Despite geopolitical and domestic turmoil, international economies seem to be on constant footing. At the start of the year, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided its guidance for the world’s economies, keeping in mind that “global growth projections for 2018 and 2019 have been revised upward by 0.2 percentage indicate …

  AMD’s second-generation Ryzen CPUs are almost here. It’s a significant step forward for AMD and its new(ish) Zen architecture. Last year’s launch established that AMD could once again take the fight to Intel, after six years languishing in the wilderness with Bulldozer and Bulldozer-derived processors. AMD took a strong …

The bleeding edge of computer science these days is all about making computers more like humans. We’re using neural networks to help machines recognize objects, play games, and even speak in a more realistic way. In a new feat of machine learning magic, Google Research has developed a system that …

Certain so-called “rare-earth” metals are vital to modern manufacturing and technology. Applications range from lasers and magnets to ceramic capacitors, oxidative agents, high-temperature superconductors, stainless steel, and PET scanners. A new report on the sea floor around Japan’s Minami-Tori-shima, also known as Marcus Island, indicates the mud is positively saturated …

The popular torrent client known as uTorrent has millions of users, many of whom have been using it for a decade. uTorrent (or micro-torrent, as it was sometimes called) gained popularity by living up to its name as a minimalist, fast torrent manager. In recent years, it’s gotten bloated and …

My entire book was plagiarized on Amazon. I admit that in the grand scheme of things that could go wrong in tech these days, I wasn’t quite expecting this one. It’s all the more surprising because the same distributor handles both books. Last year, our publisher Ziff Davis (ExtremeTech’s parent …

No computer system in the world is completely secure, so businesses and governments often keep their most sensitive data in so-called “air-gapped” machines. These computers are not connected to the internet or to any other local devices, making it almost impossible to steal data. It’s almost impossible, but there have …

NASA has been without its own launch vehicle since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011. That won’t be the case for much longer. The agency hopes to begin flying the Space Launch System (SLS) in 2020 without a crew, and manned missions to deep space could start as …

NASA could have a new tool to scout for exoplanets this summer. The long-awaited Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) is set to launch as soon as Monday (a little behind schedule) on a mission to survey our galactic neighborhood for exoplanets. The mission isn’t just to spot them a la Kepler, …

Games, dating apps and streaming services contributed to a rise in consumer spending in iPhone apps last year, according to new data from app store intelligence firm, Sensor Tower. The firm found that U.S. iPhone users spent 23 percent more on in-app purchases in 2017 than they did the year …