News from Ars Technica

With NIH in chaos, its controversial director is taking over CDC, too

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Beth Mole @ Ars Technica · 02/20/2026 14:44 EDT

The unusual dual role has renewed criticism of Bhattacharya's lack of leadership. Read more ›

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Wikipedia blacklists Archive.today, starts removing 695,000 archive links

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Jon Brodkin @ Ars Technica 2 place · 02/20/2026 13:35 EDT

If DDoSing a blog wasn't bad enough, archive site also tampered with web snapshots. Read more ›

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Why Final Fantasy is now targeting PC as its "lead platform"

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Kyle Orland @ Ars Technica · 02/20/2026 12:26 EDT

Director says PC is the "foundation" when targeting "high-end environments first." Read more ›

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"Million-year-old" fossil skulls from China are far older—and not Denisovans

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Kiona N. Smith @ Ars Technica · 02/20/2026 12:03 EDT

The revised age may help make sense of 2-million-year-old stone tools elsewhere in China. Read more ›

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It's outright war for the Iron Throne in House of the Dragon S3 teaser

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Jennifer Ouellette @ Ars Technica · 02/20/2026 11:40 EDT

"The king has abdicated his throne. A new line is coming. A new line of unsullied kings." Read more ›

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Pokémon Red and Green’s GBA remakes are getting re-released on Switch for $20 a pop

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Andrew Cunningham @ Ars Technica · 02/20/2026 11:30 EDT

Games appear to be mostly unmodified ports of the well-regarded remakes. Read more ›

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Supreme Court blocks Trump's emergency tariffs, billions in refunds may be owed

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Ashley Belanger @ Ars Technica 2 place · 02/20/2026 10:37 EDT

Economists estimated more than $175 billion may need to be refunded. Read more ›

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Tesla slashes Cybertruck prices as it tries to move (unpainted) metal

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Jonathan M. Gitlin @ Ars Technica · 02/20/2026 09:31 EDT

The stainless steel pickup truck is Tesla's first real flop. Read more ›

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An AI coding bot took down Amazon Web Services

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Rafe Rosner-Uddin, Financial Times @ Ars Technica · 02/20/2026 09:13 EDT

Blames "user error, not AI error" for incident in December involving its Kiro tool. Read more ›

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Microsoft removes guide on how to train LLMs on pirated Harry Potter books

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Ashley Belanger @ Ars Technica · 02/20/2026 07:11 EDT

The now-deleted Harry Potter data set was "mistakenly" marked public domain. Read more ›

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Rocket Report: Chinese launch firm raises big money; Falcon 9 back to the Bahamas

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Stephen Clark @ Ars Technica · 02/20/2026 07:00 EDT

The company that attempted China's first orbital-class rocket landing says it will soon try again. Read more ›

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Lawsuit: ChatGPT told student he was "meant for greatness"—then came psychosis

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Cyrus Farivar @ Ars Technica · 02/19/2026 17:44 EDT

"AI Injury Attorneys" target the chatbot design itself. Read more ›

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NASA chief classifies Starliner flight as "Type A" mishap, says agency made mistakes

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Eric Berger @ Ars Technica · 02/19/2026 16:59 EDT

"The most troubling failure revealed by this investigation is not hardware." Read more ›

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Rubik’s WOWCube adds complexity, possibility by reinventing the puzzle cube

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Scharon Harding @ Ars Technica · 02/19/2026 16:30 EDT

Technology is a double-edged sword in the $399 Rubik's Cube-inspired toy. Read more ›

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Diablo II’s new Warlock is a great excuse to revisit a classic game

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Kyle Orland @ Ars Technica · 02/19/2026 15:04 EDT

New skill tree paths offer a fun twist on some generally familiar mechanics. Read more ›

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From chickens to humans, animals think "bouba" sounds round

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John Timmer @ Ars Technica · 02/19/2026 14:38 EDT

There seems to be a deep-seated association between sounds and shapes. Read more ›

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F1: Preseason tests shows how different 2026 will be

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Jonathan M. Gitlin @ Ars Technica · 02/19/2026 13:22 EDT

Everyone's trying to get mileage as F1 undergoes huge technical changes. Read more ›

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Google announces Gemini 3.1 Pro, says it's better at complex problem-solving

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Ryan Whitwam @ Ars Technica · 02/19/2026 12:42 EDT

Google says 3.1 Pro is ready for "your hardest challenges." Read more ›

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Zero grip, maximum fun: A practical guide to getting into amateur ice racing

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Tim Stevens @ Ars Technica · 02/19/2026 11:26 EDT

Where we're racing, we don't need roads. Read more ›

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OpenClaw security fears lead Meta, other AI firms to restrict its use

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Paresh Dave, wired.com @ Ars Technica · 02/19/2026 09:11 EDT

The viral agentic AI tool is known for being highly capable but also wildly unpredictable. Read more ›

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