like a precious commodity—a time capsule of organic creative expression from a time before machines joined the conversation. "The idea is to point to sources of text, images and video that were created prior to the explosion of AI-generat

Today

Senate passes GENIUS Act—criticized as gifting Trump ample opportunity to grift

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Critics have long warned that Donald Trump's pro-cryptocurrency push as president, coupled with his links to his family's growing crypto empire, creates substantial conflicts of interest that must be probed. But so far, nothing has stopped Trump's family from seemingly benefiting from the presidency while expanding their empire. And now, Trump is rushing regulation through Congress that many Demo

Smart TV OS owners face “constant conflict” between privacy, advertiser demands

Ars Technica - All content / 6h

StreamTV Insider provided flights from New York City to Denver and two nights of accommodation so Ars could attend its StreamTV Show. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. DENVER—Most smart TV operating system (OS) owners are in the ad sales business now. Software providers for budget and premium TVs are honing their ad skills, which requires advancing their ability to collect user data. Th

Address bar shows hp.com. Browser displays scammers’ malicious text anyway.

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Tech support scammers have devised a method to inject their fake phone numbers into webpages when a target's web browser visits official sites for Apple, PayPal, Netflix, and other companies. The ruse, outlined in a post on Wednesday from security firm Malwarebytes, threatens to trick users into calling the malicious numbers even when they think they're taking measures to prevent falling for such

After RFK Jr. overhauls CDC panel, measles and flu vaccines are up for debate

RFK Jr. fires CDC vaccine panel

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With ardent anti-vaccine activist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in the country's top health position, use of a long-approved vaccine against measles, mumps, rubella, and varicella/chickenpox (MMRV) as well as flu shots that include the preservative thimerosal will now be reevaluated, putting their future availability and use in question. The development seemingly continues to vindicate health experts' wo

New dating for White Sands footprints confirms controversial theory

Ancient footprints confirm early humans

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The 2009 discovery of footprints (human and animal) left behind in layers of clay and silt at New Mexico’s White Sands National Park sparked a contentious debate about when, exactly, human cultures first developed in North America. Until about a decade ago, it seemed as if the first Americans arrived near the end of the last Ice Age and were part of the Clovis culture , named for the distinctive

xAI faces legal threat over alleged Colossus data center pollution in Memphis

NAACP plans lawsuit against xAI

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Ars Technica - All content / 9h

After thermal imaging appeared to show that xAI lied about suspected pollution at its Colossus supercomputer data center located near predominantly Black communities in Memphis, Tennessee, the NAACP has threatened a lawsuit accusing xAI of violating the Clean Air Act. In a letter sent to xAI on Tuesday, lawyers from the Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) notified xAI of the NAACP's intent t

Via the False Claims Act, NIH puts universities on edge

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E arlier this year, a biomedical researcher at the University of Michigan received an update from the National Institutes of Health. The federal agency, which funds a large swath of the country’s medical science, had given the green light to begin releasing funding for the upcoming year on the researcher’s multi-year grant. Not long after, the researcher learned that the university had placed the

Spanish blackout report: Power plants meant to stabilize voltage didn’t

Spain blames grid operator for blackout

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Ars Technica - All content / 10h

The blackout that took down the Iberian grid serving Spain and Portugal in April was the result of a number of smaller interacting problems, according to an investigation by the Spanish government. The report concludes that several steps meant to address a small instability made matters worse, eventually leading to a self-reinforcing cascade where high voltages caused power plants to drop off the

Why Microsoft’s next Xbox should just run Windows already

Next Xbox confirmed with AMD partnership

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Yesterday, Microsoft confirmed that it's not abandoning the home console market just yet. In a short video teaser , Xbox President Sarah Bond highlighted a "strategic multi-year partnership with AMD" that will include "our next-generation Xbox consoles in your living room and in your hands." But while we know that the "in your hands" part will include devices like the Windows-powered ROG Xbox All

Netflix will start showing traditional broadcast channels next summer

TF1 Netflix musical series launches

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In a move that further intensifies the reflection of the cable business it's slowly killing, Netflix will start showing broadcast channels next summer. The world’s largest streaming provider announced today that starting next year, all Netflix subscribers in France will be able to watch broadcast channels from TF1 Group, France’s biggest commercial broadcaster, which also owns streaming services

