“Readers reply: Should we turn off the internet?”
Views expressed in this science and technology update are those of the reporters and correspondents.
Accessed on 04 January 2026, 2224 UTC.
Content and Source: “Technology | The Guardian” via email subscription from https://feedly.com.
https://feedly.com/i/subscription/feed%2Fhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Ftechnology%2Frss
Please check subscription link or scroll down to read your selections. Thanks for joining us today.
Russ Roberts (https://hawaiisciencejournal.com).
18
Most popular
AI safety expert David Dalrymple said rapid advances could outpace efforts to control powerful systems The world “may not have time” to prepare for the safety risks posed by cutting-edge AI systems, according to a leading figure at the UK government’s scientific research agency. David Dalrymple, a programme director and AI safety expert at the Aria agency, told the Guardian people should be conce
/ 9h
Revenues may be rising rapidly, but not by nearly enough to cover the wild levels of investment under way The US dictionary Merriam-Webster’s word of the year for 2025 was “slop”, which it defines as “digital content of low quality that is produced, usually in quantity, by means of artificial intelligence”. The choice underlined the fact that while AI is being widely embraced, not least by corpor
/ 6h
London predicted to be the first UK city to go diesel-free, largely because of the ultra-low emission zone Battery electric cars are poised to overtake diesels on Great Britain’s roads by 2030, according to analysis that suggests London will be the first UK city to go diesel-free. The number of diesel cars on Great Britain’s roads in June had fallen to 9.9m in June last year, 21% below its peak o
Today
8h
The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions ponders the online world – from what’s despicable to what’s indispensable • This week’s question: can you really fake it to make it ? The internet has turned fringe belief into mainstream politics and policy – from authoritarianism to vaccines. With democracy itself threatened, is it time to go back to a previous world of la
Yesterday
/ 15h
Fraudsters use phishing to steal card details, which fund a spending spree using Apple Pay or Google Pay You get a call from your bank and the informed voice asks to you to confirm the personal details they have on file, which you do. You are then asked whether you bought something at an electrical retailer recently for £120 and spent £235 in Birmingham, but neither transaction rings true. The ca
/ 1d
The novelty of eating at a diner owned by the richest person in the world seems to have worn off in just a few months Less than six months since it opened, Elon Musk’s Tesla Diner has the feel of a ghost town. Gone is the Optimus robot serving popcorn, gone are the carnivore-diet-inspired “Epic Bacon” strips, gone are the hours-long, hundred-person lines wrapped around the block. Even the restaur
Jan 2, 2026
Lapses in safeguards led to wave of sexualized images this week as xAI says it is working to improve systems Elon Musk ’s chatbot Grok posted on Friday that lapses in safeguards had led it to generate “images depicting minors in minimal clothing” on social media platform X. The chatbot , a product of Musk’s company xAI, has been generating a wave of sexualized images throughout the week in respon
Platform is now Britain’s fourth most visited social media site as users seek out human-generated content Reddit, the online discussion platform, has overtaken TikTok as Britain’s fourth most visited social media service, as search algorithms and gen Z have dramatically transformed its prominence. The platform has undergone huge growth over the last two years, with an 88% increase in the proporti
/ 1d
Defenders say AI can do good to fight the climate crisis. But spiralling energy and water costs leave experts worried During a golden sunset in Memphis in May, Sharon Wilson pointed a thermal imaging camera at Elon Musk’s flagship datacentre to reveal a planetary threat her eyes could not. Free from pollution controls, the gas-fired turbines that power the world’s biggest AI supercomputer were pu
Hailing app will now act as agent rather than supplier outside London, avoiding VAT requirement Uber has swerved paying millions of pounds to the UK exchequer under Rachel Reeves’s new “taxi tax” after the ride-hailing app rewrote contracts with its drivers. The move came as rules announced in November’s budget took effect, which adjusted how VAT is payable on minicab fares and would have resulte
Jan 1, 2026
Company had hoped the virtual reality device would herald a new era in ‘spatial computing’ Poor sales have reportedly forced Apple to cut production of the Vision Pro headset that it had hoped would herald a new era in “spatial computing”. The tech company also reduced marketing for Vision Pro by more than 95% last year, according to the market intelligence group Sensor Tower in figures first rep
The billionaire – who had no government experience – left various federal agencies in disarray while overseeing an ‘efficiency’ drive across Washington As Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, splurged more than $250m on Donald Trump’s 2024 re-election campaign, the US president commissioned his new ally to oversee a sweeping “efficiency” drive across the federal government. The Tesla and SpaceX
Dec 31, 2025
Tesla endured tough year in part thanks to some consumers’ distaste for Elon Musk’s embrace of rightwing politics Tesla has taken the unusual step of publishing sales forecasts that suggest 2025 deliveries will be lower than expected and future years’ sales will be well below targets set by its chief executive, Elon Musk. The US electric vehicle maker published figures from analysts suggesting it
/ 4d
New year fitness goals? An elliptical will put you through your paces without the joint strain – our reviewer worked up a sweat testing the best • The best treadmills A quick admission: I absolutely love an elliptical or cross trainer. They don’t always get the plaudits they deserve, but these low-impact cardio machines not only put less strain on your joints than a treadmill but also help you ge
How the tech CEO and ‘Dogefather’ made a mess of the year – from an apparent Nazi salute during his White House tenure to Tesla sales slumps and Starship explosions The year of 2025 was dizzying for Elon Musk . The tech titan began the year holding court with Donald Trump in Washington DC. As the months ticked by, one public appearance after another baffled the US and the world. Musk appeared to
/ 4d
In this week’s newsletter: The year’s most popular stories reveal how play, power and politics collided in the past 12 months – and what you’re psyched for in 2026 • Don’t get Pushing Buttons delivered to your inbox? Sign up here With the best games of the year duly noted ( yours and ours ), I’d like to highlight some of the work we’ve done covering them. Reviewing the top-performing articles tha
Dec 30, 2025
/ 4d
Safety researchers feel excessive financial rewards and an irresponsible work culture have led some to ignore a catastrophic risk to human life On the other side of San Francisco bay from Silicon Valley, where the world’s biggest technology companies tear towards superhuman artificial intelligence, looms a tower from which fearful warnings emerge. Right in the heart of Berkeley is the home of a g
Canadian computer scientist Yoshua Bengio warns against granting legal rights to cutting-edge technology A pioneer of AI has criticised calls to grant the technology rights , warning that it was showing signs of self-preservation and humans should be prepared to pull the plug if needed. Yoshua Bengio said giving legal status to cutting-edge AIs would be akin to giving citizenship to hostile extra
End of feed
Discover more from Hawaii Science Journal.
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.