The Guardian

Also: advice to reduce screen time, how to maximize your toaster oven, the best gloves and at-home fitness staples This piece was originally published in the Filter US newsletter on buying fewer, better things. Sign up here to get early access to it Each week we cut through the noise to bring you smart, practical recommendations on how to live better – from what is worth buying to the tools, habi…

Swedish producer is trying to to accelerate the process of extracting the elements vital for hi-tech products It is deep winter with temperatures dropping to -20C. The sun never rises above the horizon, instead bathing Sweden’s most northerly town of Kiruna in a blue crepuscular light, or “civil twilight” as it is known, for two or three hours a day stretching visibility a few metres, notwithstan…

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions tackles a road safety issue • Read this week’s replies: Can you really fake it to make it? What’s the point of having speed limits if camera-warning signs and apps allow drivers to slow down in advance – then just continue speeding? Maybe the UK government in its new consultations on road safety should add the question of hi…

Zurich-based firm taps into latest robot tech to ‘fibre-spray’ high-end sports shoes worn by the likes of Roger Federer A robot leg whirs around in a complex ballet as an almost invisible spray of “flying fibre” builds a hi-tech £300 sports shoe at its foot. This nearly entirely automated process – like a sci-fi future brought to life – is part of the gameplan from On, the Swiss sports brand that…

Conservative leader backs Australian-inspired policy to stop platforms ‘profiting from their anxiety’ UK politics live – latest updates The Conservatives are backing a ban on social media for under-16s in an attempt to prevent addictive platforms fuelling anxiety and distraction among teenagers. Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, said she did not like the word ban but she wanted to see an ag…

Exclusive: US vice-president ‘sympathetic’ to concerns over Grok-generated pornography, says deputy PM JD Vance, the US vice-president, has agreed that it is “entirely unacceptable” for platforms such as X to allow the proliferation of AI-generated sexualised images of women and children, David Lammy has told the Guardian. The deputy prime minister said Vance, usually known as an AI enthusiast, e…

Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds AI Overviews provided inaccurate and false information when queried over blood tests Google has removed some of its artificial intelligence health summaries after a Guardian investigation found people were being put at risk of harm by false and misleading information. The company has said its AI Overviews, which use generative AI to provide snapshots of ess…

The ‘put her in a bikini’ trend rapidly evolved into hundreds of thousands of requests to strip clothes from photos of women, horrifying those targeted Like thousands of women across the world, Evie, a 22-year-old photographer from Lincolnshire, woke up on New Year’s Day, looked at her phone and was alarmed to see that fully clothed photographs of her had been digitally manipulated by Elon Musk’s…

As synthetic personas become an increasingly normal part of life, meet the people falling for their chatbot lovers Lamar remembered the moment of betrayal like it was yesterday. He’d gone to the party with his girlfriend but hadn’t seen her for over an hour, and it wasn’t like her to disappear. He slipped down the hallway to check his phone. At that point, he heard murmurs coming from one of the …

Nick and Brooke Shirley have for years published conspiracy-minded takes on hot-button rightwing issues YouTube influencer Nick Shirley, whose viral video alleging fraud by daycare centers servicing Minneapolis’s Somali American community came days ahead of the Trump administration’s declaration of a national funding freeze , has for years published conspiracy-minded takes on hot-button rightwing…

From the greatest cartoon racing game in history to a remastered version of an Alien-inspired sci-fi shooter, here are the Switch’s must-play games • The 15 best games to play on the Nintendo Switch in 2025 Although the Nintendo Switch 2 has been out for several months, not everyone has made the leap to the new machine and there is still much to enjoy on the original console in 2026 (and beyond).…

Some experts have voiced fears a tech meltdown could hit our savings and pensions – here’s how to protect yourself The new year has started as 2025 ended – with share prices booming amid warnings from some that the growth is being driven by overvalued technology stocks. Fears of an “AI bubble” have been voiced by people from the governor of the Bank of England to the head of Google’s parent compa…

From cosy museums and tropical islands to nightmarishly difficult adventures – and revamps of favourites including Mario Kart and Pokémon – there’s something for everyone Nintendo’s newest console has been out for a less than a year but it already boasts an impressive catalogue of excellent new games, as well as a variety of enhanced Switch greats. Here’s our selection of the 15 best titles curre…

PlayStation 4/5, Nintendo Switch/Switch 2, Xbox, PC; Square-Enix This landmark role-playing game remains a revolutionary tour de force At first glance, Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, first released in 1997 and now available in newly remastered guise, does little to separate itself from other boilerplate fantasy fiction. There is a hero, Ramza – an idealistic nobleman with luscious…

In this week’s newsletter: Stranger Things’ climactic showdown is the latest pop culture spectacle to feel like its been ported straight from a console. The industries’ reciprocally influential relationship can be to everyone’s gain • Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up here It had begun to feel like an endurance test by the end, but nonetheless, like the sucker I am, I wat…