Mounting data suggest antibacterial soaps do more harm than good
Few pros, but cons include upped risk of infection, microbiome changes, drug resistance.
Top Post: Ford just made spotting its police SUV a lot harder
In-Depth Reports
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iZombie is the zombie-themed police procedural show you need to be watching
The CW's genre-hopping show from the creator of Veronica Mars is a lot of fun.
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Measure your muscle and fat anywhere with Skulpt Chisel
The $99 device uses EIM to tell you how strong your muscles really are.
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Aboard HMS Cavalier, where Wargaming is battling to shape the future of VR films
World of Tanks maker is doing great work preserving the HMS Cavalier.
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Like a boss: Falcon soars into space and lands in the ocean
SpaceX takes another key step toward "rapid, reusable spaceflight," Elon Musk says.
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Using the uncertainty principle against itself to gain precision
Researchers show how classical and quantum measurements beat quantum limits.
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Ars visits Afghanistan’s only PC manufacturer
Despite having 20 technicians, BlueSonic has already assembled 5,000+ all-in-one PCs.
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Apple won’t demand to learn how FBI cracked terror suspect’s phone
Gadget maker said it did not know whether FBI employed a software or hardware hack.
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Judge rejects $12M Lyft class-action settlement
The $12.25 million payout shortchanges drivers—and the state of California.
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FCC: Carrier pocketed $10M in bogus cell phone subsidies
Record $51M fine proposed for carrier accused of enrolling ineligible customers.
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US government still pursuing court order to unlock iPhone in New York case
"The government’s application is not moot," Justice Department says.
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Oculus brings real (and pervasive) data-mining to virtual reality
But Sen. Franken's concerns can't see the EULA forest for the trees.
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EU-US Privacy Shield may not pass muster, according to leaked extract
EU data authorities might go to court if Commission forges ahead anyway.
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SpaceX says cargo launch ready, hopes to “nail the landing” this time
Company also intends to increase launch cadence to every other week by year's end.
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Sweet drug clears cholesterol, reverses heart disease—and was found by parents
Here’s how parents of kids with rare disease found what may be blockbuster drug.
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Nation-wide radio station hack airs hours of vulgar “furry sex” ramblings
Listeners hear explicit audio caused when station equipment is commandeered.
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Need a meaty, complex time travel series? Start watching Outlander
Battlestar Galactica's Ron Moore packed his new show with intrigue and great characters.
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No more two-lane highway headaches? Europe demos semi-autonomous truck platoon
Wi-Fi-connected trucks travel in tight convoys, saving fuel and increasing safety.
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Blizzard shuts down popular fan-run “pirate” server for classic WoW
Nostralrius servers claimed 800K users are playing 2006-era World of Warcraft.
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The next big thing in space may be really, REALLY small satellites
Space for all? Put your very own GoPro into orbit for about $3,000.
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Teaser for Rogue One brings on those old-school Star Wars feels
New film strides boldly into territory once covered by the expanded universe.
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Maryland hospital: Ransomware success wasn’t IT department’s fault
MedStar denies ransom payment, denies earlier JBoss bugs played role.
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Overwatch has its sights set on e-sports, but it’s too much fun for that
Blizzard's grand FPS-MOBA experiment hits open beta in May, and you'll love it.
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All-bacterial battery makes a nutrient when charged, eats it to discharge
Cathode got its start in cow manure.
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Parents of baby who had all of his diapers searched sue feds
"Craziness of the case is proportional to the craziness of the government's conduct."
Feature Story
OK, panic—newly evolved ransomware is bad news for everyone
Crypto-ransomware has turned every network intrusion into a potential payday.
On The Radar
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Kepler phones home
The search for exoplanets goes cold as Kepler enters emergency mode
The planet hunting spacecraft has already been a wild success for NASA.
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FREE AT LAST
Researchers help shut down spam botnet that enslaved 4,000 Linux machines
Mumblehard blasted the Internet with spam for more than a year.
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Whoop whoop thats the sound of the police
Ford just made spotting its police SUV a lot harder
The Police Interceptor Utility can now hide its flashing lights in the roof liner.
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Do you feel lucky?
Watch live: SpaceX tries not to crash another rocket [Updated]
Come for the cargo launch. Stay for a history-making landing. Or a crash.
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pwning the physical world
New technique for pirating from 3D printers is the next frontier in theft
Attackers can reverse engineer 3D printer outputs with audio recordings.
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Core i7 under $600
Dealmaster: Get a Dell Inspiron 3000 desktop with Core i7 processor for $579
Plus additional deals on games, TVs, laptops, and more.
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Back to the future?
To power its rocket of the future, NASA turns to 1950s technology
NASA opts for old-time reliability over newer, more efficient upper-stage options.
