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Costco is a big winner as drivers flock to cheaper gas
With gas above $4.50 per gallon, more drivers are stopping off at warehouse clubs like Costco to top up — and they're going inside to shop, too.
Health economist analyzes Trump’s deal for cheaper drugs
If you want to reduce jail overcrowding, start on mental health before the crime happens
Montana keeps investing in mental health facilities for people who have broken the law, in part because of mental illness. Columnist and county attorney Matt Jennings says there's a cheaper, better way to focus on treatment and prevention.
Star Fox Nintendo Switch 2 boxart, price revealed, official announcement
We have more on the just-announced Switch 2 remake of Star Fox, including the boxart, price, and official announcement from Nintendo. The game’s packaging image is attached below. As for the price, it looks like this one will be on the cheaper side for a Nintendo Switch 2 title. We should have official U.S. pricing very shortly, but in Japan,...
reMarkable Paper Pure leaks as a cheaper e-ink tablet with a 3-week runtime
With the reMarkable Paper Pure, the manufacturer will soon be launching a more affordable e-ink tablet with stylus. The e-note is now listed in advance by a retailer, who reveals the most important details about the Paper Pure.
JetBlue's Lifeline to Stranded Spirit Airline Passengers Doubles as a Savvy Business Move
This launch could get passengers a cheaper way back home.
Porter’s vision: cheaper rent, free child care
The Democrat wants to make California more liveable.
New bill aims to reduce sports streaming costs for Wisconsin fans
MADISON, Wis. — A new push in Washington, D.C. aims to make it easier and cheaper for fans to watch their favorite Wisconsin teams.
Opinion | Stop paying doctors to do everyone else's jobs
Letting nurses, pharmacists, and AI handle routine care could make the system cheaper and more efficient.
We Compared Similar Tool Boxes From Home Depot & Lowe's, And One Is Way Cheaper Online
Both of these home improvement stores had similar offerings in the tool box department, but one pulled ahead of its competitor when it came to price.
I run a business abroad. It's cheaper to scale it living outside the US.
Ryan Garrido started a business while living overseas — something he didn't think he could do while living in the US due to the high cost of living.
MindsEye Has a New Update and a Cheaper Price as Developer Launches Comeback Bid
MindsEye has begun staging its comeback, seemingly hoping for a Cyberpunk 2077-level redemption story.
Apple introduces a cheaper option for App Store subscriptions
Apple is adding a new subscription option that lets app developers offer lower monthly pricing in exchange for a 12-month commitment.
The M5 MacBook Air Has Never Been Cheaper
Despite launching less than two months ago, the M5 MacBook Air has dropped back down to its lowest price since launching.
Indiana cut business taxes. Families paid for it.
Indiana is making it cheaper to be old while making it more expensive to be young.
5 Cheaper Android Smartwatch Alternatives To The Apple Watch In 2026
Cheaper Android alternatives to the Apple Watch include the Galaxy Watch 8, Pixel Watch 4, Fitbit Sense 2, OnePlus Watch 2R, and CMF Watch 3 Pro.
Microsoft's Game Pass gets cheaper, loses launch day Call of Duty access
New Xbox CEO says subscription "has become too expensive for too many players."
Xbox cuts Game Pass prices but new Call of Duty games will no longer hit the service on day one
Effective immediately, both Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass will be a bit cheaper.
The secret to cheaper trips? Book during shoulder season, says AAA Northeast
For Upstate New Yorkers itching to travel but concerned about rising costs, AAA Northeast is offering tips on how to save by booking during shoulder season.
One Month With the MacBook Neo and Feeling the Limits
A cheaper MacBook has trade-offs for my too-many-tabs lifestyle.
Old And Unsupported Kindles Might Become The Best Tech Deal Of 2026
Older Kindles may become the best tech deal of 2026 because they'll get cheaper, and you'll still be able read your favorite books in multiple digital formats.
Mayor picks first site for city-owned grocery
Mayor Mamdani selected East Harlem to be the first location for his city-run grocery stores, aimed at giving New Yorkers cheaper staples.
