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Advent calendars have evolved far beyond cardboard and chocolate. From science kits and retro electronics to coding projects, nostalgic movie collectibles and even charitable “reverse” calendars, here are some of the most unusual and brilliant ways to count down to Christmas this year...

The 20th century brought an education revolution. Could the 21st century be on the brink of another? In 1900, only one in three children went to school. By the turn of the millennium, it was four in five – an astonishing leap. The mission to widen access to education was a world-changing success. But in 2025, it’s starting to run out of steam. Schoolchildren have all the world’s information at their fingertips – and AI assistants to help do their homework – yet classrooms, c

My inbox is overflowing. Every day I get bombarded with promotions, pointless updates, and notifications I never signed up for. Most of the time I swipe away without even opening. But imagine if, just once, an email landed that you actually  looked forward to reading... Alright, you caught me – this is a shameless plug for the iluli newsletter . But I promise there’s a good reason. Each month, we take on subjects that might sound intimidating at first – from bioprinting huma

Zapping brains with electricity has long been the stuff of horror stories. From Frankenstein and Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest , to the often grim history of early electroshock therapy, the associations have been… less than reassuring. But today, this idea is being explored as a treatment for depression and anxiety, and even as a way to improve cognition. Neurostimulation devices, which utilise tiny electrical currents and magnetic pulses to rebalance b

After months of speculation, two years of development, delays and impatient countdowns from the AI faithful, GPT-5 has finally arrived – and the reaction has been... interesting. Some users see it as a significant step forward; others are left wondering what the fuss is about. For casual ChatGPT users – the ones who drop in to ask, “What’s the best movie trilogy ever, and why is it Back to the Future?”   – the grand reveal likely felt underwhelming. The “4” in the corner quie

With enough data and the ability to crunch it, virtually any challenge facing humanity today can be solved – Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO If you’re a regular iluli follower, you’ll know that in recent months we’ve covered topics like the world-changing potential of superconductors , the pursuit of new frontiers in outer space, and how AI-powered breakthroughs in biology are transforming our understanding of life itself. Technology is revolutionising the world and solvin

Black Mirror’s  “ USS Callister ” first beamed onto screens in late 2017, wrapped in the familiar aesthetics of a Star Trek tribute – high-necked uniforms, retro sets, and a Shatner-esque captain at the helm. But beneath the camp was something far darker: a lonely, resentful tech genius – Robert Daly (Jesse Plemons) – trapping digital clones of his co-workers in a sadistic simulation of his own design. A classic descent into techno-horror from the brilliant mind of Charlie Br

In Netflix’s limited series Zero Day , a political thriller fronted by Robert De Niro, the United States is thrust into a distinctly modern crisis: a coordinated cyberattack that cripples the nation’s critical infrastructure, igniting political turmoil, media manipulation, and widespread panic . For one harrowing minute, mobile phones, computers, and communication networks across the country go dark. Trains derail, planes lose contact with control towers, and critical hospita

We Brits are known for our obsession with the weather. From polite nods about the rain being "good for the garden" to groaning when it edges past 24°C, it's a national pastime.    But this recent heatwave? Temperatures soaring past 30°C in June?! That’s justifiable grumble material, if ever there was such a thing. Long-time readers will know I’m a certified gadget addict. Even my motorhome hasn’t been spared – it’s packing six 150Ah lithium batteries to power air conditionin

How often have you come across a terrible piece of technology and wondered how it ever made it past the drawing board?  Buttons in weird places. Features you’ll never use. Options you need but can’t find. You wonder: who signed this off, and did they ever use it themselves? One thing is for sure – they would’ve benefited from reading product management guru Marty Cagan's influential book Inspired: How to Create Tech Products Customers Love. It focuses on “product teams” – the

For a few weeks in the summer of 2023, solid-state physics was one of the hottest trending topics on the internet (yes, really !). Social media was flooded with videos of what looked like a small piece of metal levitating above a magnet. Commentators proclaimed that this magical-looking phenomenon was about to change the world in ways we could barely imagine. This floating metal was said to represent a scientific breakthrough more than a century in the making. The “holy gra

In January 2020, Detroit Police pulled up outside the home of Robert Julian-Borchak Williams and arrested him in front of his wife and two daughters. His crime? Stealing five watches from a shop that he’d never even visited.  Despite protesting his innocence, Robert spent nearly 30 hours behind bars before being released on bail. Eventually, the truth emerged  – an AI-powered facial recognition system had mistaken him for another Black man.  This was the first documented case

NASA’s Artemis program is about to send humans back to the Moon for the first time in over 50 years.  Or is it? Artemis was set to make history by landing the first woman and first person of colour on the lunar surface. It aimed to lay the groundwork for a permanent Moon base, which some see as key to eventually reaching Mars. But amid political upheaval in the US, the future of Artemis now looks precarious. Might NASA be about to take a giant detour and head straight for the

“There’s more space in your life than you think!” Next year, NASA will send humans back to the moon for the first time in more than 50 years. And there’s good reason to believe that this new era of space exploration might benefit us in more ways than we realise. In a recent   video  we looked at NASA’s Artemis program. Should we be excited? Well, if you are someone who gets slightly giddy at the prospect of lunar colonies and humans making it to Mars – absolutely! But you don

What does 2025 have in store for us gadget fanatics? A special blend of nostalgia and innovation, it would seem… This year, innovation is shaping up to be less about flashy breakthroughs and more about revisiting and refining what we already know – sometimes with a surprising twist. From breathing new life into old gadgets with AI enhancements to embracing the minimalist charm of less-is-more tech, 2025 promises a captivating blend of the familiar and the futuristic. Think ge

So the moment has finally arrived for AI to receive the Apple treatment. Marketed as “ AI for the rest of us ” and “personal intelligence right where you need it,” Apple Intelligence will roll out in the UK as part of updates for the iPhone, iPad, and Mac starting in December 2024. By partnering with ChatGPT – one of the most recognised AI interfaces – Apple will combine established expertise and computational power with its own innovative AI features. With AI proving transfo

In a logical world, longer life expectancy would be a reason to celebrate. Yet, the ageing population – marked by more retirees and proportionally fewer workers – has led to a crisis in adult social care systems worldwide. In countries like Japan, Italy, and South Korea, life expectancy now stretches into the mid-80s. But when the care system we’ll rely on in our twilight years is buckling under the strain, it’s hardly a surprise that we’re not all partying like it’s 2099. W

Despite decades of development and billions invested, Virtual Reality (VR) has struggled to find a place in our daily lives. But with tech giants betting big on the next generation of headsets like the Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest, could this finally be the moment VR breaks through? Watch my short explainer to find out more: False starts and flops Picture the scene: a revolutionary new VR device transports users into a fully immersive, hyper-realistic world where they can

If you ever need clear evidence of a business's success, look for when its brand name becomes so ingrained in everyday language that it replaces a verb. Not convinced? You can Google it. It’s one of the reasons why many were perplexed by Twitter’s rebranding – millions of us “tweeted” daily, but when was the last time you “Xd”?   This puts Netflix in a rather unique linguistic and cultural, er, position, thanks to the phrase “ Netflix and Chill ” entering the lexicon as far b

Have you made the switch to electric yet? One of the challenges preventing more people from adopting electric vehicles is concern over battery life and charging capacity. Often referred to as "range anxiety," this is the fear of whether the car will reach the next charging station in time.   And even if you make it, will the charger actually work? The current charging infrastructure still leaves much to be desired, often forcing drivers to go miles out of their way to find a