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    <channel>
        <title>Ars Technica</title>
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        <link>https://arstechnica.com</link>
        <description>Serving the Technologist since 1998. News, reviews, and analysis.</description>
        <lastBuildDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2026 03:07:47 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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<image>
	<url>https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/cropped-ars-logo-512_480-60x60.png</url>
	<title>Ars Technica</title>
	<link>https://arstechnica.com</link>
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            <item>
                <title>Hackers reveal how Flock cameras really track cars and people</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/hackers-reveal-how-flock-cameras-really-track-cars-and-people/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/hackers-reveal-how-flock-cameras-really-track-cars-and-people/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Dhruv Mehrotra, Joseph Cox, wired.com ]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Thu, 17 Sep 2026 09:43:46 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[automated license plate readers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flock!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[surveillance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[syndication]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/hackers-reveal-how-flock-cameras-really-track-cars-and-people/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[One hacked camera captured 1.6 million images and could detect people as well as cars.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Hackers ripped down a <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/flock-safety-os-investigate/">Flock camera</a> above a roadway, made a near-complete copy of the data stored inside it, and shared the files with <a href="https://www.404media.co/hackers-stole-flocks-camera-software-revealing-how-the-company-tracks-cars-and-people-2/">404 Media</a> and WIRED, revealing in new detail how exactly Flock Safety’s cameras track the movements of <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/flock-ai-search-user-interface/">both vehicles and people</a>. The hackers say they are also publishing details on how they managed to obtain the software, in the hopes that other people may copy them.</p>
<p>The breach provides an unprecedented look inside a system that Flock has described as protected by <a href="https://www.flocksafety.com/faq">on-device encryption</a>. The hackers were able to copy the camera’s storage and recover an encryption key stored on the device, which unlocked videos of thousands of vehicle detections. The hackers shared the material with 404 Media and the transparency nonprofit <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/ddosecrets-blueleaks-wikileaks/">Distributed Denial of Secrets</a>, which shared the data with WIRED. 404 Media and WIRED then analyzed those files as part of a joint investigation.</p>
<p>While much of the automatic license plate reader’s most sensitive storage remained encrypted and inaccessible, the joint analysis of the recovered data shows that software running on the device explicitly detects people as well as vehicles, license plates, and bicycles. The camera can produce dozens of images of a single passing vehicle and, according to several weeks of recovered logs, generated more than a million images. Its computer-vision software also sometimes isolated bumper stickers and other graphics, including, in one case, an American flag patch on a motorcyclist’s saddlebag.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/hackers-reveal-how-flock-cameras-really-track-cars-and-people/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/hackers-reveal-how-flock-cameras-really-track-cars-and-people/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>2</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/flock-camera-1152x648-1779223467.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/flock-camera-500x500-1779223476.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Getty Images | Smith Collection/Gado </media:credit><media:text>Flock license plate reader and camera with solar panel in Pleasant Hill, California on April 16, 2026.</media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>Apple reportedly building server packed with M-series Ultra chips for AI</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/apple-reportedly-building-server-packed-with-m-series-ultra-chips-for-ai/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/apple-reportedly-building-server-packed-with-m-series-ultra-chips-for-ai/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jeremy Hsu]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 22:02:46 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[AI]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AI developers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ai servers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple hardware]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple silicon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple Silicon Mac]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[m-series chips]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[servers]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/apple-reportedly-building-server-packed-with-m-series-ultra-chips-for-ai/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Planned 2029 debut could make this Apple’s first enterprise server in decades.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Apple is working on an AI server that would use Apple’s high-performance M-series Ultra chips found in Mac desktops. The potential product’s expected release in 2029 would mark the first Apple server to hit the market in nearly two decades—and could capitalize on the surging popularity of Apple hardware among AI developers.</p>
<p>The enterprise server would come in two configurations that include either two or four of Apple’s future M8 Ultra chips, <a href="https://www.theinformation.com/articles/apple-considers-return-server-market-talked-nvidia-use-network-tech">according to The Information</a>. The project reportedly received support from <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tag/john-ternus/">new Apple CEO John Ternus</a> when it began a year ago, back when Ternus led Apple’s hardware engineering efforts.</p>
<p>This revelation coincides with booming sales for Apple’s Mac mini and Mac Studio as AI developers and companies snap up the Mac computers to run AI workloads. The popularity of such computing devices that rely on Apple’s M-series Ultra chips has undoubtedly encouraged Apple’s pursuit of an enterprise server using the same chips.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/apple-reportedly-building-server-packed-with-m-series-ultra-chips-for-ai/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/ai/2026/09/apple-reportedly-building-server-packed-with-m-series-ultra-chips-for-ai/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>59</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/John-Ternus-Surprise-and-Shine-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/John-Ternus-Surprise-and-Shine-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Benjamin Fanjoy/Getty Images</media:credit><media:text>Apple CEO John Ternus stands at Apple's "Surprise and Shine" event at the company's corporate headquarters, Apple Park, on September 9, 2026 in Cupertino, California.</media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Epstein had huge cache of child sex pics; victims sue to find out who&#039;s in them</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/lawsuit-trump-doj-notified-very-few-victims-in-epsteins-stash-of-child-sex-images/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/lawsuit-trump-doj-notified-very-few-victims-in-epsteins-stash-of-child-sex-images/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Ashley Belanger]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 21:42:09 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[child porn]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[child sex abuse materials]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[csam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[department of justice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Donald Trump]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[epstein files]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Jeffrey Epstein]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/lawsuit-trump-doj-notified-very-few-victims-in-epsteins-stash-of-child-sex-images/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Survivors appalled nobody will tell them if they’re in Epstein’s CSAM collection.