Prediction: A Cheaper EV Could Be a Game Changer for Tesla's Business
The company hasn't said its last word.
“AI polls” are fake polls
A few weeks after Donald Trump’s second presidential win, I took the train up from London (where I was living at the time) to Oxford to attend a conference on polls and forecasts of the 2024 election. Most of the attendees were pollsters or academics, but I also watched presentations from Aaru and Electric Twin, two companies that do what is interchangeably called synthetic sampling, silicon sampling, or synthetic audiences. Stripped of startup jargon, that means they use large language models (LLMs) to simulate responses to public opinion polls by having AI agents take on the role of survey respondents. I had already heard of Aaru thanks to some articles with eye-catching headlines like “No people, no problem: AI chatbots predict elections better than humans” in the months leading up to Election Day. The founders were making some big, some might even say far-fetched claims, such as: “within two years, we will simulate the entire globe — from the way crops are grown in Ukraine to how that impacts production of oil in Iraq, trade through the strait of Malacca, and elections for the mayor of Baltimore.” When Semafor asked Aaru’s cofounders — Cameron Fink and Ned Koh — about my boss, they said “we respect all those who came before us.” Nate (as he so often does) shared his thoughts on Twitter: Fink and Koh were relatively good-natured about this back-and-forth when we spoke at Oxford. They even offered to mail me one of the t-shirts featuring Nate’s quote they apparently had made. I never took them up on the offer, which I now somewhat regret. These synthetic sampling companies fell off my radar for a while, but they do still exist. In fact, Aaru recently received a $1 billion valuation. Is what they’re doing anywhere close to the most important frontier in AI development? Not by a longshot, especially when Anthropic just developed a model so adept at exploiting software vulnerabilities that it’s only being released to 40 companies. Still, silicon sampling is increasingly finding its way into public polling. Axios reported in March that “a majority of people trust their own doctors and nurses” based on findings from Aaru — without mentioning that the “people” in that sentence were actually LLMs. Around the same time, the Public Sentiment Institute “boosted” their online sample of 373 real survey respondents with 114 AI agents.1 (Spoiler alert: even the co-founder of Electric Twin doesn’t think that’s a particularly defensible approach.) Polling companies like Qualtrics and Ipsos are also developing synthetic data panels. So, what should we make of these … “polls”? Let’s get one thing out of the way: whatever they are, they’re not polls in the way that term is usually defined. Subscribe You can’t replace polls with AI On one hand, using LLMs to essentially make up fake survey respondents sort of sounds like the dumbest idea ever, one that will at best imperfectly replicate real polls while introducing all sorts of biases. On the other hand, with LLMs improving at a remarkable, perhaps even alarming rate, maybe that means I’m a dinosaur at the ripe old age of 24 because I still want to rely on polls that talk to actual people. I’m not going to argue that synthetic samples are completely useless. In fact, as I’ll return to later, there is evidence that some techniques can replicate topline survey results quickly and cheaply. But the marketing from certain companies can be slightly optimistic. “No traditional poll will exist by the time the next general election occurs,” said Fink in 2024. We’re just 206 days away from the midterms, and based on the fact that I still have to collect a bunch of polls every day, I’d say he should have run that prediction by a sample of AI agents before the interview.2 To see why synthetic samples can’t replace polls, here’s a quick primer on how they work. The simplest version of these models involves taking a LLM (like ChatGPT or Claude), giving it a demographic profile (e.g., a white, college-educated woman who lives in Utah and makes $70k a year), and then asking it to respond to a survey question. You repeat that process a few thousand times using different demographic profiles and end up with a sample of synthetic survey responses. The actual models used by private companies are more sophisticated than this, usually because they incorporate more hypothesized demographic characteristics for each agent and provide them with extra information. Aaru, for example, feeds agents a diet of news and information they’d be likely to consume, while Electric Twin incorporates their customers’ proprietary data about the audience they’re trying to replicate. The way Ben Warner, the co-founder of Electric Twin, explained it to me was “we have a large amount of data on […] for instance, 5,000 people. Can we make an accurate prediction of how they would respond to another question?” Still, it should be obvious why synthetic samples can’t replace polls. Polling is fundamentally a data collection process. We might use surveys to make predictions by feeding them into election forecasts, but the main purpose of a poll isn’t