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Hegseth’s dubious low-T screening may flag up to 25 percent of ...

2026-10-15T21:51:24Z

Hegseth’s dubious low-T screening may flag up to 25 percent of the Army

Up to a quarter of active-duty Army members could receive a low testosterone result from mandatory military screening, despite the true prevalence of the condition likely being a tiny fraction of that figure, according to [a study published Thursday in JAMA][1].

The finding adds to concerns that the [mandatory screening announced by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth][2] in July will lead to a cascade of unnecessary medical evaluations for military members. Those evaluations could result in inappropriate testing, inaccurate results and diagnoses, and overtreatment that could cause harm, including infertility. Medical experts, including the Endocrine Society and the American Urological Association (AUA), have recommended *against* blanket screenings for these reasons. Still, the Pentagon has moved forward with the plans, [releasing clinical guidance in September][3].

The JAMA study highlights the reasons why testosterone levels are not measured in men without symptoms—and also offers a glimpse of how many Army members could become ensnared in the clinically dubious screenings.

[Read full article][4]

[Comments][5]

[1]: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/2855385
[2]: https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/07/hegseth-wants-a-high-t-military-doctors-call-it-a-clinical-minefield/
[3]: https://www.dha.mil/Reference-Library/d/h/a/DHA-Memo-and-Clinical-Practice-Guideline-for-Testosterone-Deficiency-in-the-Male-Service-Member
[4]: https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/10/hegseths-dubious-low-t-screening-may-flag-up-to-25-percent-of-the-army/
[5]: https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/10/hegseths-dubious-low-t-screening-may-flag-up-to-25-percent-of-the-army/#comments

U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth

https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/10/hegseths-dubious-low-t-screening-may-flag-up-to-25-percent-of-the-army/

Starlink spectrum deal boosts Musk plan to beat AT&T, ...

2026-10-09T19:01:50Z

Starlink spectrum deal boosts Musk plan to beat AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon

SpaceX has a deal to purchase nationwide low-band spectrum licenses for a planned terrestrial mobile network that would complement the space-based Starlink cellular service.

SpaceX will buy up to 14 megahertz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band [from investment firm Grain Management][1], which bought the spectrum rights from T-Mobile earlier this year. T-Mobile had obtained the spectrum when it bought Sprint in 2020 and was required to sell the licenses under a merger condition imposed by the US government.

"This prime low-band spectrum addresses one of the key remaining technical gaps that will pave the way for Starlink Mobile to become a major mobile carrier in the US," [SpaceX said yesterday][2]. SpaceX this week also received US approval to launch 15,000 satellites for an upgraded version of its mobile service that it says will be far more powerful than the current offering.

[Read full article][3]

[Comments][4]

[1]: https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/grain-management-announces-definitive-agreement-to-sell-nationwide-800-mhz-spectrum-portfolio-to-spacex-302902974.html
[2]: https://www.spacex.com/updates#starlink-mobile-spectrum
[3]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/10/starlink-spectrum-deal-boosts-musk-plan-to-beat-att-t-mobile-and-verizon/
[4]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/10/starlink-spectrum-deal-boosts-musk-plan-to-beat-att-t-mobile-and-verizon/#comments

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/10/starlink-spectrum-deal-boosts-musk-plan-to-beat-att-t-mobile-and-verizon/

Can good design stop content creators from having sex in ...

2026-10-01T20:52:33Z

Can good design stop content creators from having sex in robotaxis?

Humans can be a frisky bunch, and it wasn’t very long after Tesla Autopilot [started letting drivers go hands-free][1] before people decided to post footage of themselves having sex from the driver’s seat. Recently, The San Francisco Standard [interviewed multiple people][2] who claimed to have had sex in robotaxis belonging to General Motors’ now-defunct Cruise. “There’s no one to tell you, 'You can’t do that.' It gets to the point where you’re more and more and more comfortable, and if you’re with someone, like a more serious partner, it can escalate to other activities,” one man told SF Standard.

“The interiors of vehicles has been sexualized and appropriated for sex since forever in popular culture. You can see it in movies, you can see it in lyrics, you can see it in photography,” said Alexandros Rouchitsas, a human factors/UX researcher and one of the organizers of a recent workshop, “[Love in Traffic][3],” that brought researchers from academia and industry together in late September in Sweden to consider how design can help the problem.

## A growing problem?

One difference between a robotaxi and a human-driven ride is the removal of the social obligation to interact with a human driver. There’s no need to make small talk, and you won’t have to listen to someone’s terrible opinion, which can lead to riders assuming far more privacy than the cameras and ridership terms and conditions provide. That's a lesson that a pair of teens who hired a Waymo, spent their ride getting drunk, and shot gel beads out the windows [learned the hard way][4] this summer.