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>On Tuesday, two survivors of child sex abuse accused the Justice Department of failing to notify dozens of victims found in Jeffrey Epstein’s massive collection of child sex images.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Doe-v-Epstein-Estate-Complaint-9-15-26.pdf">proposed class action</a>, survivors explained that Epstein apparently started collecting child sex images in the 1990s, many of which the DOJ recovered after his arrest. In 2025, the FBI started reviewing “tens of thousands of videos” containing illegal child sexual abuse material (CSAM) and issued a memo confirming that “a large volume of images” seized depicted likely minors.</p>
<p>Some of these victims may have had contact with Epstein, as the disgraced financier kept a "modelbook" of nude photos of young girls roped into his ring. However, the FBI also identified hundreds of CSAM images in cache, which include approximately 15–20 images of known CSAM dating back to the 1990s. And so far, the DOJ has largely ignored those victims, who likely never met Epstein and have no way of knowing if he possessed, transported, or traded their images, survivors alleged.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/lawsuit-trump-doj-notified-very-few-victims-in-epsteins-stash-of-child-sex-images/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/lawsuit-trump-doj-notified-very-few-victims-in-epsteins-stash-of-child-sex-images/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>59</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/GettyImages-681946574-713x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="713" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/GettyImages-681946574-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:text> Jeffrey Epstein Donald Trump pose together at the Mar-a-Lago estate in the 1990s.</media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Nonprofit that tracks meteors taken down by &quot;critical blow&quot; from a cyberattack</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/nonprofit-that-tracks-meteors-taken-down-by-critical-blow-from-a-cyberattack/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/nonprofit-that-tracks-meteors-taken-down-by-critical-blow-from-a-cyberattack/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Dan Goodin]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 21:08:14 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Biz & IT]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Security]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Space]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cyberattacks]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[hacking]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[meteors]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[space]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/nonprofit-that-tracks-meteors-taken-down-by-critical-blow-from-a-cyberattack/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Group plans to be largely out of commission for several weeks.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>The International Meteor Organization, the nonprofit that coordinates and publishes amateur and professional observations of meteor phenomena, said its infrastructure has suffered a “critical blow” from a cyberattack.</p>
<p>“We recently suffered a cyberattack that dealt a critical blow to aging infrastructure, taking much of our site offline," a static page on its <a href="https://imo.net/">website</a> on Wednesday said. “We expect several weeks of partial downtime as we transition to new infrastructure and services.”</p>
<h2>“I am very sad to see the site down”</h2>
<p>In the meantime, the IMO said it’s prioritizing the reporting of fireball observations, which can be reported <a href="https://fireball.imo.net/members/imo/report_intro">here</a>. The organization is also providing some information on its Facebook page.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/nonprofit-that-tracks-meteors-taken-down-by-critical-blow-from-a-cyberattack/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/09/nonprofit-that-tracks-meteors-taken-down-by-critical-blow-from-a-cyberattack/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>36</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/astroid-international-meteor-organization.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/astroid-international-meteor-organization-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Interntional Meteor Organization</media:credit></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Lionsgate releases a new trailer for Sunrise on the Reaping</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/09/haymitch-gets-a-backstory-in-sunrise-on-the-reaping-trailer/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/09/haymitch-gets-a-backstory-in-sunrise-on-the-reaping-trailer/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jennifer Ouellette]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 20:44:41 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Culture]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[entertainment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[films]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[HG: Sunrise on the Reaping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Laika Studios]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Lionsgate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Trailers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Wildwood]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/09/haymitch-gets-a-backstory-in-sunrise-on-the-reaping-trailer/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Also: Laika Studios debuts a stunning full-length trailer for its stop-motion feature, <em>Wildwood</em>. ]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<div class="ars-video ars-video--horizontal"><div><div class="relative" allow="fullscreen" loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lYXtL5TreOE?start=0&amp;wmode=transparent"></div></div></div>
<p>Lionsgate has released an action-packed trailer for <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hunger_Games:_Sunrise_on_the_Reaping"><em>The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping</em></a>—a sequel to 2023’s <em>Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes</em> and a prequel leading into the events of the first film, <em>The Hunger Games</em> (2012). In addition, Laika Studios released a trailer for its highly anticipated stop-motion animated feature, <em>Wildwood</em>.</p>
<p><strong>(Some spoilers for <em>The Hunger Games</em> below.)</strong></p>
