Ha, I used to theorise exactly this as a thought experiment years ago.... wonder if that means the target market for New Scientist is now sixteen year old geeks trying to impress the adopted maternal figures their maths and physics teachers have become
When talking to laymen and writing headlines, it's not the end of the world to speak metaphorically. At least the article itself was fairly clear on what the device did, how it worked, and what some of the future potential applications could be.
That's a lot more than a lot of current medical science or energy journalism which frequently gets even those wrong. Let's be thankful for what we have in this case. :)