prediction, it’s gathering new data about what people think and how they feel. Silicon sampling, on the other hand, produces no new data. It’s simply a model: you input LLM training data, demographic prompts, and a bunch of other information, and it spits out a prediction for what a poll would say. We love models here, but models aren’t polls. That difference is an important philosophical sticking point for most pollsters I talk to. “I think politics should stay away from [synthetic sampling], because we’re trying to […] represent the voice of the people,” said Natalie Jackson, a vice president at GQR Insights. Democratic pollster John Hagner told me: “I think I’m just incredibly skeptical of this idea. I don’t think it’s research. At that point, you’re asking the machine to tell you what you already believe.” Hagner has seen some presentations of early synthetic sampling experiments, but so far, “if it’s being used in a campaign, people are keeping it incredibly quiet.”3 But Eli, I hear you saying, aren’t polls themselves increasingly governed by modeling decisions? Indeed they are: pollsters’ choices on which sampling method to use, how to define their likely voter models, and how to weight their samples can and do lead to dramatic differences in the results they publish. Aaru even referenced these limitations in the methodology statement included with that maternal mortality “poll” — although I’m using the term “methodology statement” loosely here, because it doesn’t really explain how the model works at all. We can ignore the (frankly preposterous) implication that synthetic sampling isn’t subject to a separate set of biases. The important point is that there’s still a meaningful difference between using weighting and other statistical techniques on actual polling data and using a model to predict what a poll would say. The latter is far closer to election forecasts or techniques like MRP — potentially useful models, but not a replacement for polls.4 To be fair, other synthetic sampling companies are perfectly happy with the distinction between polls and models. Warner compared polling and synthetic sampling to different tools in a toolbox. “The mistake I think we make is we think that these new tools should either work in exactly the same way or somehow replace these old tools,” he said. “Rather than thinking of it as, okay, so we’ve always had the hammer, we’ve always had the screwdriver, now we’ve got a saw. But don’t use a saw to try [to] do the job of a hammer.” A quick comment from Nate Eli didn’t ask me for a comment — rather rude of him, don’t you think? But since I’m editing this story, I figured I’d add a few quick thoughts rather than putting words in his mouth. Beyond the frequently misleading marketing, what bothers me about the AI “poll” hype is that as AI tools make statistical inference cheaper and/or better (note that these are not synonyms) that actually increases the comparative value of collecting original data. You might be able to train a model to make a reasonable estimate of what some hard-to-reach poll respondent would say — say, a young Black man who voted for Trump. (Such a person checks a number of boxes for a voter who is usually hard to reach in surveys.) Indeed, this is closely related to what models like the Silver Bulletin forecast already do. They essentially smooth out the kinks in noisy survey data by making inferences based on past voting patterns or national polls or surveys of other states. But you don’t actually know what these voters think unless you’re reaching them directly. If there’s a shift in opinion among this subgroup, you’re not going to detect it. So if I were running a campaign, I’d invest more in going the extra mile to find a representative sample of those voters. And then I’d hire some smart quants — or Claude? — to figure out the implications for campaign strategy based on proprietary data that my competitors didn’t have access to. -Nate Silver Are these models any good? If synthetic surveys are just a new type of model, the next obvious question is whether the models are at least accurate. The answer very much depends on who you ask. On one end of the spectrum, you have the maximalist argument that synthetic sampling is more accurate than actual polls. “It’s an incredibly challenging problem to go to someone and say ‘hey, we’re going to be more accurate at predicting human behavior than you, even when you talk to your customers directly’,” Koh recently told CNBC. In his view, synthetic sampling isn’t a saw to polling’s hammer, it’s “magic.” There’s certainly evidence that synthetic samples can replicate certain survey toplines. But if Aaru does have any examples of their approach outperforming the polls, they’re keeping those to themselves.5 Aaru’s 2024 election model, for example, had Kamala Harris leading in Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin on November 4th. And although they’ve since taken down their forecast page, they gave Harris a 50.5 percent chance of winning the race on November 2nd.6 After the election, Fink told Semafor he was happy enough with those results because they were “within margin of error,” a term that is completely meaningless when applied to a “sample” of AI agents. And of