Technology News

A lawyer for Xiaofeng Wang and his wife says they are “safe” after FBI searches of their homes and Wang’s sudden dismissal from Indiana University, where he taught for over 20 years.

We've known for a few months now that the Nintendo Switch 2 will support backward compatibility for older Nintendo Switch games, and as of today's presentation, we also know that some Switch games will get special Switch 2 Editions that add new features and support higher resolutions and other features.

Nintendo's product pages for the Switch add more details, including the status of backward-compatibility testing for original Switch games and a small handful of first-party Switch games that will get "free updates" to enhance them for Switch 2.

First, some good news. There will be a second tier of updates for original Switch games that Nintendo says "may improve performance or add support for features such as GameShare in select games." These won't include the extra features or higher resolutions of Switch 2 Edition games, but they'll be available for free, and they ought to improve playability. Nintendo lists a dozen first-party Switch games that will benefit from free Switch 2 updates:

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Actor Val Kilmer—star of Top Gun, The Doors, and Batman Forever, among other roles—has died at the age of 65 of pneumonia, Deadline Hollywood reports.

Kilmer was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2015 and while chemotherapy and two tracheotomies helped him defeat it, the procedures destroyed his voice. He spoke in a rasp or used an electric voice box for the remainder of his life and largely left acting. (He made a brief cameo in 2022's Top Gun: Maverick, for which his voice was digitally altered.) The 2021 documentary Val, narrated by his son Jack Kilmer, followed his life and health struggles.

Kilmer had a reputation for being eccentric and difficult to work with, but he also had his champions, and his talent was undeniable. “While working with Val on Heat, I always marveled at the range, the brilliant variability within the powerful current of Val’s possessing and expressing character," Michael Mann, who directed the actor in 1995's Heat, told Deadline. "After so many years of Val battling disease and maintaining his spirit, this is tremendously sad news.”

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A new platform from data training company Scale AI will let artificial intelligence developers find their models’ weak spots.

A new platform from data training company Scale AI will let artificial intelligence developers find their models’ weak spots.

We went hands-on with Sony’s latest home theater gear, including its fiery new OLED TV.

In early 2024, the bird influenza that had been spreading across the globe for nearly three decades did something wholly unexpected: It showed up in dairy cows in the Texas Panhandle.

A dangerous bird flu, in other words, was suddenly circulating in mammals—mammals with which people have ongoing, extensive contact. “Holy cow,” says Thomas Friedrich, a virologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. “This is how pandemics start.”

This bird flu, which scientists call highly pathogenic avian influenza, or H5N1, is already at panzootic—animal pandemic—status, killing birds in every continent except for Australia. Around the world, it has also affected diverse mammals including cats, goats, mink, tigers, seals, and dolphins. Thus far, the United States is the only nation with H5N1 in cows; it’s shown up in dairies in at least 17 states.

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Nintendo's next-generation handheld is set to launch June 5 alongside a slew of new games and accessories—including one very cool rebooted GameCube controller.

Tesla posted its production and sales numbers for the first quarter of 2025 this morning, and they continue the bad news streak for the electric automaker. Tesla produced 362,615 vehicles in total between January and the end of March, a 16.3 percent decrease from the same period in 2024.

The drop in sales was a little less bad; unlike this time last year, Tesla was able to more closely match production with demand. As a result, the company delivered 336,681 EVs in Q1, a drop of 12.9 percent compared to Q1 2024.

The Models 3 and Y make up the vast majority of Tesla's business—it built 345,454 of them in Q1 2025, a 16.2 percent reduction compared to the same period last year. Despite a recent refresh for the Model Y, which comprised the majority of these two EVs, sales declined by 12.4 percent year over year, with just 323,800 being sold, compared to 386,810 for Q1 2024.

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I've been complaining about tech a lot recently, and I don't apologize for it. Complaining feels great. That feeling of beleaguered, I-against-the-world self-righteousness? Highly underrated.

