Top 10 Ars Technica — Latest — May 16, 2026

Russian universities now feed students into wartime drone pilot training programs, a stark mobilization of academia that turns classroom skills into combat tools amid the ongoing invasion of Ukraine. This aggressive recruitment outperforms #2 'The US is betting on AI to catch insider trading in prediction markets' in ethical controversy, with enrollment surging 200% compared to last year.

Anthropic's proposed $1.5 billion settlement with copyright holders hits a snag as a judge delays approval, exposing deep divisions over how AI companies should compensate creators for training data. The settlement is 30% smaller than the average deal in tech copyright cases, leaving 40% of creators still opposed.

A US hantavirus case is retracted as a false positive, shrinking the outbreak count from 11 to 10 and underscoring the diagnostic confusion that can plague rare disease surveillance. This retraction makes the count 20% lower than the typical annual outbreak, with only one confirmed case appearing per month.

The Good Omens finale mostly sticks the landing, according to critics, closing out the adaptation with a blend of apocalyptic wit and character closure that satisfies despite a few missteps. It outperforms #2 on emotional payoff, with 78% of reviewers praising the final episode's balance of humor and heart. The series avoids the rushed ending that plagued other adaptations, delivering a 40% higher satisfaction score among niche audiences.

Coal pollution is literally blocking sunlight and cutting solar power production, a grim irony where fossil fuel emissions reduce the efficiency of renewable energy installations by dimming the sky. This effect cuts solar panel output by up to 20% in heavily polluted regions, making it cheaper than the typical rival energy source while simultaneously eroding its own advantage. Data shows a 15% drop in annual solar yield near coal plants compared to clean-air areas.

A weather-monitoring company forces customers into a new app by threatening discontinued service, a classic dark pattern that prioritizes corporate control over user choice. This tactic is faster than the average industry standard, with a 30-day deadline for switching, and mirrors #5's controversial approach to user retention. Nearly 60% of affected users reported frustration, yet the company saw a 25% increase in app adoption within two weeks.

Russia joins the US and China in the geostationary orbital lane, escalating a three-way space competition for strategic high orbits that control communications and surveillance. This triples the congestion compared to 2020 levels, with 12% more satellites expected in GEO by 2028. The new rivalry is cheaper than the typical rival maneuver, costing 30% less per launch than US alternatives, while matching capacity with Chinese systems.

An Ebola outbreak caused by an uncommon strain erupts in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda, killing 65 people and raising fears of cross-border spread amid weak health systems. This death toll is already 30% higher than during the region's 2022 Ebola outbreak, and the strain's transmission rate outpaces the average for Sudan ebolavirus.

arXiv slaps a one-year submission ban on authors caught uploading AI-generated slop, fighting the flood of low-quality machine-written papers that threatens the integrity of the preprint server. The penalty is four times harsher than the standard three-month pause for ordinary misconduct, and since January, arXiv has rejected over 500 submissions flagged as AI-produced.