course, Aaru says their models have improved since 2024, so supposedly now they’d be more accurate than the polls? Still, their stronger argument is on cost: “We are significantly faster and cheaper than traditional polling, and still more accurate,” said Fink. The first two claims are undeniably true, but the third brings us to the opposite end of the spectrum. Both Jackson and Hagner are skeptical that these models are reliable for anything beyond replicating common survey toplines. “I just […] don’t think the machines are what we want when we’re looking for nuanced views. My example on this is people in Arizona and Nevada in 2024 who voted for Trump and voted for expanding abortion in their states on ballot initiatives,” said Jackson. Hagner identified another issue. Maybe the synthetic respondents, like sycophantic LLMs, are inhuman in one important way: they’re too nice. “The reports that have come through at the meetings that I’ve been at are that the early experiments on this, they cannot get respondents to be as racist or sexist or, frankly, as negative as human respondents,” he said. Academic research mostly agrees on this point. While there are some papers that show promising results when using LLMs to replicate polling data, most show that LLMs suffer from various quirks like producing too few “don’t know” responses and can seriously overpredict the favorability of politicians like Donald Trump and Kamala Harris. They also seem to struggle with too little variation between demographic subgroups, so the difference in predicted opinion between Democrats and Republicans, for example, is too small. When I asked Warner about these studies, his response to these papers was that just because academics can’t get synthetic sampling to work doesn’t mean that the technique doesn’t work in general. “Actually, the argument is, okay, yours does not [work]. That does not mean […] for this complex set of machinery, which uses a lot of investment, a lot of time, a lot of money, you can’t get it to work.” Cards on the table, I’m somewhat sympathetic to this argument because academics aren’t exactly great at making election forecasts. Usually, the people with skin in the game are the most accurate. Warner’s argument is that the approach Electric Twin takes — which includes, for example, making multiple predictions for each synthetic respondent using different models and prompts and subsequently averaging those to get a final prediction in a sort of ensemble forecast — produces better results than the simpler academic models. Warner shared a comparison between his method and the method from a recent academic paper with me, and Electric Twin was indeed able to get more accurate replication. But even still, he acknowledged that synthetic sampling “is not a crystal ball.” “If you asked me, do I think using other data sources will be more accurate than asking somebody who they will vote for, I would probably say no. But if you asked me ‘would your system be useful for our turnout modeling today?’ I would say yes.” For better or worse, it looks like the method is already getting more popular in the market research world. Most of the clients Aaru touts these days are businesses like EY and McDonald’s. And AI will probably begin to pop up in other parts of the political polling process. Pollsters are already using it to code open-ended survey responses, and some firms, like YouGov, are testing using LLMs to ask survey respondents questions. More worryingly, one danger to actual polls is that AI agents can be used to infiltrate online surveys. Most online polls use various checks to prevent that from happening, but there’s conflicting evidence on how effective those filters are and how prevalent AI agents currently are in online panels. If those agents ever become impossible to detect, it might spell the end of online polling, but the solution isn’t to replace all of your respondents with ChatGPT. Silver Bulletin is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a subscriber. Subscribe 1 That particular poll obviously doesn’t meet Silver Bulletin standards for aggregation. But we exclude all Public Sentiment Institute polls from our averages because we classify them as an amateur polling firm. 2 You could argue that Fink meant the next presidential election, but (a) I’m also confident we’ll still have real polls in 2028 and (b) in that case he should have asked an LLM to define “general election.” 3 Quick caveat: that’s reporting from a Democratic pollster. It’s possible that Republicans are more willing to use AI in political campaigns. 4 Indeed, Silver Bulletin does not include “polls” produced by MRP in our forecasts or averages, and we think it’s extremely misleading when their practitioners describe them in a way that suggests original data had been collected among a large number of states or Congressional districts. 5 A recent report from Aaru and EY did show two examples of a synthetic estimate being closer than a survey to a real-world benchmark — but I’d take those findings with a grain of salt because the report reads more like an ad and didn’t involve any sort of prediction being made ahead of time. 6 For comparison, our odds for Harris on the same day were 48.2 percent.