<p>The main protagonist is a young Haymitch Abernathy, future District 12 mentor to Katniss (Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta (Josh Hutcherson). Woody Harrelson’s older Haymitch is a fan favorite who later becomes a jaded, drunken (yet secretly hopeful) cynic. Per the official synopsis:</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/09/haymitch-gets-a-backstory-in-sunrise-on-the-reaping-trailer/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/culture/2026/09/haymitch-gets-a-backstory-in-sunrise-on-the-reaping-trailer/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>21</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/sunrise-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/sunrise-500x500-1789589529.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Lionsgate</media:credit></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>Not just Proton: Getting to know Valve&#039;s new SteamOS compatibility layers</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/09/not-just-proton-getting-to-know-valves-new-steamos-compatibility-layers/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/09/not-just-proton-getting-to-know-valves-new-steamos-compatibility-layers/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Kyle Orland]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 20:23:16 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Gaming]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[android]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ARM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[compatibility layer]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[proton]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Steam]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[steam frame]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[steamos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Valve]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/09/not-just-proton-getting-to-know-valves-new-steamos-compatibility-layers/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[New system-level tools bring Arm chipsets, Android APKs into the Steam ecosystem.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Since <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2022/02/steam-deck-the-comprehensive-ars-technica-review/">the release of the Steam Deck</a>, Valve fans have gotten very familiar with the idea of <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2023/04/proton-update-gets-18-more-windows-games-running-on-linux-including-chex-quest-hd/">the Proton compatibility layer</a> that allows games written for Windows to run capably on the Linux-based SteamOS (though Valve's efforts in this realm <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/08/valves-steam-play-uses-vulkan-to-bring-more-windows-games-to-linux/">date back further than that</a>). To get more games running on <a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/09/steam-frame-the-ars-technica-review/">the SteamOS-powered Steam Frame</a>, though, Valve is relying on two additional compatibility layers that are <a href="https://steamdb.info/app/3127680/">new</a> to the <a href="https://steamdb.info/app/3029110/">Steam architecture</a>.</p>
<p>The first, FEX, is Valve's port of <a href="https://fex-emu.com/">fex-emu</a>, an open source project that emulates x86 processor instructions on an Arm chipset. Since 2018, what started as a small cross-platform emulation project has grown to include "an advanced binary recompiler that supports all modern extensions of the x86(-64) instruction set," according to the Fex website. The emulator can also make calls to graphics libraries like OpenGL and Vulkan to reduce overhead and uses "code caching to minimize stuttering as much as possible," according to <a href="https://partner.steamgames.com/doc/steamhardware/steamframe/compatibility">Steam's own developer documentation</a>.</p>
<p>While Proton was based on <a href="https://www.winehq.org/">the pre-existing Wine conversion tool</a>, Valve engineer Pierre-Loup Griffais <a href="https://www.theverge.com/report/820656/valve-interview-arm-gaming-steamos-pierre-loup-griffais">told The Verge last year</a> that the company has been funding Fex lead developer Ryan Houdek since the project was just a prototype. Back then, Valve was already anticipating that "close to a decade of work [would be] needed before [Fex-emu] would be robust enough people could rely on it for their libraries."</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/09/not-just-proton-getting-to-know-valves-new-steamos-compatibility-layers/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2026/09/not-just-proton-getting-to-know-valves-new-steamos-compatibility-layers/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>44</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/steam.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/steam-500x360.jpeg" width="500" height="360" />
<media:credit>Aurich Lawson</media:credit><media:text>Everything is fitting together quite nicely.</media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>California may gut state net neutrality law to comply with Trump admin demand</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/california-may-gut-state-net-neutrality-law-to-comply-with-trump-admin-demand/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/california-may-gut-state-net-neutrality-law-to-comply-with-trump-admin-demand/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jon Brodkin]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 19:36:44 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[California]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Net Neutrality]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/california-may-gut-state-net-neutrality-law-to-comply-with-trump-admin-demand/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Trump admin broadband grants forbid states from enforcing net neutrality laws.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>California is on the verge of accepting $1.86 billion in federal broadband grant funds, despite the Trump administration telling states they cannot enforce net neutrality rules on any Internet service provider that gets a piece of the grant money.</p>
<p>When the Trump administration overhauled the $42 billion Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) program last year, it <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/10/trump-admin-demands-states-exempt-isps-from-net-neutrality-and-price-laws/">ruled</a> that states must agree not to enforce any rate regulation or net neutrality rule on ISPs that receive funding. This is particularly problematic for California, which previously <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2022/04/isps-cant-find-any-judges-who-will-block-california-net-neutrality-law/">won a yearslong court battle</a> to defend its state net neutrality law.</p>
<p>Similar to federal net neutrality rules <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2017/12/goodbye-net-neutrality-ajit-pais-fcc-votes-to-allow-blocking-and-throttling/">repealed</a> during the first Trump administration, California's law prohibits ISPs from blocking or throttling lawful traffic and says ISPs may not require fees from websites or online services to deliver or prioritize their traffic to Internet users. While the first Trump administration <a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2019/10/why-ajit-pais-unhinged-net-neutrality-repeal-was-upheld-by-judges/">lost its attempt</a> to preempt state net neutrality laws, the second Trump administration is trying to achieve a similar result by making federal broadband money conditional on whether states agree not to enforce net neutrality.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/california-may-gut-state-net-neutrality-law-to-comply-with-trump-admin-demand/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/california-may-gut-state-net-neutrality-law-to-comply-with-trump-admin-demand/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>61</slash:comments>
                
                
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<media:credit>Getty Images | Yuichiro Chino</media:credit></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>Researchers swap in human brain cells for a mouse&#039;s cortex</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/researchers-swap-in-human-brain-cells-for-a-mouses-cortex/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/researchers-swap-in-human-brain-cells-for-a-mouses-cortex/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[John Timmer]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 19:08:34 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Biology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Cortex]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Genetics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Mice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Neuroscience]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/researchers-swap-in-human-brain-cells-for-a-mouses-cortex/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[The results are only a slight improvement over missing the entire brain structure.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>In recent years, there has been a lot of excitement about the potential for studying human diseases in what are called "organoids." These small patches of tissue, formed using stem cells, appear to produce many of the same cell types and at least some of the structures normally formed in actual organs, and thus can provide a better model for diseases that rely on the sometimes complex interactions among multiple specialized cell types that are a feature of the human body.</p>