Google’s frighteningly good Veo 3 AI videos to be integrated with YouTube Shorts

YouTube integrates Veo 3 AI

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29Ars Technica - All content / 10h

Even in the age of TikTok, YouTube viewership continues to climb. While Google's iconic video streaming platform has traditionally pushed creators to produce longer videos that can accommodate more ads, the site's Shorts format is growing fast. That growth may explode in the coming months, as YouTube CEO Neal Mohan has announced that the Google Veo 3 AI video generator will be integrated with You

Trump suggests he needs China to sign off on TikTok sale, delays deal again

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The White House confirmed that Donald Trump has extended the deadline for a TikTok sale for a third time, Reuters reported Wednesday. Now, China-based ByteDance has 90 days to divest its US assets or potentially be forced to shut down US operations. Trump's announcement came one day before the June 19 deadline he established through his last extension. That extension was necessary after Vice Pres

Framework Laptop 12 review: I’m excited to see what the 2nd generation looks like

Framework Laptop 12 impresses with versatility

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Ars Technica - All content / 12h

"What's this purple laptop? It's cool." Over a decade-plus of doing gadget reviews and review-adjacent things, my wife (and, lately, my 5-year-old) have mostly stopped commenting on the ever-shifting selection of laptops I have in my bag or lying around the house at any given time. Maybe she can't tell them apart, or maybe she just figures there isn't that much to say about whatever black or silv

2025 Audi S5 and A5 first drive: Five-door is the new four-door

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Audi provided flights from Washignton, DC, to Denver and accommodation so Ars could drive the A5 and S5, as well as the Q5 and SQ5 . Ars does not accept paid editorial content. ASPEN, Colo.—The SUV might be the dominant design in the American automobile market, but it hasn't completely taken over. At Audi, there is still life in the sedan. The old A4 four-door is no more—at least for a while or u

Yesterday

All 17 fired vaccine advisors unite to blast RFK Jr.’s “destabilizing decisions”

RFK Jr. fires CDC vaccine panel

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All 17 experts ousted from the federal vaccine advisory committee have spoken out about the drastic changes that anti-vaccine advocate and current US health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made since taking office. Those changes include unilaterally restricting access to COVID-19 vaccines and summarily firing the entire Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), which had guided fed

Cybersecurity takes a big hit in new Trump executive order

Trump issues cybersecurity executive order

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Cybersecurity practitioners are voicing concerns over a recent executive order issued by the White House that guts requirements for: securing software the government uses, punishing people who compromise sensitive networks, preparing new encryption schemes that will withstand attacks from quantum computers, and other existing controls. The executive order (EO), issued on June 6, reverses several

X sues to block copycat NY content moderation law after California win

X sues New York over content law

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Last year, X won its fight to block a California law requiring social media companies to report on efforts to remove hate speech and other kinds of content the state deemed harmful. Now, X has sued to stop New York from enforcing a law that it claims is a "carbon copy" of California's—which resulted in a settlement blocking the California law after a court ruled it likely violated the First Amend

Trump’s EPA to “reconsider” ban on cancer-causing asbestos

Trump EPA reconsiders asbestos ban

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Despite touting ambitious goals of making America healthier, the Trump administration on Monday revealed in court documents that it is backpedaling on a ban on cancer-causing asbestos. Last year, under the Biden administration, the Environmental Protection Agency took a long-awaited step to ban the last type of asbestos still used in the US —chrysotile asbestos, aka "white asbestos." While use of

Prepare to bid farewell to The Sandman with S2 trailer

The Sandman Season 2 trailer released

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Ars Technica - All content / 1d

The second and final season of The Sandman comes to Netflix next month. Netflix's The Sandman , an exquisite and largely faithful adaptation of Neil Gaiman's beloved graphic novel series, proved to be a hit for the streaming giant, racking up nearly 400 million viewing hours between its release on August 5 and September 18, 2022. Yet there was initially some question about whether even those numb

