Ars Technica Features

1. 2026 Lucid Gravity Touring review: A strong act 2

   Quick, comfortable, roomy, and agile for a large electric SUV.

2. How hard is it to build orbital data centers, actually?

   "The ISS radiators are expensive and heavy. We're focused on making them cheap and light."

3. Simulating everything, sort of: The promise and limits of world models

   Experts explain how they work, what they can do, and what's still unsettled.

4. Like a cheat code for your car: We investigate ECU tuning

   Now it's an arms race between OEMs locking down chips and tuners trying to crack them.

5. Payloads used to dictate the terms of launch. That's finally changing.

   "The Starship Pez dispenser demonstrates very smart industrial design and scale."

6. Hackers can use 9 of the most popular AI tools to assemble massive botnets

   "HalluSquatting" weaponizes LLMs' inability to say "I don't know."

7. How AI could enable autonomous robot workers in workplaces—and maybe homes

   Top robotics researchers and founders explain how robot autonomy is evolving.

8. Despite the darkness, I still see signs of hope in America

   It's difficult to pinpoint the moment in my life where America started to lose the plot.

9. Editorial: It's time to step up and have your say for science

   Your comments on a dangerous rule putting politicals in charge of science can matter.

10. Trump's plan to redesign every .gov website leads to AI-designed horrors

    A year in, National Design Studio delays plan to update government web standards.

11. NASA's X-59 "frankenjet" tests supersonic flight without the sonic boom

    NASA’s quiet supersonic flight tests could eventually go on a national tour.

12. Underpromise, overdeliver? Hands-on with the $24,950 Slate auto.

    It has 205 miles of bare-bones range.

13. How to burst the AI bubble: Strike at its roots

    Sci-fi author/tech journalist Cory Doctorow on his new book, The Reverse Centaur's Guide to Life After AI.

14. This former hacker saw the light—and now wants to collect all of it

    "I don’t know of a bigger question we can answer as humans."

15. As global warming threatens corals, scientists search for reefs that can take the heat

    Researchers say these coral strongholds may help repopulate more degraded reefs.

16. Hunter-gatherers in Siberia died of a plague outbreak 5,500 years ago

    We can't blame the Neolithic Transition for the plague anymore.

17. The Ars Technica 2026 Reader Survey: Let your voice be heard!

    Tell us how you read Ars, and what you'd like to see more (or less!) of on the front page.

18. 20 years of Intel Macs: Why Apple switched, and why it switched again

    Remembering the ups and downs of the Intel Mac era as it finally winds down.

19. Verizon sent man a refurbished phone with MDM, then deleted his data remotely

    Failure raises questions about how Verizon prepares refurbished phones for new users.

20. Several things I like about macOS 27 Golden Gate that have nothing to do with AI

    AI aside, Golden Gate includes a bunch of subtle-but-helpful improvements.