Month: April 2023

Enlarge (credit: Steelcase)

An ergonomic chair provides many health benefits. A proper task chair, for example, can prevent abnormal strain on the neuromuscular system, according to a 2012 research paper published by the National Institute of Health. Better posture support, reduced back and neck pain, and improved circulation are among some of the benefits as the chair helps keep the spine, neck, and hips aligned. Chairs with a headrest also add support for the back and shoulders, according to Open Access Government.

If you're shopping for an office chair and don't want to spend a ton of money on bigger brands like Herman Miller, there are plenty of affordable options that are on sale today. We've curated some of the best deals on designer office chair dupes before deciding on making a larger investment. Although these models don't necessarily have all the research and development that goes into more premium brands, like Steelcase, our latest Dealmaster deals make for a great entry point for those new to ergonomic chairs.

Herman Miller Aeron dupes

(credit: Herman Miller)

Herman Miller's Aeron chair has been a fan favorite among our editorial staff and with office workers for years due to its comfortable design. No one wants a sweaty back after a long work day, and the Aeron's use of a mesh construction for the back and seat helps prevent heat from getting trapped for long sitting periods.

Enlarge / Abortion rights advocates rally outside the US Supreme Court on April 14, 2023, in Washington, DC, speaking out against abortion pill restrictions. (credit: Getty | OLIVIER DOULIERY)

The Supreme Court on Friday temporarily blocked a lower court's ruling that would have curtailed access to the abortion medication mifepristone beginning on Saturday. The temporary block will preserve the status quo access to mifepristone for five days, or until midnight on Wednesday, giving the high court time to review emergency appeals and consider issuing a longer stay on the ruling.

The freeze is the latest turn in a fast-moving, high-stakes case over not only access to the safe and effective abortion medication but also the fate of the Food and Drug Administration's overall authority to regulate drugs in the country.

Last week, a federal judge in Texas, District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, issued a ruling revoking the FDA's nearly 23-year-old approval of mifepristone. Kacsmaryk, a conservative Donald Trump appointee, ruled that the FDA erred in approving the drug and that there was insufficient data on its safety, despite dozens of studies, decades of real-world data on millions of pregnancies, and extensive reviews from the regulatory agency.

Enlarge / The 2022 13-inch MacBook Pro. (credit: Samuel Axon)

A new report by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman identifies several new Macs coming to Apple's lineup over the next several months, mostly strengthening previous reports from analysts and leakers, as well as Gurman's prior reporting. Gurman credits developer logs of third-party applications that contain evidence of Apple engineers or testers using the new Macs to verify that they work with popular software before release.

The most clearly discernible of the Macs within these logs is a 15-inch MacBook Air, which has long been rumored. It's labeled "Mac 15,3" and it has the same display resolution as the 14-inch MacBook Pro (3024×1964). The laptop appears to have 8GB of RAM and a chip with eight CPU cores and 10 GPU cores—just the same as many M2 Macs already on the market.

Gurman also reports that Apple is readying an M3 chip to debut in the near future—hardly a surprise, of course. He claims that the M3 will transition to a new 3-nanometer production process (it was 5 nm for the M2), just like the chip coming to the 2023 flagship iPhones. Although he doesn't specify which ones may come with the M3 and which might ship with the current M2, he writes that Apple is also working on updates for the 13-inch MacBook Air, the 24-inch iMac, and—surprisingly—the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Enlarge / The 2022 13-inch MacBook Pro. (credit: Samuel Axon)

A new report by Bloomberg reporter Mark Gurman identifies several new Macs coming to Apple's lineup over the next several months, mostly strengthening previous reports from analysts and leakers, as well as Gurman's prior reporting. Gurman credits developer logs of third-party applications that contain evidence of Apple engineers or testers using the new Macs to verify that they work with popular software before release.

The most clearly discernible of the Macs within these logs is a 15-inch MacBook Air, which has long been rumored. It's labeled "Mac 15,3" and it has the same display resolution as the 14-inch MacBook Pro (3024×1964). The laptop appears to have 8GB of RAM and a chip with eight CPU cores and 10 GPU cores—just the same as many M2 Macs already on the market.