Toy-maker Mattel accused of planning “reckless” AI social experiment on kids

Mattel partners with OpenAI for AI toys

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After Mattel and OpenAI announced a partnership that would result in an AI product marketed to kids, a consumer rights advocacy group is warning that the collaboration may endanger children. It remains unclear what shape Mattel's first AI product will take. However, on Tuesday, Public Citizen co-President Robert Weissman issued a statement urging more transparency so that parents can prepare for

Google’s Gemini AI family updated with stable 2.5 Pro, super-efficient 2.5 Flash-Lite

Gemini 2.5 models now available

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Google has announced a big expansion of its Gemini AI model family today. After months of tweaking and tuning, the high-power Gemini 2.5 Pro is leaving preview and is ready for developers to build on. Meanwhile, Google is offering a peek at its upcoming high-efficiency model, known as Gemini 2.5 Pro Flash-Lite. Try as it might, Google can't get away from confusing model names. Google's AI aspirat

Sally celebrates complicated legacy of first US woman in space

Sally Ride's legacy and struggles

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"Sally Ride became the first American woman to blast off into space, but beneath her unflappable composure, she carried a secret." On June 18, 1983, NASA astronaut Sally Ride made history as the first American woman in space aboard the Space Shuttle Challenger . National Geographic is marking the occasion with a new documentary on the astronaut's life: Sally . In addition to revisiting her storie

OpenAI weighs “nuclear option” of antitrust complaint against Microsoft

OpenAI considers antitrust action against

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OpenAI executives have discussed filing an antitrust complaint with US regulators against Microsoft, the company's largest investor, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday, marking a dramatic escalation in tensions between the two long-term AI partners. OpenAI, which develops ChatGPT , has reportedly considered seeking a federal regulatory review of the terms of its contract with Microsoft for p

The first Corvette hypercar? Chevrolet’s 1,250 hp ZR1X hybrid breaks cover.

Chevrolet Corvette ZR1X debuts 1250HP

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Chevrolet provided flights from Los Angeles to Austin, Texas, and accommodation so Ars could be briefed on the new ZR1X and drive the ZR1 . Ars does not accept paid editorial content. At the recent media launch of the ZR1 , the most powerful Corvette ever, Chevrolet also teased an even more potent variant set to debut later this year. Dubbed the ZR1X, the latest model arrives after serious antici

Switch 2 users report online console bans after running personal game “backups”

Nintendo Switch 2 faces flash cart challenges

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Earlier this week, the makers of the popular Mig Flash cartridge, which allows users to play Switch games loaded via an SD card without modifying the console itself, issued a firmware update enabling the cards to run original Switch games on the Switch 2. Since then, though, multiple Mig Flash users are reporting that they've seen their Switch 2 consoles banned from Nintendo's online servers, eve

“Have we no shame?”: Trump’s NIH grant cuts appallingly illegal, judge rules

Federal judge rules NIH cuts illegal

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The Trump administration has locked horns with a federal judge who ruled on Monday that more than $1 billion in DEI-fueled cuts to federal health research clearly discriminated against racial minorities and LGBTQ+ people. In what The New York Times dubbed a “damning assessment” of Trump’s motives, Judge Williams G. Young ruled from the bench that the cuts were “void and illegal,” saying it was hi

How Tesla Takedown got its start

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On a sunny April afternoon in Seattle, around 40 activists gathered at the Pine Box, a beer and pizza bar in the sometimes scruffy Capitol Hill neighborhood. The group had reserved a side room attached to the outside patio; before remarks began, attendees flowed in and out, enjoying the warm day. Someone set up a sound system. Then the activists settled in, straining their ears as the streamed ca

The MacBook Air is the obvious loser as the sun sets on the Intel Mac era

Apple ends Intel Mac support

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For the last three years, we've engaged in some in-depth data analysis and tea-leaf reading to answer two questions about Apple's support for older Macs that still use Intel chips. First, was Apple providing fewer updates and fewer years of software support to Macs based on Intel chips as it worked to transition the entire lineup to its internally developed Apple Silicon? And second, how long cou

Everything we know about the 2026 Nissan Leaf

Nissan unveils next-gen LEAF electric vehicle

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Nissan provided flights from Detroit to Los Angeles and accommodation so Ars could be briefed on the next Leaf. Ars does not accept paid editorial content. The first-generation Nissan Leaf