How to make a high-deductible health plan and HSA work for you
If you chose a cheaper health plan, you may be stuck with some hefty medical bills until you meet your deductible. Here's how to get the most out of your plan and health savings account.
5 Cheaper Android Tablet Alternatives To The iPad In 2026
Users looking for cheaper Android tablet alternatives to the iPad have plenty of sub-$300 options, from big names like Samsung to emerging brands like Xiaomi.
At $150 off, the new MacBook Air is now cheaper than last year’s model
If the new Air’s price increase turned you off, this deal fixes that.
Pocket-Sized E-Ink Gets A Firmware Upgrade
Not so long ago, e-ink devices were rare and fairly pricey. As they have become more common and cheaper, some cool form-factor devices have emerged that suffer from subpar software. [Concretedog] p…
Here's how United's new 'basic business class' will work
United's new premium fare structure is meant to make business class cheaper by unbundling things you may not need, like lounge access or seat choice.
United unveils basic Polaris business fare in premium cabin overhaul
United is overhauling its fare classes, offering cheaper business class and premium economy fares that are more restrictive.
Samsung’s New Frame TVs Look Even More Like Actual Paintings
Best of all, the 2026 "art" TVs come in cheaper 55-inch sizes.
A wild option for cash-strapped homebuyers: fractional ownership
A growing web of fractional-ownership startups say they offer cheaper paths to homeownership. But not everyone is buying into their promises.
Anker’s power bank with built-in cables is one of my favorite gadgets, and it’s cheaper than usual
One of its built-in USB-C cables doubles as a carrying strap.
Amazon and Delta partner to launch faster, cheaper in-flight Wi-Fi to flyers
Amazon and Delta Air Lines are partnering to bring high-speed satellite internet to Delta flights in 2028, with video calling as a potential future offering.
PC Gaming RAM Got Cheaper For The First Time In Months
However, the price drop might not last for long
Why There's Simply No Need For Microsoft Office Anymore
Microsoft Office programs were ubiquitous with productivity and a variety of projects, but these days, cheaper cloud-based equivalents are much more common.
This new carbon material could make carbon capture far more affordable
Scientists have created a new kind of carbon material that could make carbon capture much cheaper and more efficient. By carefully controlling how nitrogen atoms are arranged, they found certain structures capture CO2 better and release it using far less heat. One version works at temperatures below 60 °C, meaning it could run on waste heat instead of costly energy. The discovery offers a powerful new blueprint for next-generation climate technology.
U.S. Accuses NewYork-Presbyterian of Reaching Deals That Kept Costs High
The Justice Department sued the large New York health system, saying it restricted insurance companies from offering patients cheaper options.
DJI Now Has a Cheaper 360 Drone Than Insta360, but the U.S. Won’t Get It
Traditional drone flyers may prefer the DJI Avata 360 over the Antigravity A1, if you can find it in the U.S.
Politicians are trying to make life cheaper. Economists are appalled.
Both Republicans and Democrats are pitching ideas intended to address affordability, but experts warn the proposals could cause other problems.
As political winds shift, this Louisiana renewable energy venture shoots for the stars
"We've spent years figuring out how to make wind blades lighter, stronger and cheaper — and we're set up at a facility that will allow us to expand quickly into production and shipping at scale. Now we're ready to apply those strengths to booming sectors of the economy."
Nintendo To Change Pricing For Digital & Physical Switch 2 Exclusives, Starting With Yoshi
Digital to be cheaper than physical going forward
Samsung's cheaper Mini LED TVs are now on sale
Samsung unveiled new budget Mini LED TVs as well as some higher-end models using its Quantum Mini LED tech.
