Ars Orbital Transmission, 1/5: Our quick guide to 2018

[View this email in your browser]( [ars-orbital-transmission-logo.png]( [orbital-hq.png] [Hopefully, 2018 doesn’t turn out to look like Detroit: Become Human (which coincidentally will come out in 2018).]( Fellow Arsians, it happened. A new year snuck up on us like some unassuming Netflix series no one’s talking about before all of a sudden your entire weekend has been binged away (see [American Vandal]( for instance). Fear not. We’ve already been pondering what 2018 has in store for all of us around the Orbital HQ, and this week’s transmission can serve as your cheat sheet to the 12 months ahead. Last year at this time, we had new everything—[administrations]( [Star Trek crews]( ailments post-[CES]( etc.—but this year we have concrete information to work from. [Game of Thrones]( is waiting a year, [net neutrality]( doesn’t have the luxury of time, and tens of thousands of people [willingly put microchips in their bodies]( (#2018). Whether good or bad, more information at least means we have plenty to base some 2018 predictions upon. Orbital Transmission 01.05.2018 [Grim Reaper!]( ON THE CLOCK [License expired: The Ars Technica 2018 Deathwatch]( Uber and Twitter are back this year to fill the honorary Yahoo ([RIP]( slot for companies perennially on death’s door. But what other major tech companies will likely be squeezed out of existence (RIP [Juicero]( we barely knew ye) in the coming twelve months? By Sean Gallagher [Microsoft President and Chief Legal Officer Brad Smith speaks during the annual Microsoft shareholders meeting in Bellevue, Washington, on November 29, 2017.]( MY TRUSTY FIERE! [Microsoft, DOJ set to go head to head at Supreme Court in 2018]( Nearly [20 years ago]( Microsoft couldn’t escape the front page as Bill Gates and co. took to the Supreme Court to fight monopoly charges. This year a tussle over overseas data stands among our 2018 SCOTUS decisions to look for (see [2017 cases of interest](. By Cyrus Farivar [For now, US astronauts must still travel to Kazakhstan and ride aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket to reach space.]( The space happenings to look for in 2018 SpaceX nearly out produced entire countries with its [2017 launches]( and somehow Elon Musk’s plan to send a shiny red Tesla to Mars isn’t even the most notable bit of interstellar news to look for this year. (Though SpaceX very well could hold its [first launch of 2018]( tonight.) By Eric Berger [This week’s end of transmission character]( Because if [this]( is where you're considering letting unused holiday gift cards end up, it’s likely time for a break anyway. [And next to all of those "geek" shirts is... this thing. Yes, that's a dinosaur being ridden by a cat in a shirt-covering jungle.]( [logo-facebook.png]( [logo-twitter.png]( [logo-youtube.png]( [logo-instagram.png]( Copyright © 2018 Ars Technica / Condé Nast, All rights reserved. You are receiving our newsletter because you signed up at Ars Technica (). Our mailing address is: Ars Technica / Condé Nast 1 World Trade CenterNew York, NY 10007 [Add us to your address book](//arstechnica.us1.list-manage.com/vcard?u=af7f013bad7e785d15aab736f&id=0adf3ee3d9) Want to change how you receive these emails? You can [update your preferences]( or [unsubscribe from this list](.                              Â