<p>But even the most sophisticated organoids lack a lot of the features of a real human body. This is especially true for brain organoids, which don't form any of the connections with specialized brain structures needed to behave "normally." On Wednesday, a research group at Stanford University described a possible way to study brain organoids in a somewhat more natural context: They genetically wiped out a large portion of the mouse brain and replaced it with human brain organoid cells.</p>
<h2>The replacements</h2>
<p>Organoids, because they adopt a three-dimensional tissue structure and consist of various specialized cells, provide a much better model for an intact tissue than simply having a bunch of disassociated cells lying flat on a culture dish. But they still have a lot of limitations—they're not hooked up to a circulatory system that allows the liver to process chemicals the organoid produces and don't have immune cells moving through them, to give just a couple of examples.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/researchers-swap-in-human-brain-cells-for-a-mouses-cortex/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/researchers-swap-in-human-brain-cells-for-a-mouses-cortex/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>27</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-1-1152x648.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-1-500x500.jpeg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>S. Pasca lab, Stanford University</media:credit><media:text>The human cells extend processes (in green) into the mouse portions of the brain.</media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>Scientists develop new method for deciphering ancient scrolls</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/why-researchers-made-their-own-model-herculaneum-scrolls/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/why-researchers-made-their-own-model-herculaneum-scrolls/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jennifer Ouellette]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:43:23 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anthropology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Archaeology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[digital unwrapping]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Herculaneum scrolls]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Vesuvius Challenge]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/why-researchers-made-their-own-model-herculaneum-scrolls/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Even a handheld XRF scanner is sufficient to determine most promising scrolls for further analysis.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>The <a href="https://scrollprize.org">Vesuvius Challenge</a> is an ongoing project that combines "digital unwrapping" with crowdsourced machine learning to decipher the so-called Herculaneum scrolls, badly charred 2,000-year-old papyri too fragile to be physically unrolled. The effort just got an additional boost. A team of researchers created their own contemporary model papyrus scrolls—charring them just like the originals—to validate a screening method to determine which of the Herculaneum scrolls were written in lead-based ink and hence are the most promising candidates for further analysis. They described the process in a new paper published in the journal PLoS ONE.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2016/03/researchers-use-synchrotron-to-read-ancient-burned-scrolls-from-rome/">previously reported</a>, the ancient Roman resort town of Pompeii wasn’t the only city destroyed in <a href="http://io9.gizmodo.com/5825459/the-roman-city-of-pompeii-pictures-of-a-lost-world-frozen-in-time" data-uri="3bb9f599cdac4781965ee9a8ab698092">the catastrophic 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius</a>. Several other cities in the area, including the wealthy enclave of Herculaneum, were fried by clouds of hot gas, called pyroclastic pulses and flows. But still, some remnants of Roman wealth survived. One palatial residence in Herculaneum—believed to have once belonged to a man named Piso—contained hundreds of priceless written scrolls made from papyrus, singed into carbon by volcanic gas.</p>
<p>The scrolls stayed buried under volcanic mud until they were excavated in the 1700s from a single room that archaeologists believe held the personal working library of an Epicurean philosopher named Philodemus. The few opened fragments helped scholars identify various Greek philosophical texts, including <em>On Nature</em> by Epicurus and several by Philodemus himself, as well as a handful of Latin works. But the more than 600 rolled-up scrolls were so fragile that it was long believed they would never be readable, since even touching them could cause them to crumble.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/why-researchers-made-their-own-model-herculaneum-scrolls/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/why-researchers-made-their-own-model-herculaneum-scrolls/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>12</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/scrollTOP-1152x648-1789248616.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/scrollTOP-500x500-1789248602.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Seiler et al., 2026, PLoS ONE/CC0</media:credit><media:text>Preparing a model papyrus scroll with inks of varying lead concentrations.</media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>The Specialized Diverge 4 Pro makes rough gravel your playground</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/reviews/2026/09/the-specialized-diverge-pro-4-makes-rough-gravel-your-playground/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/reviews/2026/09/the-specialized-diverge-pro-4-makes-rough-gravel-your-playground/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Eric Bangeman]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 18:11:53 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Reviews]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cycling]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[gravel bike]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Specalized]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Specialized Diverge Pro 4]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[SRAM]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/reviews/2026/09/the-specialized-diverge-pro-4-makes-rough-gravel-your-playground/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[The Diverge 4 Pro is happiest when the road gets ugly.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p class="p1">When I make my yearly trip to Denver, I always bring my road bike. It's my annual chance to suffer on the kinds of gradients unavailable in the glacier-scoured lands of northeastern Illinois. In advance of this year's trip, Specialized hooked me up with its new gravel bike, the <a href="https://www.specialized.com/us/en/compare?pc=5466666-4293747&amp;pc=5473841-4296445">Diverge 4 Pro</a>, so I brought it with me to challenge it in ways not possible on the fastidiously groomed gravel trails of suburban Chicago.</p>
<p>In contrast to the <a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2023/12/love-at-first-ride-the-specialized-turbo-creo-2-comp-gravel-e-bike/">Specialized Turbo Creo 2 we reviewed</a> a couple of years ago, the Diverge 4 Pro is strictly human-powered. Specialized calls it "the ultimate getaway vehicle," designed with input from off-road adventure riders, scientists, and racers. It's marketed as the only gravel bike you need for racing, adventure, and distance rides. While I can't speak to its racing performance, I can say the Diverge 4 Pro is a blast on any kind of gravel and does well enough on the road.</p>