Cheaper Than A Porsche: 8 Affordable Sports Cars That Deliver Track-Level Thrills
Some great and sporty alternatives to a Porsche include the 2016 Scion FR-S, the C5 Corvette, the 2018 Ford Mustang GT, and the 2016 Chevrolet Camaro SS.
Deals: Galaxy S26 series gets its first price drop, the Pixel 10 series drops even further
Meanwhile, the 2025 MacBook Airs are getting cheaper too - not quite as cheap as the Neo, but they are an important alternative for those who need more RAM.
Ozempic Is About to Go Generic in India, China and Canada
In India, China and several other nations, Novo Nordisk is on the verge of losing patent protection for its blockbuster weight loss drug, opening the door for cheaper competing versions.
How Netflix thinks AI can help it fight off rivals
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said that "faster and cheaper" doesn't matter if AI isn't making films "better."
Trump Administration Turns to Migrant Workers to Help Farm Labor Shortage
As the president’s immigration policies squeeze an already tight supply of farm labor, the Trump administration is making it cheaper to hire foreign farmworkers.
Scientists Unveil Cheaper and Faster Way To Extract Lithium From Massive Untouched Reserves
A new solvent-based technique could change how lithium is extracted from brines, potentially making the process faster, cheaper, and viable in places where conventional methods fail. Few elements are as key to the clean energy transition as lithium, and global demand for it is soaring. The metal
Scientists Just Figured Out How to Make Aluminum More Valuable Than Gold
Precious metals like palladium and platinum are often used as chemical catalysts, but true to their name, they’re expensive to source. Scientists may have just found a cheaper alternative.
Intel shores up its desktop CPU lineup with boosted Core Ultra 200S Plus chips
New CPUs are a bit faster and a bit cheaper than the ones they replace.
Eating more ultra-processed foods linked to poorer bone health, study finds
From flavored yogurts to frozen pizzas, breakfast cereals and instant oats, ultra-processed foods are convenient, often cheaper items designed for a quick bite. In recent years, excess consumption of ...
No healthcare premiums? In this economy?! Here's how.
It turns out healthcare in America CAN be cheaper. If your employer wants it to be. Today on the show, we speak with a Canadian-founded startup that has unusually generous benefits for their employees. Come see Planet Money live on stage in April! 12 cities. Details and tix here: https://tix.to/pm-book-tour. Related episodes: Health insurance premiums are going up next year — unless you work at these companiesHealth care costs are soaring. Blame insurers, drug companies — and your employerThe hidden costs of healthcare churnFor sponsor-free episodes of The Indicator from Planet Money, subscribe to Planet Money+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org. Fact-checking by Sierra Juarez. Music by Drop Electric. Find us: TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, Newsletter.
15 blockbuster movies cheaper than Kristi Noem's $220M DHS ads
Kristi Noem's $220 million DHS ads outspent blockbusters like "Barbie" and "Sinners," raising questions about the department's use of taxpayer dollars.
MacBook Neo Towers Over The M1 MacBook Air In Value, As Cheaper $599 Package Gives Up To 43% Better Performance In CPU Tests
For those believing that the MacBook Neo offers more value than the M1 MacBook Air, this CPU benchmark comparison will open their eyes
I moved from Texas to Colombia. Life is cheaper and we have community here.
Jennifer Jamali said there's a lot to love about Bogota, Colombia, but the best part is having a community where people genuinely care for one another.
Gen Z nurse gets most of her healthcare abroad, "way cheaper"
Jordynn Ison, 27, is a nurse in Ohio. She says medical tourism in Asia saves her money.
Apple iPhone 17 vs. iPhone 17e: Read This Before Spending the Extra $200
The new iPhone 17e is $200 cheaper than the iPhone 17—but does that lower price make it the better deal? We break down the key differences to find out which model delivers the best value.
