We asked four AI coding agents to rebuild Minesweeper—the results were explosive
How do four modern LLMs do at re-creating a simple Windows gaming classic?
Kyle Orland and Benj Edwards
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192
Ars Technica homepage
Russia is about to do the most Russia thing ever with its next space station
“Russia, meanwhile, will be left to carry on the legacy of the ISS, with all its problems.”
Eric Berger
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238
Rocket Report: Russia pledges quick fix for Soyuz launch pad; Ariane 6 aims high
South Korean rocket startup Innospace is poised to debut a new nano-launcher.
Stephen Clark
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127
ByteDance confirms TikTok will be controlled by US owners
Closing TikTok deal avoids 2026 ban, but app may be buggy, “100% MAGA.”
Ashley Belanger
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99
Two space startups prove you don’t need to break the bank to rendezvous in space
“We had to push the envelope a little bit here.”
Eric Berger
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17
These are the flying discs the government wants you to know about
DiskSat’s design offers “a power-to-weight ratio unmatched by traditional aluminum satellites.”
Stephen Clark
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90
Parasites plagued Roman soldiers at Hadrian’s Wall
They were infected by roundworm, whipworm, and microscopic protozoans called Giardia duodenalis.
Jennifer Ouellette
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108
Trump commits to Moon landing by 2028, followed by a lunar outpost two years later
Also, the Trump administration wants to put some nuclear power reactors there, too.
Eric Berger
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264
Most Read
YouTube bans two popular channels that created fake AI movie trailers
Google loves AI content, except when it doesn’t.
Ryan Whitwam
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103
Peacock showing ads upon launch opens the door for more disruptive streaming ads
Subscribers will start seeing ads when selecting a user next year.
Scharon Harding
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138
Reminder: Donate to win swag in our annual Charity Drive sweepstakes
Help increase our charity haul of nearly $18,000 in just over a week.
Kyle Orland
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2
RAM and SSD prices are still climbing—here’s our best advice for PC builders
I would avoid building a PC right now, but if you can’t, here’s our best advice.
Andrew Cunningham
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117
School security AI flagged clarinet as a gun. Exec says it wasn’t an error.
Human review didn’t stop AI from triggering lockdown at panicked middle school.
Ashley Belanger
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281
LLMs’ impact on science: Booming publications, stagnating quality
Once researchers turn to LLMs, paper counts go up, quality does not.
John Timmer
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54
Neural DSP models John Mayer’s entire amp and effects rig—and it sounds great
Mayer gets the “Archetype” treatment.
Nate Anderson
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57
NASA will soon find out if the Perseverance rover can really persevere on Mars
Engineers at JPL are certifying the Perseverance rover to drive up to 100 kilometers.
Stephen Clark
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66
For the lazy techie: These are Ars staff’s last-minute holiday gift picks
Two wireless mice, two external hard drives, and a partridge in a pear tree.
Samuel Axon
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52
Does swearing make you stronger? Science says yes.
“A calorie-neutral, drug-free, low-cost, readily available tool for when we need a boost in performance.”
Jennifer Ouellette
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120
Formula 1 is deploying new jargon for 2026
Forget DRS, now it’s all about corner mode, straight mode, and overtake mode.
Jonathan M. Gitlin
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88
The inside story of SpaceX’s historic rocket landing that changed launch forever
“It’s hard to describe how epic this comeback was after our first Falcon 9 launch failure.”
Eric Berger
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180
NASA finally—and we really do mean it this time—has a full-time leader
A long and winding road to reach NASA’s headquarters in Washington, DC.
Eric Berger
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162
Physicists 3D-printed a Christmas tree of ice
New method uses no freezing technology or refrigeration equipment—just water and a vacuum.
Jennifer Ouellette
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43
OpenAI’s new ChatGPT image generator makes faking photos easy
New GPT Image 1.5 allows more detailed conversational image editing, for better or worse.
Benj Edwards
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113
Man sues cops who jailed him for 37 days for trolling a Charlie Kirk vigil
Cops may be fined for jailing a man over his Facebook posts.
Ashley Belanger
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204
FCC chair scrubs website after learning it called FCC an “independent agency”
Meanwhile, Ted Cruz wants to restrict FCC’s power to intimidate broadcasters.
Jon Brodkin
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86
Donut Lab’s hub motor meets WATT’s battery to create new EV skateboard
A prototype of the EV platform will be shown off at CES next month.
Jonathan M. Gitlin
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128
Bursting AI bubble may be EU’s “secret weapon” in clash with Trump, expert says
Spotify and Accenture caught in crossfire as Trump attacks EU tech regulations.
Ashley Belanger
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150
Trump admin threatens to break up major climate research center
Major research institution dismissed as a source of “climate alarmism.”
John Timmer
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190
Google releases Gemini 3 Flash, promising improved intelligence and efficiency
Google’s Gemini 3 family is now complete with release of Gemini 3 Flash.
Ryan Whitwam
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165
Browser extensions with 8 million users collect extended AI conversations
The extensions, available for Chromium browsers, harvest full AI conversations over months.
Dan Goodin
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75
Electric vehicles cause tension in the automotive aftermarket
At SEMA, we heard Trump-like talking points but saw skateboard chassis, too.
Peter Nelson
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112
Twitter comeback bid draws lawsuit from Elon Musk’s X Corp
“Huge uphill battle” to obtain and use Twitter name.
Cyrus Farivar
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131
US oil industry doesn’t see profit in Trump’s “pro-petroleum” moves
The financial picture around drilling is moving against the Trump administration’s hopes
Skip York, The Conversation
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76
“A Band-Aid on a giant gash”: Trump’s attacks on science may ruin his AI moonshot
Trump’s AI “Manhattan Project” will fail if DOGE cuts are kept, critics say.
Ashley Belanger
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98
Texas sues biggest TV makers, alleging smart TVs spy on users without consent
Automated Content Recognition brings “mass surveillance” to homes, lawsuits say.
Jon Brodkin
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159
The $4.3 billion space telescope Trump tried to cancel is now complete
“We’re going to be making 3D movies of what is going on in the Milky Way galaxy.”
Stephen Clark
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95