[Read full article][5]

[Comments][6]

[1]: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2016/07/consumer-reports-has-some-advice-for-tesla/
[2]: https://sfstandard.com/2023/08/11/san-francisco-robotaxi-cruise-debauchery/
[3]: https://love-in-traffic.github.io
[4]: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/07/two-teens-learn-the-hard-way-not-to-do-toy-gun-drivebys-from-a-waymo/
[5]: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/10/can-good-design-stop-content-creators-from-having-sex-in-robotaxis/
[6]: https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/10/can-good-design-stop-content-creators-from-having-sex-in-robotaxis/#comments

https://arstechnica.com/cars/2026/10/can-good-design-stop-content-creators-from-having-sex-in-robotaxis/

Judge dismisses Chegg and Penske antitrust lawsuits targeting ...

2026-10-01T20:52:13Z

Judge dismisses Chegg and Penske antitrust lawsuits targeting Google AI search

In a setback for publishers worried about the effects of AI search, a US federal judge has dismissed lawsuits filed by Chegg and Penske Media against Google. The companies accused Google of antitrust violations in products like AI overviews, which have led to decreasing traffic at numerous sites. However, US District Judge Amit Mehta has [ruled][1] that Google's conduct is not illegal under antitrust law.

The lawsuits were [filed in 2025][2], and Google requested a dismissal earlier this year. Chegg, an education and learning platform, claimed in its lawsuit that Google illegally scraped its educational content. This allowed Gemini models to essentially recreate that content and reduce the site's traffic. Penske, which owns publications like Rolling Stone and Variety, filed a similar case that [alleged lost traffic][3]. Specifically, the publisher claimed it was unfair that sites indexed for organic search would also have their content harvested for AI answers, with no way to opt out.

These arguments did not sway the judge, who noted that Google's implicit agreement with websites is not legally relevant. "Plaintiffs have pleaded only that they have an ‘expectation’ that Google will send them search traffic if they make their content available for free," wrote Mehta. "But an expectation is not an agreement. It is simply how a general search engine works."

[Read full article][4]

[Comments][5]

[1]: https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/28712400-penske-and-chegg-v-google-dismissal/
[2]: https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2025/02/education-tech-firm-sues-google-over-ai-search-summaries/
[3]: https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/05/google-will-put-more-links-to-websites-in-ai-overviews/
[4]: https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/10/antitrust-lawsuits-targeting-google-ai-search-dismissed-by-federal-judge/
[5]: https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/10/antitrust-lawsuits-targeting-google-ai-search-dismissed-by-federal-judge/#comments

https://arstechnica.com/google/2026/10/antitrust-lawsuits-targeting-google-ai-search-dismissed-by-federal-judge/

Hacks of 2 federal agencies in a month have spilled a bonanza of ...

2026-10-01T20:51:53Z

Hacks of 2 federal agencies in a month have spilled a bonanza of sensitive data

The Pentagon is informing more than 2 million current and former military members that their personnel records storing sensitive personal information were stolen over a monthslong compromise of one of its networks. The breach is the second one in recent months to expose sensitive government information.

The records, according to one [notification letter][1] posted to Reddit, included Social Security numbers, names, addresses, sex, race, and occupational specialty. This last category could be particularly valuable to foreign adversaries because it could help their intelligence agencies in identifying high-value military personnel. Starting last October, hackers gained access to a system operated by the [Defense Manpower Data Center][2], which collates Department of Defense personnel records. The Pentagon says that the breach compromised the records of 2.8 million living individuals.

## A potential boon

The incident is the second time a major network breach in recent months has exposed sensitive US government personnel records that criminal groups or foreign adversaries could use. Last month, the ransomware group ShinyHunters claimed it hacked into FBI systems and stole records of thousands of the agency’s current or former employees. Reuters [reported][3] the job titles in the records included ones related to investigating China or Russia.

[Read full article][4]

[Comments][5]

[1]: https://www.reddit.com/r/AirForce/comments/1wmotdr/question_about_data_breach_letter/
[2]: https://dwp.dmdc.osd.mil/dwp/app/about/overview
[3]: https://www.reuters.com/world/hacked-fbi-data-has-sensitive-information-about-employees-intelligence-roles-2026-09-23/?ref=404media.co
[4]: https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/10/hacks-of-2-federal-agencies-in-a-month-have-spilled-a-bonanza-of-sensitive-data/
[5]: https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/10/hacks-of-2-federal-agencies-in-a-month-have-spilled-a-bonanza-of-sensitive-data/#comments

https://arstechnica.com/security/2026/10/hacks-of-2-federal-agencies-in-a-month-have-spilled-a-bonanza-of-sensitive-data/