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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...

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

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

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

With February fast approaching, how’s that “New Year, New You” transformation shaping up? Every January, the multi-billion-pound diet and fitness industries cash in on our annual resolutions to get healthier. We dive into fad diets and sign up for gym memberships that are billed monthly whether we show up or not. The result? A cycle of optimism, guilt, and auto-renewals. But perhaps the age of best intentions being matched by vague solutions is coming to an end. Enter the sci

“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

From space travel to smartphones, many of today’s groundbreaking inventions first appeared in fiction.  But beyond predicting new technologies, science fiction can tell us something much more important. It invites us to imagine not just what’s possible, but the kind of future we want to create.  Here’s my short explainer on the subject: Predicting the future I’m going to take an educated guess that your introduction to many of today’s technological marvels came from the film

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

Everyone loves a good magic trick. Take mind-reading, for instance. We can enjoy the stagecraft and illusion safe in the knowledge that it isn’t actually possible for someone to pry into our innermost thoughts. But what if it was? We may be on the verge of a technological breakthrough that takes mind-reading from illusion to reality. Brain scanning is one of the wonders of medical science. Its history goes back to 1924 and, over the years, the abstract signals and images coll

From eyes that see over a million different colours to ears that detect a staggering range of frequencies, the human senses are incredible. But none can hold a candle to the most powerful part of our sensory system: the brain. The human brain does the most impressive feat of data analysis imaginable – decoding electrical impulses from all over the body and combining them to create the rich, multi-modal experience we call reality. But what if a connection fails, and a sense is

Compared to Hollywood’s portrayal, life in the 21st century can sometimes feel a bit of a let-down. Where are the cities full of driverless cars? The hand-held lasers? The robotic killing machines who’ll stop at nothing to topple their human overlords? Ok, maybe not that last one... But what if some of these things are much closer to being realised than we thought? Enter LiDAR – short for Light Detection And Ranging. LiDAR scanners bounce laser beams off objects to calculate

After power, the second most important thing for my motorhome is fast, reliable internet. For years, camping and caravanning trips meant little to no mobile phone signal and no internet access whatsoever. Whilst caravan sites have upped their game in recent times, the Wi-Fi at most sites remains abysmal. All it takes is for everyone to head inside and fire up Facebook at the first sign of inclement weather, and any hope for stable Wi-Fi goes out the window. For someone like m

When it comes to motorhomes, you typically have a few options of how to power equipment such as kettles, ovens and fridges. As standard,...

For many, a holiday in a caravan or motorhome offers the opportunity to spend some quality time “off grid”. The chance to hitch up and...

Life expectancy in the UK has more than doubled over the course of two and a half centuries, from below 39 years in 1765 to 81.1 years in 2020. Smallpox outbreaks, World War One and the Spanish Flu epidemic contributed to dips in an otherwise overwhelmingly positive trajectory. Even since the turn of the millennium, the life expectancy rate has increased by more than 5%. But it has since stalled, with the slowdown reported as one of the biggest among 20 of the world’s leadi

I’m no make-up aficionado. I can’t tell powder from primer. But I can appreciate the tech trends that are transforming the beauty industry. Not only are they promoting inclusivity through advanced personalisation, they’re fantastically futuristic too. Take the Nudemeter,  a computer vision tool designed by Harvard Business School graduate Atima Lui. Users upload a selfie, complete a short quiz et voilà! An algorithm suggests the product that best matches their skin tone. Acco

Innovation breeds innovation. There’s no two ways about it. When the first iPhone was announced, we were blown away by the existence of a weather app.  Today, there are more than 1,960,000 apps to choose from. Not bad, when you consider there were just 500 when the App Store launched back in July 2008. That said, it’s no surprise that app development has gone from strength to strength. Why wouldn’t entrepreneurs take advantage of an accessible, cutting-edge platform with glo