Month: October 2019

Enlarge (credit: Getty | Ute Grabowsky )

Pharmaceutical companies continue to raise prices on hundreds of drugs at rates well over that of inflation, according to a newly released report on drug-pricing data.

The data was made public thanks to a mandate from a California transparency law passed in 2017. Under the law, drug makers are required to report their price increases quarterly. This is the first report from the law and includes data on drugs that had price increases of 16% or more over their January 2017 prices.

The hikes in these cases are to the wholesale acquisition cost, which is the list price for wholesalers—they may not reflect how much patients will pay out of pocket. Still, they can add to overall healthcare spending and drive up the costs of insurance.

Enlarge / Google's first official picture of the Pixel 4. (credit: Google)

It's that time of year again! Google's big hardware event kicks off Tuesday, October 15 at 10am Eastern, and we'll be there with full live coverage of the event. That starts with a liveblog, where we'll be covering everything announced at the show as it happens.

This year, we're expecting to see a whole suite of Google products launch. Headlining the event will be Google's next smartphone, the Pixel 4, with a 90Hz display, an air-gesture system powered by Google's radar "Soli" technology, and a next-gen version of the Google Assistant. There should also be a new Pixelbook, the Pixelbook Go, which sees a return to a more traditional form factor after the collapse of the Pixel Slate.

With Nest's recent demotion from a standalone company to a Google smart home sub-brand, we should see two new products with the weird branding of "Google Nest." We're expecting to see a sequel to the Google Wifi called the "Google Nest Wifi." This new rev of Google's mesh Wi-Fi system will reportedly have a primary router that hooks up to your modem and then several satellite devices that are both Wi-Fi mesh nodes and Google Home speakers that accept Google Assistant voice command and can play music. A second-gen Google Home Mini should also launch at the show with an aux jack and better sound, and this one will be rebranded "Google Nest Mini."

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  NASA hopes to install the first of four space shuttle main engines on the SLS rocket this month. [credit: NASA ]

Nearly a month ago, NASA announced that Boeing had assembled the core stage structure that forms the backbone of its Space Launch System rocket. This meant that all technicians needed to do to complete the full core stage was bolt on four space shuttle main engines and connect their plumbing.

Completing the core stage at NASA's rocket factory, the Michoud Assembly Facility in Southern Louisiana, would represent a significant milestone for the program. However, after assembling the core stage structure in September, two sources familiar with Boeing's work at the factory said the company had to "stand down" operations due to some issues.

“Corrective action”

Now, NASA officials have provided a little information about the causes of the delay. In a statement, the space agency's headquarters told Ars that "NASA initiated a forward looking corrective action request focused on improving the production system in preparation for Core Stage 2 and beyond." As a result of this corrective action, which was not specified, "Boeing chose to stand down in some areas and ensure the whole production team was aware of the intent behind the corrective action request."