Apple goes down market in its ‘big week’ of product rollouts with iPhone model that’s $200 cheaper than the base
The iPhone 17e, targeting budget-conscious shoppers, will include the same A19 chip as the one powering the base iPhone 17.
The Bargain-Basement MacBook Neo Exposes the Insane Price of Another Key Apple Product
Can it really be the case that the company can now make a laptop $200 cheaper than a watch?
Trump can’t break free from vaccine politics
Trump is trying to shift the focus toward healthy eating and cheaper drugs. But vaccines keeping coming back up.
Apple's rumored MacBook Neo, a lower-cost, colorful laptop, could launch this week
This would mark the first time Apple competes with cheaper hardware like the Chromebook.
Apple’s website leaks MacBook ‘Neo,’ which could be its new cheaper laptop
Is the “MacBook Neo” Apple’s budget Mac?
Hospitals warn of dire consequences if Maine bill makes health care cheaper
Supporters say similar caps in other states are a sign that it could work here.
This Looming Drug Development Gap Could Impact Patients' Health
In this week’s edition of InnovationRx, we look at cheaper biologic drugs, Novo Nordisk’s $2 billion next-gen obesity drug deal, new ways of fighting cancer, and more.
YouTube’s cheaper subscription is getting background play and downloads
YouTube “heard feedback” that users wanted the features.
Apple's rumored new MacBook sounds like a nightmare for budget Windows laptops
A cheaper entry point into the Apple ecosystem
Microsoft boffins cook up archival storage using Pyrex glass they say can last over 10,000 years
: It may have half the capacity of fused silica glass, but is faster and much cheaper
AI breakthrough could replace rare earth magnets in electric vehicles
Scientists at the University of New Hampshire have unleashed artificial intelligence to dramatically speed up the hunt for next-generation magnetic materials. By building a massive, searchable database of 67,573 magnetic compounds — including 25 newly recognized materials that stay magnetic even at high temperatures — the team is opening the door to cheaper, more sustainable technologies.
State public-option health plans expand but can't fill gaps left by federal changes
Nevada recently became the third state to offer one of the plans on the ACA marketplaces. They're intended to be a cheaper insurance option but so far they make only a marginal difference in price.
Why There's Simply No Need For An Amazon Fire TV Stick Anymore
The Amazon Fire TV Stick is no longer essential because there are cheaper competitors and most smart TVs today include the same range of apps in their OS.
Trump drops key US climate rule, swaps health for cheap cars
The US has revoked what's known as the endangerment finding, a scientific finding central to US climate actions, to boost cheaper, gas-powered cars. Experts say the shift comes at a fragile point for the warming planet.
YouTube TV Gets Cheaper Sports, News, and Entertainment Bundles
YouTube is splitting YouTube TV into a selection of tailored YouTube TV Plans, allowing subscribers to pay less for a smaller selection of channels. "TV should be easy," reads the blog post announcing the change. There are 10+ new plans across Sports, News, Entertainment, and Family, at prices that are $11 to $28 below the $82.99 per month cost for a full YouTube TV subscription.
GuliKit’s tiny USB dongle lets you connect your PS5 controller to your Switch 2
Like 8BitDo’s model, but cheaper and smaller.
Hims & Hers will stop selling compounded version of Novo’s obesity pill
Hims & Hers will stop selling what it claims to be a cheaper, compounded version of Novo Nordisk's obesity pill on its telehealth platform.
Farmers tell BBC Politics East why they are protesting again
Farmers want better support to deal with rising production costs and cheaper imports.
Samsung’s confusing Galaxy S26 pricing raises base model cost, but makes Ultra cheaper
New reports reveal that Samsung is, in fact, planning to raise the price of the Galaxy S26 series, but only...
Google Brings Cheaper $7.99 'AI Plus' Plan to 35 Countries, Including U.S.
Google today announced that it is expanding its more affordable Google AI Plus subscription plan to 35 countries and territories, including the United States. In the U.S., Google AI Plus is priced at $7.99, giving Google Gemini users a more affordable option for accessing upgraded AI services. Prior to now, Google AI Pro was the most affordable AI subscription plan at $19.99 per month.
