As soon as I wake up, I grab my phone to check any messages that have arrived overnight and thumb through news alerts before scrolling quickly through Twitter and Instagram. At work, I’m tethered to Slack and email, apart from the occasional TikTok video or meme I send to my friends over WhatsApp. And if I end up watching mindless reality TV in the evening (hello, Love Island), I’ll inevitably head back to Twitter to see if everyone else is as wound up by the contestants’ latest antics as I am.
None of this makes me feel bad, exactly. But it doesn’t make me feel great, either. It’s easy to lose hours to pointless scrolling with nothing to show for it.
In search of ways to cut down on aimless time online, I went to talk to some experts about how to forge a healthier, happier relationship with my devices and the internet. Here’s my mini-guide on how to log off. Read the full story.
—Rhiannon Williams
Inside the government agency shaping the future of energy
The US government had a hand in creating some of the most iconic inventions of the last century, from personal computers to modern GPS. Now, it’s making a similar push for energy.
The ARPA-E agency has awarded over $3 billion in funding to over 1,400 projects in advanced energy research since it was founded in 2007, and appointed its new director, Evelyn Wang, in January.
She sat down with our climate reporter Casey Crownhart to discuss the agency’s role in advancing technology, the challenges that lie ahead, and why we’re living in a critical time for energy. Read the full story.
