Businesses are using theatrical stunts not for shock alone but to create viral content and drive sales conversations onlineWhen Lunos, an AI startup in New York City, was gearing up for launch, its founder and chief executive, Duncan Barrigan, and his team wanted to make a splash. So they shelled out $3,500 to do the unconventional: hire a horse and a cowboy to lasso the bull of Wall Street.On a sweltering evening in late September, the cowboy galloped toward the iconic sculpture in lower Manhattan. Wearing ranch gear and a western hat stamped with the Lunos logo, he lassoed the bull’s horns as invitees and curious passersby watched. He and the horse then circled the statue, handing out cowboy hats and branded stress balls. Continue reading...

10 Feb 2026 17:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Push to restart uranium mining in Patagonia has sparked fears about the environmental impact and loss of sovereignty over key resourcesOn an outcrop above the Chubut River, one of the few to cut across the arid Patagonian steppe of southern Argentina, Sergio Pichiñán points across a wide swath of scrubland to colourful rock formations on a distant hillside.“That’s where they dug for uranium before, and when the miners left, they left the mountain destroyed, the houses abandoned, and nobody ever studied the water,” he says, citing suspicions arising from cases of cancer and skin diseases in his community. “If they want to open this back up, we’re all pretty worried around here.” Continue reading...

09 Feb 2026 14:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

He has been jailed, tracked and threatened by China’s government. What was it like pay a visit home? As he publishes a polemic about surveillance and state control, the artist relives a momentous trip to see his motherAi Weiwei is talking me through the decision-making process before his first visit to China in over a decade. The artist, known around the world as the most famous critic of the Chinese communist regime, had to do some fraught arithmetic before deciding to head back home.Before boarding a flight with his son, who had never met the artist’s elderly mother, Ai thought back to his time in detention when his captors told him he would spend the next 13 years in custody on bogus charges: “They said, ‘When you come out, your son won’t recognise you.’ That was very heavy and really the only moment that touched me.” Continue reading...

09 Feb 2026 05:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Organizers in Monterey Park took inspiration from other US cities to fight against the construction of a giant datacenterWhen a southern California city council proposed building a giant datacenter the size of four football fields last December, five residents vowed to stop it.Through a frenetic word-of-mouth campaign, the small group raised awareness about the proposed facility in Monterey Park, a small city east of Los Angeles known affectionately as the country’s first suburban Chinatown. Continue reading...

07 Feb 2026 16:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Sustainable smartphone takes a step forward with modular accessories, a good screen and mid-range performanceThe Dutch ethical smartphone brand Fairphone is back with its six-generation Android, aiming to make its repairable phone more modern, modular, affordable and desirable, with screw-in accessories and a user-replaceable battery.The Fairphone 6 costs £499 (€599), making it cheaper than previous models and pitting it squarely against budget champs such as the Google Pixel 9a and the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, while being repairable at home with long-term software support and a five-year warranty. On paper it sounds like the ideal phone to see out the decade. Continue reading...

04 Feb 2026 07:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Book-style Android with cutting-edge AI, good cameras and great tablet screen for media and multitasking on the goGoogle’s third-generation folding phone promises to be more durable than all others as the first with full water and dust resistance while also packing lots of advanced AI and an adaptable set of cameras.The Pixel 10 Pro Fold builds on last year’s excellent 9 Pro Fold by doing away with gears in the hinge along its spine allowing it to deal with dust, which has been the achilles heel of all foldable phones until now, gumming up the works in a way that just isn’t a problem for regular slab phones. Continue reading...

30 Oct 2025 07:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN

Ultra-slim and light smartphone feels special, but cuts to camera and battery may be too hard to ignore for mostThe iPhone Air is a technical and design marvel that asks: how much are you willing to give up for a lightweight and ultra-slender profile?Beyond the obvious engineering effort that has gone into creating one of the slimmest phones ever made, the Air is a reductive exercise that boils down the iPhone into the absolute essentials in a premium body. Continue reading...

15 Oct 2025 06:00 ✍️ RSS THE GUARDIAN