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Try VR before you buy VR
Here’s where you can try out the HTC Vive without spending $800
HTC rolls out retail demo program, stores taking pre-orders for June delivery.
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Ars Editor’s Picks The web worth reading.
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Staff Blog
Biologists start sharing unpublished work—oh, the horror!
Bemused physicists watch biologists start biorXiv, party likes it's 1991.
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Saved by the Fitbit
ER docs get heart rate info from Fitbit, save patient’s life
Doctors provided strategic treatment after the man suffered a seizure.
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Patch Flash—aaah-aarrgh!
Adobe patches Flash bug that’s being exploited to install ransomware
"Actively exploited" critical flaw has been in wild for more than a week.
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New Street
In recent test, blockchain brings transparency to notorious credit default swaps
Big banks partnered with data and software providers to try out blockchain.
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HOW THEY DID IT
Neutered random number generator let man rig million dollar lotteries
RNG bypass code allowed security chief to know winning numbers in advance.
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Innovation!
AT&T charging $20 upgrade fee even when you bring your own phone
Verizon, at least, lets you bring your own phone without paying an extra fee.
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Flash in the pan
Edge to follow Chrome’s lead, make Flash ads click-to-play
Microsoft looks forward to a future where Flash isn't a part of the Web.
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this is awesome
All the weird facts you never considered about life in space
Spacehack founder's new book is about the beauty—and awkwardness—of being an astronaut.
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Big cloud
Amazon cloud has 1 million users and is near $10 billion in annual sales
Amazon Web Services, now 10 years old, dominates US cloud computing market.
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I'll be there for you
3D-printed masterpiece? Computer mimics brushstrokes of Rembrandt
New portrait created using machine learning algorithms with help from Microsoft.
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Locked out
Report: “Deeply divided” White House won’t support anti-encryption legislation
Obama administration offered feedback on bill but will avoid taking position.
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SOMETHING ABOUT PETER AND PAUL…
After standoff with Congress, White House robs Ebola fund to pay for Zika
Administration urges Republicans to approve money to prevent US outbreaks.
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For glory (only)
UK government sets up an international “Olympics of e-sports”
First two-day "eGames" competition set for Rio alongside the actual Olympics.
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Actually, it's called GNU/Windows
First Windows 10 preview with bash support is out now
Windows' emojis have been redesigned, too.
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Urge to switch ISPs... rising
Frontier needs until mid-April to fix Verizon FiOS changeover problems
Problems persist five days after Verizon-to-Frontier transfer in three states.
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Gaming the system
Congressman blames son for spending $1,300 in campaign funds on Steam games
FEC questions California rep for unauthorized "personal expenses."
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THE PERSONAL TOUCH
Crypto ransomware targets called by name in spear-phishing blast
Once the domain of espionage, personalized scams embraced by profit-driven scammers.
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Starz on the go
Starz enters streaming world with its own $9/month subscription service
It joins HBO as another premium channel attempting to win over cord-cutters.
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In Norway, Opera writes Vivaldi
Vivaldi 1.0 tries to reverse web browser simplification trend
Blink-powered brainchild of Opera's former chief hits version 1.0 milestone.
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second thoughts
Gawker begins appeal of $140M Hulk Hogan sex-tape verdict
Was it wrong for a jury to decide "what's news?"
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cuck shortage
Cuckoldry is incredibly rare among humans
New study finds that only 1-2% of men unknowingly raise children who aren't theirs .
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Encrypt all the things
WhatsApp is now most widely used end-to-end crypto tool on the planet
WhatsApp now uses Signal protocol, which was largely funded by US taxpayers.
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Discrimination doesn't pay
PayPal withdraws from North Carolina because of new LGBT discrimination law
That's the biggest economic backlash to hit state following signing of HB2.
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Slam Dunk! Errr... home run!
Twitter buys NFL streaming rights for 10 Thursday Night Football games
Twitter outbid Amazon and Verizon, and the service will show the games for free.
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Feature Story (2 pages)
Sorry, Everyone: The iPhone SE is an apology to big-phone haters everywhere
Review: There’s not much that’s “new,” but that’s not what this phone is about.
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Feature Story (3 pages)
HTC Vive review: You can now buy your own holodeck simulator v1.0
Valve’s room-scale VR gives us a taste of the sci-fi future today.
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Stay in the know with
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Feature Story (2 pages)
A spiritual successor to Aaron Swartz is angering publishers all over again
Meet accused hacker and copyright infringer Alexandra Elbakyan.
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Feature Story (3 pages)
Hands-on with HoloLens: On the cusp of a revolution
It's an amazing device, and now it needs amazing software to go with it.
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Ars Feature Story Archive →