Science & Applications Correspondent
Owen Mercer follows the practical uses of machine learning in science and everyday systems. His coverage centers on usefulness: who benefits, what has been demonstrated and what remains a prototype. He writes patient explanations of technically demanding subjects.
1,204 published articles · Showing 1041–1060
Android gamers, get ready for a potential game-changer! Google appears to be working on a "Try before you buy" feature for the Play Store, potentially letting you sample paid games before committing y...
Read article →Forget sprawling game installations and hefty downloads. A new take on the classic Snake game is turning heads with its incredibly small size and cross-platform functionality. Clocking in at a mere 13...
Read article →Looking back, the 2014 acquisition of WhatsApp by Facebook (now Meta) remains one of the most debated deals in tech history. At the time, many questioned the wisdom of WhatsApp founders Jan Koum and B...
Read article →Samsung Galaxy users, the wait is almost over. For years, many have wondered why their Samsung phones often lag behind on Google Play System Updates, even when running the latest version of Android. S...
Read article →CES 2026 is already throwing curveballs, and Pisen's iDock Qi2.2 AI Robot Charging Station might be the strangest—and most useful—gadget I've seen yet. This isn't just a charging station; it's a poten...
Read article →Duolingo is great for vocabulary and grammar, but when it comes to actual conversation, many users find themselves tongue-tied. That's where Speak ([https://www.speak.com/](https://www.speak.com/)) co...
Read article →The budgeting app landscape is shifting as we head into 2025. With Intuit's shutdown of Mint in March 2024, many users, including myself, were left scrambling for a reliable alternative. Credit Karma,...
Read article →The Dutch fintech company Bunq is making another push to establish itself as a US bank. This comes after a flurry of activity in the crypto space, with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (O...
Read article →Apple's iOS 26 is already making waves, and while the major redesigns grab headlines, it's the subtle, AI-powered enhancements that are truly game-changing. After months of hands-on testing, one featu...
Read article →A new tool called SMTP Tunnel is making waves among privacy enthusiasts. This ingenious SOCKS5 proxy disguises its traffic as standard email communication, potentially bypassing Deep Packet Inspection...
Read article →The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has just given SpaceX the go-ahead to launch an additional 7,500 Gen2 Starlink satellites. This partial approval marks a major step toward a faster, more re...
Read article →For a fleeting moment, TiVo wasn't just a product; it was a cultural phenomenon. The ability to pause live TV, rewind on demand, and automatically record shows felt like magic. But as The Verge's rece...
Read article →Security professionals, take note. A new Burp Suite extension called JSAnalyzer has emerged, promising to streamline the process of identifying vulnerabilities within JavaScript code. This could be a ...
Read article →The days of unfettered app downloads for everyone might be numbered. A growing push for age verification, mirroring offline checks for things like alcohol and adult magazines, could soon require users...
Read article →Apple's reliance on TSMC for its silicon is no secret, but the sheer scale of the partnership is staggering. A new report from SemiAnalysis reveals that Apple's annual spending at TSMC has exploded ov...
Read article →The question of whether artificial intelligence can truly create art that resonates with human emotion has long been debated. Now, new experiments by Gwern Branwen and Mercor are diving deep into the ...
Read article →A year after New York City implemented its ambitious congestion pricing plan, the results are in—and they're significant. According to data crunched by The New York Times, the city has seen a staggeri...
Read article →John Romero's demon-slaying classic *Doom* has found a new home: your kitchen counter. Yes, you read that right. A determined YouTuber has successfully ported the iconic FPS to a Krups Cook4Me smart p...
Read article →WhatsApp, the popular messaging app owned by Meta, is on the verge of facing stricter oversight from the European Union under the Digital Services Act (DSA). The potential shift stems from the growing...
Read article →Before you nuke your phone back to its original state, hold up! As someone who spent years untangling tech messes at the Apple Genius Bar, I can tell you a factory reset is often the best medicine for...
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