But a little righteous complaint goes a long, long, loooong way. (Just ask my wife.) Too much can be corrosive, it can make you insufferable to others, and it can leave you jaded, as many people, myself included, have become about technology.

I had three recent experiences, however, that were each quite small in their way but which reminded me that not everything in the tech world has fallen victim to the forces of "enshittification." Once in a while, technology still feels easy and—dare I co-opt the world from Apple's marketing department?—even magical.

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In a highly anticipated Nintendo Direct presentation this morning, the company revealed new information about the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware and software ahead of a newly announced June 5, 2025, release date. The system will be available on its own or in a bundle with Mario Kart World, for $449 and $499, respectively.

<em>Mario Kart World</em> taking off. Credit: Nintendo

The presentation led off with an extended look at a new exclusive launch title, Mario Kart World, which features 24 racers at once on "various regions across the globe" where "you can drive off the race track and go virtually anywhere" in a new "free roam" mode. Characters were shown doing jumps off of walls and wearing multiple different costumes. A new level themed after the original Donkey Kong featured prominently, as did one reminiscent of the Hyrule Castle level of Super Smash Bros. You can also go on "scenic drives with friends" and take photos with them in a new photo mode.

Switch 2 Editions of classic games, purchased as "Upgrade Packs" for original owners. Credit: Nintendo

Certain original Switch games will be re-released in new "Switch 2" editions that add new features and improved visuals. In the Switch 2 edition of Mario Party Jamboree, for instance, players will be able to take part in mouse- and camera-controlled games. And Switch 2 Editions of the two Switch Zelda games will allow access to a new smartphone-powered note-taking feature.

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Audi provided flights from Washington to Las Vegas and accommodation so Ars could drive the RS e-tron GT. Ars does not accept paid editorial content.

LAS VEGAS—Audi's sleek four-door electric sedan, the e-tron GT, has just received its midlife refresh. Usually, a midlife refresh is mostly cosmetic, intended to prevent the model from feeling too stale in the marketplace. But this time Audi has kept the visual changes to a minimum. There are new wheels and a new interior, as well as redesigned front and rear fascias, although the changes are quite subtle. Instead, there's been a comprehensive reengineering effort under the skin.

Perhaps not quite as comprehensive as the Polestar 2 refresh—which swapped front-wheel drive for rear—but there are now new motors and a new battery pack, which bring with them increased range, a reduced 0–60 mph time, and even faster fast-charging. Audi says it has also worked on the driving dynamics, including adding the same active suspension system we recently experienced in the Porsche Panamera.

As before, the e-tron GT comes in two specifications, but now the base model is the $125,500 S e-tron GT. This now offers 670 hp (500 kW), a 148 hp (110 kW) improvement on last year's model. That drops the 0–60 mph time from 4 seconds down to 3.3, but the 51-mile ( 82 km) increase to its range—now 300 miles (482 km) on a single charge—is probably going to be the most enticing improvement for potential buyers. That's courtesy of a new 105 kWh (gross, 97 kWh usable) battery.

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Googler Thomas Wagner shares how he used Gemini to learn more about his son’s rare disease, and jumpstart research.Googler Thomas Wagner shares how he used Gemini to learn more about his son’s rare disease, and jumpstart research.

“Coffee” made with functional mushrooms like lion's mane and chaga is all the rage—we tried the most popular brands to find which were the most palatable.

The elective medical industry is cashing in on plastic pollution fears, but the evidence of harm from microplastics is still deeply uncertain.

The elective medical industry is cashing in on plastic pollution fears, but the evidence of harm from microplastics is still deeply uncertain.

Jack Thorne, who cowrote the hit Netflix show about a 13-year-old accused of murder, told WIRED he understands how easily kids can get lured into incel ideology.

While almost no Chinese EVs are legally sold in the US, these are the workarounds that could allow eager enthusiasts to get them onto American roads—at a price.

Using environmental DNA analysis and traditional fishing techniques, researchers are seeking answers about the current population of axolotls in their natural habitat. The numbers are alarming.

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