Month: August 2021

Enlarge / WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.

The World Health Organization on Wednesday called for a global moratorium on countries offering third doses—booster shots—of COVID-19 vaccines to their general populations until at least the end of September.

The call comes in light of the vast inequity in vaccine distribution worldwide, with high-income countries gobbling up the majority of supplies. In a press briefing Wednesday, WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus highlighted that 4 billion COVID-19 doses have gone into arms, but more than 80 percent have gone to high- and middle-income countries, which make up less than half of the world's population.

Put another way, high-income countries have now administered 100 doses per 100 people, while low-income countries have administered 1.5 doses per 100 people due to low supply, Dr. Tedros said.

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  [credit: Jonathan Gitlin ]

It’s been almost two years since I first met the Porsche Taycan, the stylish and swift electric vehicle that ticks all the right boxes. Since then, withdrawal has set in. I've been desperate for another fix of this EV that still feels like the happy result of a transporter accident involving a Porsche 928 and an iPhone. My initial impressions were formed driving through Denmark and northern Germany, and I wanted to know if those held up on domestic roads and surrounded by our domestic EV infrastructure.

The introduction of the more affordable Taycan 4S seemed like a good reason to revisit the car, but Porsche wanted us to stretch the car's legs on a proper road trip. There was one trip in particular that I had in mind: DC to Watkins Glen, NY, a trek to coincide with the annual six hour IMSA race. The pandemic dashed any hopes of attempting that trip in 2020, but this year the stars aligned, and so it is I recently spent a week with the sleek white four-door electric sports car you see above.

For a detailed technical look at the Taycan, please refer to our previous coverage here and here. Briefly, the 4S has a pair of electric motors (one for each axle) that output a combined 360 kW (482 hp) and 650 Nm (479 lb-ft) (or 420 kW/562 hp when using launch control), fed by a 93.4 kWh (83.7 kWh useable) battery. Our test car was equipped with the larger Performance Battery Plus option, which bumps the starting price from $103,800 to $109,370 before tax credits.

Enlarge (credit: Ars Technica)

Today's Dealmaster includes a nice discount on Sony's WH-1000XM4, as the wireless noise-canceling headphones are currently down to $278 at various retailers. We've seen the headphones fall to this price on numerous occasions since they launched last year, and they dropped as low at $248 during Amazon's Prime Day event in June. Outside of major shopping events like those, though, this is usually the best price you'll see for this wonderfully well-rounded pair of wireless headphones that we've recommended in various buying guides over the past year. Their sound runs bass-heavy by default, but that can be customized, and their general comfort and noise-canceling strength are still among the most impressive we've seen for a headphone under $500.

Besides that, our top pick among wireless office mice, Logitech's MX Master 3, is currently available for $80 at Staples when you use the code "90453" at checkout. The deal matches the best price we've tracked. The mouse itself remains highly comfortable (if you're right-handed, at least) and is reliably performant on most surfaces (glass included). It can pair with up to three devices over Bluetooth or an included USB dongle, and the whole thing is nicely versatile, with a nifty second scroll wheel, five programmable buttons, and the ability to make app-specific customizations through Logitech's companion software. It's undeniably expensive—our guide above has more affordable options if you're on a budget—but if you spend all day at your desk, it may be worth the premium.

Elsewhere, our deals roundup includes all-time low or near-low prices on a couple of three-quart Instant Pots—meaning they're best for one or two people, not full families—as well as a new low for Samsung's SSD 980, which we found to be a worthwhile midrange drive for everyday consumers in a review earlier this year. We also have good prices on Apple's 15 W MagSafe wireless charger, which we recommended in our guide to the best iPhone 12 accessories. Sony's and Microsoft's summer game sales continue for PlayStation and Xbox consoles, respectively, the highlights of which we pulled out late last month. It's a varied selection of discounts today, so have a look at the full rundown below.

Enlarge / Close-up of the Boeing CST-100 Starliner capsule, white room attached, atop the mighty Atlas V launch vehicle at Cape Canaveral's SLC-41. (credit: Trevor Mahlmann)

For a week leading up the much-anticipated launch of Boeing's Starliner test flight on Tuesday, officials with NASA and the aerospace company said the spacecraft and its Atlas V rocket were ready to go. Their big concern, they said, was weather—with frequent afternoon thunderstorms along Florida's east coast.

On Tuesday morning, a few hours before the launch window opened, weather conditions along the coast looked pretty good. But Boeing had to scrub the launch attempt anyway, citing a problem with a valve in the spacecraft's reaction control system, which helps the vehicle maneuver in space.

Boeing and NASA engineers then spent Tuesday afternoon attempting to determine the cause of "unexpected valve position indications" within the spacecraft's propulsion system. Presumably, they were trying to determine whether these valves were actually in the wrong position in reality, or if the indications were due to some sort of errant sensor reading.