Gurman also reports that Apple is readying an M3 chip to debut in the near future—hardly a surprise, of course. He claims that the M3 will transition to a new 3-nanometer production process (it was 5 nm for the M2), just like the chip coming to the 2023 flagship iPhones. Although he doesn't specify which ones may come with the M3 and which might ship with the current M2, he writes that Apple is also working on updates for the 13-inch MacBook Air, the 24-inch iMac, and—surprisingly—the 13-inch MacBook Pro.

Enlarge / An AI-generated image of a "self-improving robot." (credit: Midjourney)

Since the launch of OpenAI's GPT-4 API last month to beta testers, a loose group of developers have been experimenting with making agent-like ("agentic") implementations of the AI model that attempt to carry out multistep tasks with as little human intervention as possible. These homebrew scripts can loop, iterate, and spin off new instances of an AI model as needed.

Two experimental open source projects, in particular, have captured much attention on social media, especially among those who hype AI projects relentlessly: Auto-GPT, created by Toran Bruce Richards, and BabyAGI, created by Yohei Nakajima.

What do they do? Well, right now, not very much. They need a lot of human input and hand-holding along the way, so they're not yet as autonomous as promised. But they represent early steps toward more complex chaining AI models that could potentially be more capable than a single AI model working alone.

Enlarge / An AI-generated image of a "self-improving robot." (credit: Midjourney)

Since the launch of OpenAI's GPT-4 API last month to beta testers, a loose group of developers have been experimenting with making agent-like ("agentic") implementations of the AI model that attempt to carry out multistep tasks with as little human intervention as possible. These homebrew scripts can loop, iterate, and spin off new instances of an AI model as needed.

Two experimental open source projects, in particular, have captured much attention on social media, especially among those who hype AI projects relentlessly: Auto-GPT, created by Toran Bruce Richards, and BabyAGI, created by Yohei Nakajima.

What do they do? Well, right now, not very much. They need a lot of human input and hand-holding along the way, so they're not yet as autonomous as promised. But they represent early steps toward more complex chaining AI models that could potentially be more capable than a single AI model working alone.

Enlarge / SpaceX's Booster 4 is lifted onto its orbital launch mount in South Texas. (credit: Elon Musk/Twitter)

On Friday afternoon—after much angst and anxious waiting by the spaceflight community—the Federal Aviation Administration issued a launch license to SpaceX for the launch of its Starship rocket from South Texas.

Receiving this federal safety approval is the final regulatory step the company needed to take before being cleared to fly the largest rocket ever built. Now, the only constraints to launch are technical issues with the rocket or its ground systems. SpaceX is expected to hold a final readiness review this weekend before deciding to proceed with a launch attempt.

This could occur as soon as Monday. The company has a slew of road closures, temporary flight restrictions, and notices to mariners set up for April 17. The launch window is expected to open at 7 am local time in Texas (12:00 UTC). Backup launch opportunities are available on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Enlarge / Kids and grown-ups alike will enjoy answering "candy's clarion call" in Bea Wolf. (credit: Boulet/Macmillan)

A rowdy group of young "mallow-munchers," "bully-crushers," and "bedtime breakers" must battle a fun-hating foe intent on putting an end to their untamed revels in Bea Wolf, a new graphic novel by cartoonist and writer Zach Weinersmith, with illustrations by the French cartoonist Boulet. It's a 21st-century re-imagining of the Old English epic poem Beowulf, but unlike most prior translations aimed at adults, this one targets kids (although adults should love it, too).

Ars readers are likely already familiar with Weinersmith's work, most notably the webcomic Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal, still going strong after 20 years, as well as The New York Times bestseller Soonish, a popular science book co-authored with his wife, Kelly Weinersmith. While he's known for his science-nerd credentials, Weinersmith (like me) earned his undergraduate degree in English literature. That's where he started drawing what's now known as "Classic SMBC." The comic soon morphed into the single-panel version we know and love today, while Weinersmith went back to college to study physics.

It was while he was studying literature that Weinersmith fell in love with Beowulf, as well as the medieval chivalric romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. When he became a father, he told some of those timeless tales to his daughter, Ada. In 2015, he crowdfunded a children's retelling of Sir Gawain called Augie and the Green Knight, and said it was because he wanted to give his daughter a book "about little girls who are smart, and scientific, and risk-taking." Boulet created the illustrations for that book, so it was only natural for Weinersmith to ask him to also illustrate Bea Wolf.