<p class="p1">Priced at $8,249, the Diverge 4 Pro is designed for rough trails and technical descents, both of which unfolded below me at the summit of an is-it-gravel-or-is-it-single-track climb in Douglas County, Colorado. I took a deep breath, and down I went. The descent was rutted and <em>slightly</em> more technical than anything I'll ever run into around Chicago, but I had enough time on the bike to realize that if I had trouble on the descent, it wouldn't be the bike's fault.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/reviews/2026/09/the-specialized-diverge-pro-4-makes-rough-gravel-your-playground/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/reviews/2026/09/the-specialized-diverge-pro-4-makes-rough-gravel-your-playground/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>53</slash:comments>
                
                
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                <title>It’s OK to tell ICE their actions will haunt them, judge rules in speech fight</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/its-ok-to-tell-ice-their-actions-will-haunt-them-judge-rules-in-speech-fight/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/its-ok-to-tell-ice-their-actions-will-haunt-them-judge-rules-in-speech-fight/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Ashley Belanger]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 17:06:06 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[censorship]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[First Amendment]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[free speech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ice]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[immigration and customs enforcement]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/its-ok-to-tell-ice-their-actions-will-haunt-them-judge-rules-in-speech-fight/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Man wins fight to block ICE threat over off-the-cuff angry email.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>It’s not illegal to send an email telling Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officials that their actions will haunt them, a federal judge <a href="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Streever-v-Mullin-Opinion-9-15-26.pdf">ruled</a> Tuesday, granting a preliminary injunction that blocks ICE from threatening to prosecute a critic for protected speech.</p>
<p>Back in January, David Streever sent a scathing three-paragraph email to then-acting director of ICE, Todd Lyons. Outraged by the killings of two Minnesota protestors against ICE, Renee Good and Alex Pretti, Streever told Lyons that he was a “monstrous human being” who will eat himself “alive with shame” for defending officers who shot people who posed no threat and had no weapons. Comparing Lyons to an infamous high-ranking Nazi cop, Streever predicted that “even Trump” would one day turn on Lyons for defending the “obvious” slayings of Americans.</p>
<img width="640" height="1148" src="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/David-Streever-email-to-ICE-via-FIRE-640x1148.png" class="none medium" alt="" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/David-Streever-email-to-ICE-via-FIRE-640x1148.png 640w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/David-Streever-email-to-ICE-via-FIRE-768x1377.png 768w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/David-Streever-email-to-ICE-via-FIRE-857x1536.png 857w, https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/David-Streever-email-to-ICE-via-FIRE.png 924w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px">
      David Streever's email to ICE.
        Credit:
          via FIRE
      
<p>“You are a monstrous human being and will go down in history as America’s Reinhard Heydrich, the butcher,” Streever wrote. “You will never know peace. You will seek to lose yourself, to escape the burden of knowing the truth about yourself. But wherever you go, you will find yourself. You will torment yourself until your last day on Earth.”</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/its-ok-to-tell-ice-their-actions-will-haunt-them-judge-rules-in-speech-fight/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/its-ok-to-tell-ice-their-actions-will-haunt-them-judge-rules-in-speech-fight/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>83</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/David-Streever-via-FIRE.jpeg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/David-Streever-via-FIRE-500x500.jpeg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>via FIRE</media:credit><media:text>Feds threatened to prosecute David Streever for sending a critical email to former ICE acting director Todd Lyons.</media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>Iran strikes on Amazon data centers caused permanent loss of customer data</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/iran-strikes-on-amazon-data-centers-caused-permanent-loss-of-customer-data/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/iran-strikes-on-amazon-data-centers-caused-permanent-loss-of-customer-data/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jeremy Hsu]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 16:40:11 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ai data centers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon AWS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Amazon Web Services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[AWS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[aws outage]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[cloud services]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[data centers]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Iran]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[military drones]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[USA-Iran War]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/iran-strikes-on-amazon-data-centers-caused-permanent-loss-of-customer-data/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[War damage to data centers exceeded what AWS services are designed to withstand.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Half a year after Iranian drone strikes knocked out multiple Amazon data centers, the US tech company has acknowledged the permanent loss of some customer data that was hosted in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates.</p>
<p>Amazon Web Services was “unable to restore access to the resources and data” hosted in some of the war-damaged data centers, according to an <a href="https://health.aws.amazon.com/health/status">AWS dashboard update</a> posted on September 15. The development was first <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/amazons-aws-is-unable-restore-access-bahrain-one-uae-cloud-data-zone-after-war-2026-09-15">reported by Reuters</a> and suggests that the Iranian strikes inflicted catastrophic damage on the data centers.</p>
<p>Customer data was irretrievably lost in one of three <a href="https://docs.aws.amazon.com/global-infrastructure/latest/regions/aws-availability-zones.html">AWS availability zones</a> in the United Arab Emirates region, specifically the mec1-az2 availability zone. Each availability zone is serviced by one or more Amazon data centers.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/iran-strikes-on-amazon-data-centers-caused-permanent-loss-of-customer-data/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/iran-strikes-on-amazon-data-centers-caused-permanent-loss-of-customer-data/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>96</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/AWS-data-center-in-Abu-Dhabi-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/AWS-data-center-in-Abu-Dhabi-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit> Planet Labs PBC</media:credit><media:text>An Amazon data center in Abu Dhabi, UAE as seen on March 2, 2026. An Iranian drone strike damaged the data center on March 1.</media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>What happens when neutrinos swap identities inside a supernova?</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/what-happens-when-neutrinos-swap-identities-inside-a-supernova/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/what-happens-when-neutrinos-swap-identities-inside-a-supernova/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[John Timmer]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 15:17:43 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[astrophysics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[neutrinos]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[particle physics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Physics]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[supernovas]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/what-happens-when-neutrinos-swap-identities-inside-a-supernova/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Identity-fluid particles may carry some energy out, leading to direct collapse.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Our basic understanding of core-collapse supernovae hasn't changed in decades. Large stars burn through all the fuel at their cores and start creating heavier elements in reactions that consume energy. The lack of energy from these reactions allows gravity to pull the interior of the star in on itself, collapsing it into a neutron star or black hole. The energy released by this process then blows the remainder of the star apart.</p>