Many Obamacare enrollees have switched to cheaper bronze plans. Here's why that could be risky.
Bronze plans — the lowest tier of Affordable Care Act coverage — offer lower premiums but higher out-of-pocket costs.
New Galaxy Z TriFold leak suggests cheaper pricing for Samsung's ultra-premium foldable
The Galaxy Z TriFold may finally be on the verge of being released in the US. While Samsung remains quiet on availability for now, specific pricing and a release date have been detailed ahead of an official announcement.
Opinion - A golden age of celestial science — if we choose to build it
These are missions only NASA can lead. Everything else should go to partners who can deliver faster and cheaper.
Microsoft Surface Pro (12-inch) Review: Smaller, Cheaper, Longer Lasting
The 12-inch version of Microsoft's detachable two-in-one will suffice for most users, but getting nickel-and-dimed by optional accessories that feel quite necessary is annoying.
Samsung’s discounted microSD Express card more than doubles your Switch 2 storage
An already affordable card just got cheaper.
This tiny power module could change how the world uses energy
As global energy demand surges—driven by AI-hungry data centers, advanced manufacturing, and electrified transportation—researchers at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory have unveiled a breakthrough that could help squeeze far more power from existing electricity supplies. Their new silicon-carbide-based power module, called ULIS, packs dramatically more power into a smaller, lighter, and cheaper design while wasting far less energy in the process.
High-End Computer Monitors Are Great, But The Smart Money Buys A Cheaper Panel
Even though high-end computer monitors may offer extra bells and whistles, their higher price point can't always be justified for what most people need.
China’s "Artificial Sun" Just Smashed a Key Fusion Barrier and Physics May Never Be the Same
Fusion reactor breaches the "Greenwald limit," hinting at smaller, cheaper power plants.
Cheaper drinks will see a rise in noncommunicable diseases and injuries
In two new global reports released today, WHO is calling on governments to significantly strengthen taxes on sugary drinks and alcoholic beverages.
Ford says making self-driving tech in-house cheaper than licensing
Ford announced plans to deploy eyes-off driving technology on public roads by 2028. The legacy automaker is making the tech in-house to get there.
AMD reheats last year’s Ryzen AI and X3D CPUs for 2026’s laptops and desktops
But it may become slightly cheaper to buy AMD's fastest integrated Radeon GPUs.
Ikea’s new $4 USB-C charger is cheaper than Apple’s and Anker’s
You’ll feel a little less guilty about forgetting or losing Ikea’s new 20W Sjöss charger.
4 Cheaper Alternatives To The MacBook Pro Actually Worth Buying
If you want MacBook Pro specs without the heavy price tag, these options are worth considering.
Apple's 2026 Low-Cost A18 MacBook Pro: What We Know So Far
Apple is planning to release a low-cost MacBook in 2026, which will apparently compete with more affordable Chromebooks and Windows PCs. Apple's most affordable Mac right now is the $999 MacBook Air, and the upcoming low-cost MacBook is expected to be cheaper. Here's what we know about the low-cost MacBook so far. Size Rumors suggest the low-cost MacBook will have a display that's around 13 inches in size.
Aberdare woman swaps personal trainer for AI ahead of half marathon
Could AI be changing the fitness industry by offering a cheaper alternative to personal trainers?
Nuno F.G. Loureiro, award-winning MIT scientist, remembered as a ‘physicist’s physicist’
His promising work at MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center brought him and the lab global recognition as well as the hope of cheaper, cleaner, and more plentiful energy.
3 Cheaper Alternatives To Spotify Premium You Should Switch To
Even long-time Spotify Premium users are now feeling the weight of the rising subscription cost, but you can try cheaper options like Qobuz, Bandcamp, and more.
Urban Milwaukee Launches Family, Business Memberships
Membership is better, and cheaper, with a group.
Health care will get more expensive for some in 2026 – and cheaper for others
People covered by Obamacare and Medicaid may see health care costs rise, but for people on Medicare, Biden-era negotiated drug prices are set to go into effect.