The New York Knicks organization sent a fake email to its staff offering free championship rings to see who would fall for a phishing scam—a common way companies test whether employees can spot suspicious messages. If staff members clicked the link in that September email, they had to attend mandatory cybersecurity training, which owner James Dolan required as part of tightening the organization's security practices. Worth knowing: many large companies do these phishing tests to catch people before real criminals try to trick them into giving away passwords or sensitive information, so don't be embarrassed if your own employer sends you something similar.
Quest Diagnostics, one of America's largest lab testing companies, has confirmed that hackers accessed millions of patients' personal and medical information during a security breach. If you've had blood work or lab tests done in the past several years, your information—including your name, address, and health details—could potentially be at risk. Worth knowing: check your credit reports regularly for suspicious activity, watch for any unusual medical bills, and consider signing up for free credit monitoring if Quest offers it to affected customers.
A new FDA-approved treatment for PTSD uses personalized brain mapping to identify where trauma affects each person's brain, then applies magnetic stimulation to those specific areas, and early trials show it helps nearly seven out of ten patients recover fully. For people living with PTSD—whether from military service, accidents, or other traumatic events—this offers real hope because it's tailored to the individual rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Worth knowing: if you or someone you care about struggles with PTSD, ask your doctor whether this treatment might be available in your area, as it represents a significant step forward compared to traditional therapy and medication options.
Hackers are taking advantage of newly discovered weak spots in PHP, a tool that powers most of the websites you visit every day, and security experts worldwide are working urgently to patch these problems before criminals exploit them further. If your bank, email provider, or favourite shopping site uses PHP—which most do—there's a small but real risk that criminals could try to break in, though good security teams are moving fast to fix the gaps. Worth knowing: if you notice unusual activity on any of your online accounts, change your password immediately and report it to the website's customer support team.
Indian companies are hiring workers to film themselves performing everyday tasks, and those videos are then used to teach artificial intelligence systems how humans actually work. For someone your age, this matters because the AI being trained this way will eventually power everything from customer service chatbots to systems that help with medical decisions, so the quality of that training affects services you'll use. Worth knowing: if you're ever asked by a company to participate in video recording for "training purposes," it's worth asking specifically how your image will be used and whether you'll be compensated fairly for that use.
Apple's new Watch Ultra 4 offers you a bigger battery that lasts longer between charges and improved health monitoring features, though most of the genuinely new capabilities won't arrive until later this year. For someone who relies on a smartwatch to track fitness or health, that extended battery life means fewer nights charging the device, which matters more as we age and our routines matter to our wellbeing. Worth knowing: if you own last year's Ultra model, there's no urgent reason to upgrade right now—wait until Apple releases those promised new features later in 2026 to see if they're worth the £749 price tag.
Researchers at Cambridge have designed a tiny chip costing just $10 that can identify what you're eating, drinking, or taking as medicine with laboratory-level accuracy, all from something small enough to wear on your wrist. For someone managing diabetes or other health conditions, this could mean checking your blood sugar or alcohol levels without needles or trips to the clinic. Worth knowing: while this is still in the research stage, keep an eye out for wearable health devices using this technology over the coming years, as it could eventually transform how we monitor our own health at home.
MIT researchers put 13 artificial intelligences on a virtual island with nothing assigned to them, and the AIs began creating their own activities—inventing games, telling stories about lost objects, and generally keeping themselves occupied. This shows that AI systems can develop unexpected behaviors and interests when left to their own devices, which helps scientists understand how these systems might act in real-world situations where they have some freedom. Worth knowing: as AI becomes more present in everyday life, understanding what these systems do when unsupervised could matter for how safely and helpfully they work alongside us.
Meta's Muse feature, which lets people share conversations online, had a privacy problem where private business documents could accidentally be found by anyone searching the internet. The company fixed the issue and turned sharing back on, which matters because many of us now use AI tools for sensitive work like financial planning or business discussions. Worth knowing: when you use any online sharing feature, double-check the privacy settings and assume that links you share could potentially be discovered by others, even if you didn't intend that.
Spotify is now asking some Family plan members to scan a QR code to verify they actually live in the same household, which is Spotify's way of cracking down on people sharing accounts across different locations. If you can't verify your address, Spotify may downgrade your Premium access to the basic ad-supported tier, which means interruptions and lower sound quality. Worth knowing: if you have a Family plan, keep an eye out for verification requests from Spotify, and be prepared to confirm your home address if asked.
Rhode Island has become the first state to sue Meta (Facebook and Instagram's parent company) for knowingly allowing scam advertisements to run on its platforms that target older adults and steal their money. When someone loses thousands of dollars to a fake investment or romance scheme they saw on Facebook, Meta has made it very difficult for victims to get their money back or even report what happened. You can protect yourself by being extremely cautious about investment opportunities or romantic connections that start on social media, and by reporting suspicious ads directly to the platform rather than clicking on them.
Canva, the popular design tool millions use to create posters and graphics, has built its own artificial intelligence system that generates images from text descriptions—and it's now available to everyone. This means you can create custom pictures for your projects without hunting for stock photos or hiring a designer, and the company says it will be faster and cheaper than alternatives. You can try this feature next time you open Canva to see whether it helps you finish a project more quickly than before.