<p>And, generally, that's right. But there's an entire busload of devils in the details. The statistics of supernovae that we've observed indicate that the model may be seriously incomplete. And on the theoretical side, there are still plenty of uncertainties, including over some of the basics, such as whether all core collapses actually result in a supernova.</p>
<p>A paper being released by Physical Review D provides what might be a potential explanation for the discrepancy: flavor-changing neutrinos. Neutrinos play a key role in our current models of supernovae, and right now, those models don't take into account one of neutrinos' most striking features: their ability to change identity.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/what-happens-when-neutrinos-swap-identities-inside-a-supernova/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/what-happens-when-neutrinos-swap-identities-inside-a-supernova/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>24</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-1152x600.png" type="image/png" medium="image" width="1152" height="600">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/image-500x500.png" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Ken Chen, Academia Sinica Institute of Astronomy and Astrophysics</media:credit><media:text>Image generated by supernova modeling software.</media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>macOS 27 Golden Gate: The Ars Technica review</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/macos-27-golden-gate-the-ars-technica-review/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/macos-27-golden-gate-the-ars-technica-review/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Andrew Cunningham]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:50:06 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Features]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[apple]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Apple silicon]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MacOS]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macos 27]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macos 27 golden gate]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[macos golden gate]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/macos-27-golden-gate-the-ars-technica-review/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[It's both a "Snow Leopard update" and a major leap for Apple Intelligence.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Apple Intelligence is back, baby! That's right: Two years after its initial launch, Apple is giving its generative AI features their first significant upgrade, along with a new version of Siri that the company has been <em>strongly insinuating</em> would be a part of each of the last two macOS releases, without ever actually announcing a release date.</p>
<p>Generative AI is unavoidable if you install macOS 27 Golden Gate. I'm being very literal: There used to be a toggle you could hit if you wanted to turn off Apple Intelligence and delete the gigabytes' worth of AI models it would download to your disk, and now there isn't. Apple Intelligence defines the Golden Gate release, in everything from its marketing to its features to the chips it runs on to the amount of space it takes on your disk. Ready or not, here it is.</p>
<p>But if you can manage to look past that fanfare somehow, the operating system underneath Apple Intelligence is getting the kind of update that macOS users usually proclaim to like. Golden Gate addresses the most irritating of macOS 26 Tahoe's design sins, adds a big pile of incremental improvements, and promises a bunch of under-the-hood fit-and-finish optimizations to make common tasks feel just a little faster and more reliable than before.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/macos-27-golden-gate-the-ars-technica-review/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2026/09/macos-27-golden-gate-the-ars-technica-review/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>177</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/golden-gate-wallpaper-1152x648-1789126743.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
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<media:credit>Apple</media:credit></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>The world’s best racing driver is about to race 100 karts at once</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/09/the-worlds-best-racing-driver-is-about-to-race-100-karts-at-once/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/09/the-worlds-best-racing-driver-is-about-to-race-100-karts-at-once/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jonathan M. Gitlin]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:19:01 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Cars]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Racing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[red bull]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/09/the-worlds-best-racing-driver-is-about-to-race-100-karts-at-once/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Red Bull, Disney+, and ESPN are streaming the race at noon Eastern today.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Later today, Max Verstappen will strap on his helmet and take to the track at the Silverstone circuit in England for a rather unusual race. The four-time Formula 1 world champion is recognized as the leading talent of his generation, but unlike some of the legends that have preceded him, Verstappen’s passion for motorsport extends beyond just the rarified world of F1. With apologies to Midweek Motorsport, but if it has wheels and they keep score, odds are good Verstappen's down to race it. So at noon Eastern Time (5 pm BST) today, September 16, Verstappen will slip into something a little more basic: a kart.</p>
<p>It’s one of 101 identical karts that have been sourced from Eastern Europe for the event—the other 100 will be driven by a mix of content creators and Red Bull athletes, all of whom fancy their chances at beating one of the world’s greatest drivers at his own game. They get a bit of an advantage, all starting ahead of Verstappen. Once he passes another karter, they’re out of the race, and Verstappen has 30 laps of a purpose-designed layout at Silverstone to get through them all and win.</p>
