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The Weekender: shaky science, reliable robots, and memorable muzak

The Weekender: shaky science, reliable robots, and memorable muzak

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The best of the week gone by

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Welcome to The Verge: Weekender edition. Every Saturday, we'll bring you some of the best and most important reads of the past seven days, from original reports, to in-depth features, to reviews and interviews. Think of it as a collection of some of our favorite pieces that you may have missed — or that you may just want to read again. You can follow along below, or keep up to date on Flipboard.

  • Report

    The inventor of everything

    Mike Cheiky's science has gotten big name investors from Google to GE to put hundreds of millions of dollars into his ambitious startups. There's just one problem: his science doesn't quite pan out.

  • Feature

    'Dream Sushi' and the art of the ringtone

    What does beautiful capitalism look like? Artist James Ferraro's new installation at MoMA PS1 tries to evoke how companies are capitalizing on lifestyles, and he's doing it through some of the most seemingly inane music imaginable: ringtones, hold music, and elevator music.

  • Review

    Samsung Galaxy S5 review

    Samsung's Galaxy smartphones are wildly popular, but they've had a lot of criticism levied against them as well: they feel a little cheap, look a little ugly, and don't really pay attention to detail when it comes to software. But Samsung says that it's narrowed its focus for the new Galaxy S5 — so has it?

  • Feature

    The app men of Odessa

    Silicon Valley may be the epicenter of exciting new technology, but app developer Readdle has managed to find success far from it. The company has been headquartered in Odessa, Ukraine since its founding, and even as conflict with Russia brews, it thinks staying outside the Valley can contribute to its success.

  • Photo Essay

    This beautiful electric carriage is tearing New York City apart

    With Mayor Bill de Blasio now in office, New York City has been primed to ban the iconic horse-drawn carriages that have long offered tourists a romantic ride around Central Park. This week, opponents of the ban finally unveiled what they think should replace it: a historically-styled electric car.

  • Review

    'Transcendence' review: welcome back to the '90s

    The cinematographer behind Inception's stunning visuals has finally made a film of his own. Transcendence is just as gorgeous and action-packed as you might expect, but its simple sci-fi ideas may not turn out quite as enticing.

  • Report

    Building blocks: how Project Ara is reinventing the smartphone

    Google has an ambitious plan to begin selling smartphones that you can upgrade and fully customize to your liking just by swapping pieces in and out. We visited the team behind Project Ara to see how it's trying to turn that vision into reality within only a year's time.

  • Report

    The robots of the future won't look anything like the Terminator

    We've long imagined that futuristic robots will have complex metal constructions that allow them to move and function just like humans, but that may not be what robotics has in store for us. Soft, lightweight robots could be the real future, and researchers at MIT gave us a glimpse of what that might look like.

  • Report

    Parents are going to prison for a medical diagnosis that may not exist

    Parents are being thrown in jail on child abuse charges after having their injured children diagnosed with shaken baby syndrome, but there's growing evidence that the diagnosis isn't always perfect — and there's even some evidence that it may be flat out wrong.

  • Review

    Samsung Gear Fit review

    The Gear Fit is Samsung's first try at a wearable designed for fitness. It counts your steps, reads your heart rate, and even displays notifications from your phone. It looks good and tries to do just about everything you might want — but does it do any of it very well?