<p>Other F1 drivers have attempted slightly similar challenges in the past—Alex Albon <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCwCQ8egn18">raced 25 kids</a> last year, and last month Oliver Bearman <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YqKqlBGwozo">raced 50 amateurs.</a> But neither is as high-profile as Verstappen, and neither is facing as much competition.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/09/the-worlds-best-racing-driver-is-about-to-race-100-karts-at-once/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/09/the-worlds-best-racing-driver-is-about-to-race-100-karts-at-once/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>64</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/SI202608250383-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/SI202608250383-500x500.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Joerg Mitter / Red Bull Content Pool</media:credit><media:text>Max Verstappen will try and beat 100 identical karts in a 30 lap race, starting from the back.</media:text></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>Lawmakers target Flock cameras with a threat to highway funding</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/lawmakers-target-flock-cameras-with-a-threat-to-highway-funding/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/lawmakers-target-flock-cameras-with-a-threat-to-highway-funding/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Paresh Dave, wired.com]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 14:03:39 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[big tech]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Flock!]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[surveillance]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[tech backlash]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/lawmakers-target-flock-cameras-with-a-threat-to-highway-funding/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[A bipartisan bill would restrict Flock cameras to a handful of public safety uses.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>A bipartisan pair of US lawmakers tell WIRED they plan to introduce legislation today that would strip federal funding from states that fail to restrict the use of <a href="https://www.wired.com/tag/flock/">Flock cameras</a> and other automated license plate readers. The devices, which <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/flock-safety-os-investigate/">help police track</a> the location of vehicles tied to crimes, have become the subject of nationwide backlash in recent months over more nefarious uses by officers.</p>
<p>The No FLOCK Act—for Federal License-Plate Observation and Camera Keeping—directs the US secretary of transportation to withhold 10 percent of annual financial support due to states for highways, roads, and bridges if it fails to ban Flock and similar devices for all but five use cases. Congressmen Raja Krishnamoorthi, a Democrat representing Chicago suburbs, and Michael Cloud, a Republican whose Texas district includes Corpus Christi, are cosponsoring the bill.</p>
<p>The legislation <a href="https://krishnamoorthi.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/krishnamoorthi-evo.house.gov/files/evo-media-document/krishn_154_xml.pdf">says that</a> Flock cameras could be used only for “enforcing toll systems, identifying stolen vehicles, missing or endangered persons, vehicles registered to persons with a warrant for a felony offense, or investigating a vehicle involved in a felony offense.” Notably absent are uses like conducting traffic studies, investigating minor drug crimes, and enforcing parking and speeding rules.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/lawmakers-target-flock-cameras-with-a-threat-to-highway-funding/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/lawmakers-target-flock-cameras-with-a-threat-to-highway-funding/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>47</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/noflock-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
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<media:credit>Barry Chin/Getty</media:credit></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>How chimps teach their kids tool tricks</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/how-chimps-teach-their-kids-tool-tricks/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/how-chimps-teach-their-kids-tool-tricks/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Jennifer Ouellette]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Wed, 16 Sep 2026 04:00:39 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Science]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[animal behavior]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[animal psychology]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[animal tool use]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[chimpanzees]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[primates]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/how-chimps-teach-their-kids-tool-tricks/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Adults first demonstrate tool use, then hand over the implements to their infants, who copy the behavior.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Chimpanzees are known to use rudimentary tools when foraging for food. According to a new paper in the journal Frontiers in Psychology, this learned behavior is passed down from adults to offspring through social learning. Specifically, adult chimps deliberately model the behavior, then turn their tools over to the youngsters so they can mimic the same motions.</p>
<p>"Receiving food and tools from experienced individuals, which we call food or tool transfer, may help chimpanzees learn to use technology to extract foods that are difficult to access,” <a href="https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1143218?">said co-author Andreu Sánchez-Megías</a>, a graduate student at the University of Barcelona and the Jane Goodall Institute Spain in Senegal. “Tool transfers thus appear to be a form of teaching, together with observation and supervised practice. It appears that mothers are the main models and teachers for young chimpanzees in this manner.”</p>
<p>As <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2012/11/parrot-in-captivity-manufactures-tools-something-not-seen-in-the-wild/">we have previously reported</a>, tool use was once thought to be one of the defining features of humans, although Charles Darwin observed chimpanzees using stones to crack nuts in 1871. In 1960, the late primatologist <a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/10/world-famous-primatologist-jane-goodall-dead-at-91/">Jane Goodall</a> observed a chimp named David Greybeard bend a twig, strip off the leaves, and use it to spoon termites out of a nest and into his mouth. When he learned of the behavior, Goodall's mentor, Louis Leakey, famously observed, “Now we must redefine ‘tool,’ redefine ‘man,’ or accept chimpanzees as humans.” Since then, chimps have been observed making sponges out of leaves to soak up liquids, shaping sticks to collect algae, and sharpening rudimentary spears for hunting.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/how-chimps-teach-their-kids-tool-tricks/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/science/2026/09/how-chimps-teach-their-kids-tool-tricks/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>28</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/chimps1-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
<media:thumbnail url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/chimps1-500x500-1789408227.jpg" width="500" height="500" />
<media:credit>Jane Goodall Institute Spain in Senegal</media:credit></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>The Roman telescope has enough gas for 22 years, double NASA&#039;s expectations</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/the-roman-telescope-has-enough-gas-for-22-years-double-nasas-expectations/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/the-roman-telescope-has-enough-gas-for-22-years-double-nasas-expectations/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Stephen Clark]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2026 22:26:32 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Space]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[falcon heavy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[goddard space flight center]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[NASA]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[satellite servicing]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[spacex]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/the-roman-telescope-has-enough-gas-for-22-years-double-nasas-expectations/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is the first NASA observatory designed for in-space refueling.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>NASA's Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is gliding toward its distant observation post on a pinpoint trajectory so precise that engineers estimate the spacecraft's fuel load will last twice as long as their initial expectations, the space agency confirmed Monday.</p>
<p>The $4.3 billion observatory's designers originally planned to load enough propellant into Roman's four fuel tanks for a minimum lifetime of five years, plus a potential five-year mission extension. That was a conservative estimate. NASA officials knew an on-target launch and perfect execution of the observatory's first post-launch course correction maneuver would leave Roman with a hearty fuel reserve.</p>
<p>"As a result of exquisite planning by our orbital dynamics team, brilliant execution by the operations team, and a precise launch from SpaceX, Roman has fuel for at least 22 years of potential science operations," Jamie Dunn, center director at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, said in a press release.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/the-roman-telescope-has-enough-gas-for-22-years-double-nasas-expectations/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/space/2026/09/the-roman-telescope-has-enough-gas-for-22-years-double-nasas-expectations/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>77</slash:comments>
                
                
                <media:content url="https://cdn.arstechnica.net/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/KSC-20260821-PH-SPX01_0007large-1152x648.jpg" type="image/jpeg" medium="image" width="1152" height="648">
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<media:credit>SpaceX</media:credit><media:text>The Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope is prepared for encapsulation inside the payload fairing of SpaceX's Falcon Heavy rocket. Roman's grapple fixture, installed for a potential future refueling mission, is visible at bottom right.</media:text></media:content>
            </item>
                    <item>
                <title>“Filmmaker” suing PassThePopcorn may be banned user out for revenge</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/filmmaker-suing-passthepopcorn-may-be-banned-user-out-for-revenge/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/filmmaker-suing-passthepopcorn-may-be-banned-user-out-for-revenge/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Ashley Belanger]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2026 20:19:17 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Policy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[movie piracy]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Torrent]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/filmmaker-suing-passthepopcorn-may-be-banned-user-out-for-revenge/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Allegedly fake filmmaker targeted trackers like PassThePopcorn, BroadcasTheNet, and HDBits.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>Some of the most widely used private torrent trackers for pirating movies suspect that a banned user may have posed as a filmmaker protecting copyrights in a failed attempt to seek revenge.</p>
<p>TorrentFreak has been tracking this story closely, <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/filmmaker-tries-to-unmask-private-torrent-tracker-owners-through-cloudflare/">reporting</a> last September that an alleged independent filmmaker named Matthew Schneider sued six private trackers for infringing copyrights on some films that he supposedly made. Trackers targeted include PassThePopcorn, BroadcasTheNet, and HDBits. For months, the filmmaker sought to get Cloudflare to unmask operators of the trackers through a copyright fight, which went on until trackers alerted the court last month that Schneider <a href="https://torrentfreak.com/filmmaker-who-sued-ptp-btn-and-four-other-private-torrent-trackers-may-be-an-impostor/">appeared to be an impostor</a>.</p>
<p>In a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.ilnd.491695/gov.uscourts.ilnd.491695.53.3.pdf">sworn declaration</a>, the actual filmmaker behind the movies cited in the complaint wrote that he had no association to the plaintiff in the case. “I am not involved in, nor have I ever appeared in, this case,” Schneider wrote.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/filmmaker-suing-passthepopcorn-may-be-banned-user-out-for-revenge/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/09/filmmaker-suing-passthepopcorn-may-be-banned-user-out-for-revenge/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>70</slash:comments>
                
                
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<media:credit>Valentyna Yeltsova | iStock / Getty Images Plus </media:credit></media:content>
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                    <item>
                <title>18-year-old dies of measles in PA from severe neurological complication</title>
                <link>https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/09/measles-kills-18-year-old-in-pa-fourth-death-as-state-outbreak-nears-700-cases/</link>
                                    <comments>https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/09/measles-kills-18-year-old-in-pa-fourth-death-as-state-outbreak-nears-700-cases/#comments</comments>
                
                <dc:creator>
                    <![CDATA[Beth Mole]]>
                </dc:creator>
                <pubDate>Tue, 15 Sep 2026 18:58:09 +0000</pubDate>
                		<category><![CDATA[Health]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[ADEM]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[anti-vaccine]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Infectious disease]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[measles]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[MMR]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[outbreak]]></category>
		<category><![CDATA[Pennsylvania]]></category>
                <guid isPermaLink="true">https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/09/measles-kills-18-year-old-in-pa-fourth-death-as-state-outbreak-nears-700-cases/</guid>

                                    <description>
                        <![CDATA[Teen developed acute disseminated encephalomyelitis, a known measles complication.]]>
                    </description>
                                                                <content:encoded>
                            <![CDATA[<p>A fourth person in Pennsylvania has died of measles, <a href="https://www.pa.gov/agencies/health/newsroom/doh-confirms-two-additional-measles-associated-deaths-">the state health department confirmed Tuesday</a>. The latest death was in an unvaccinated 18-year-old resident of Mifflin County.</p>
<p>In the announcement, the state health department also confirmed a county coroner's report over the weekend of the death of <a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/09/unvaccinated-pennsylvania-woman-died-of-measles-complications-coroner-says/">an unvaccinated 40-year-old woman in Jefferson County</a>. The state had previously reported two deaths in Lancaster County; both were infants—<a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/08/rfk-jr-spews-anti-vaccine-rubbish-as-newborn-revealed-to-have-died-from-measles/">a newborn boy</a> and a <a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/09/measles-killed-6-week-old-baby-coroner-confirms-after-rfk-jr-disputed-deaths/">6-week-old girl</a>, both too young to be vaccinated.</p>
<p>According to the Mifflin County coroner, Andrea L. Alcalde, the 18-year-old's cause of death was determined to be <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK430934/">acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM)</a>, which is a rare but known severe complication of measles. The condition is characterized by a rapidly progressing autoimmune disorder in which aberrant inflammation from an infection strips away the protective coverings of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. Before measles vaccines were widely used, ADEM was commonly associated with measles, though other viral infections can also spur its development.</p><p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/09/measles-kills-18-year-old-in-pa-fourth-death-as-state-outbreak-nears-700-cases/">Read full article</a></p>
<p><a href="https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/09/measles-kills-18-year-old-in-pa-fourth-death-as-state-outbreak-nears-700-cases/#comments">Comments</a></p>
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                                    <slash:comments>161</slash:comments>
                
                
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<media:credit>Getty | Natalya Maisheva</media:credit></media:content>
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