iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

The idea that your conversations at work could pave the path to super-intelligence may seem laughable. But certain firms see value in acquiring AI meeting notes and Teams titbits bit.ly/3Tgfq8b Illustration: Paul Blow

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Juicy financial gains must be considered alongside another sort of investment: in children themselves. Spending on their health, education and skills can yield even higher returns than markets bit.ly/3Twn5iw Illustration: Satoshi Kambayashi

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Weighted blankets were inspired in part by padded “squeeze chutes” that restrain and often calm cattle during handling. Might people derive similar measurable benefits from pressure? bit.ly/47m1VqG Illustration: Cristina Spanò

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China’s massive infrastructure push may give the country a sorely needed boost—and help rebalance the world economy bit.ly/4hIFKzV Illustration: Carl Godfrey

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Christa Pike was given two supposedly lethal doses of a drug in Tennessee, but she survived. Her failed execution points to a growing problem for America’s death penalty bit.ly/4xS6ELz Photo: Reuters

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“Brazil has reached its lowest ever levels of poverty, extreme poverty and inequality,” writes Dario Durigan in a guest essay. The reason for this, argues the country’s finance minister, is President Lula bit.ly/4jCzbBn Illustration: Dan Williams

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Donald Trump styles himself a champion of free speech. As its new term begins, the Supreme Court may reveal how far it is willing to go to hold him to that standard bit.ly/4hstK6E Photo: Getty Images

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Volatility in global energy markets because of wars in Ukraine and in the Gulf, combined with a reduced focus on net-zero targets, has renewed interest in gas. But in Africa, it may not live up to the hype bit.ly/4z2ZJjT Photo: Genser Energy

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Change is coming to the rich world’s tax systems, like it or not. The country that gets ahead of it will one day thank the politicians who had the foresight to act bit.ly/4yJyISV Illustration: Janne Iivonen

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The big ideas that propel him are wearily familiar. Britain’s prime minister is less a heretic than a keeper of the new orthodoxy, “post-liberalism” bit.ly/3VlqUba Illustration: Nate Kitch

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A hotline between American and Soviet leaders helped to prevent a nuclear Armageddon. Yet efforts to replicate that with China have been troubled from the start bit.ly/3VqEMRh Photo: AP

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Democracy faces grave dangers. Open societies should have more confidence that ballot boxes can beat bullets, and fight back bit.ly/4hopbuc Illustration: Chloe Cushman

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“The pen is the handmaid of history. It writes history, then it is written out of it.” On “The Intelligence”, how the fountain pen changed the world bit.ly/3W22H9R

Jamming signals from a global navigation satellite system, such as America’s GPS, is dangerously easy in war. Two new signalling methods could reduce the scale of threat bit.ly/4rGemqY Photo: U.S. Air National Guard

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“It is no coincidence that authoritarians the world over have targeted mayors,” writes the broadcaster. In a guest essay, he explains why populists run into a brick wall when they try to capture local government bit.ly/4dNIivl Illustration: Dan Williams

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“I felt creepy using them, even in dumb mode.” Though some call them “pervert glasses”, tech firms are doubling down on smart specs, our correspondent tells “The Intelligence” bit.ly/3TA2V7h

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Nearly every American law firm adopted the “Cravath system”—hiring the brightest minds straight from law school, pushing them hard for several years and making the best of them partners in the firm. But now the system is buckling bit.ly/4hGGfuj Illustration: George Wylesol

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The Trump administration’s flashes of contempt for the Old Continent do not necessarily reflect the majority of MAGA voters’ attitudes. But it seems likely that the paths of Europe and America will continue to diverge bit.ly/46NaIlt Photo: Getty Images

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Effective altruism is admirable, but dangerous. As the movement has grown stronger, it has become stranger bit.ly/4ypPm9L

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Manchester City’s chief executive has branded the claims against his club a “conspiracy theory”. Register for free to learn why few believe him bit.ly/4xSrRoI Photo: Tom Jenkins/Guardian/Eyevine

By emphasising his faith, one midterms candidate may have found a route to Christian voters disappointed by Donald Trump. Can pastor politicians give Democrats a boost? bit.ly/4rxSA8J Photo: Reuters

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If the Democrats hope to replace Donald Trump, they cannot just promise to restore the status quo. They need new leaders, new ideas and a new generation willing to challenge orthodoxies bit.ly/4rOeULq Illustration: The Economist/ Getty Images

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Bed-bug populations collapsed in rich countries by the 1980s in the face of modern pesticides. But the following decade brought a resurgence of the unwanted insects. Scientists have a new theory as to why bit.ly/4ybjUMj Photo: Benoit Guenard

America has been accumulating time-wasting rules for 250 years, like an ageing hoarder whose home is packed to the ceiling with vintage junk. In a new book, Annie Lowrey explains why the country has so much red tape bit.ly/46E88OD Photo: Getty Images

From Washington, 7,000 miles away, Iran’s chokehold on Gulf oil looks like it is loosening. But is that right? bit.ly/3VluBxt Photo: EPA

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Britain’s prime minister will get credit for his willingness to take on problems previous leaders have dodged. The main caveat is none of the changes Andy Burnham wants will be implemented this decade bit.ly/4z4I5ft Photo: Reuters

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Russia’s autumn plan is to target civilians in Kyiv. But this escalation of terror was not unexpected—and the capital is not capitulating bit.ly/3Vm4kiv Photo: Getty Images

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In one of its more audacious about-faces, the Communist Party has morphed from sworn foe of old customs to their self-appointed arbiter and promoter. Register for free to discover why bit.ly/4hrutUs Illustration: Hanna Barczyk

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Does that matter? A high-stakes transatlantic spat has erupted over GDP figures

Europe buys the future, America builds it

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American lawmakers from both parties are mulling bills to limit automatic licence-plate readers. Curious as to why? Register to continue reading (it’s free) bit.ly/4yj2HR3 Photo: Getty Images

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Taking a sip from a steaming hot drink may feel invigorating or comforting. But the science suggests that it might be healthier to let it cool down. We explain why bit.ly/4yi60YN Illustration: Cristina Spanò

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Brazil has vanquished hunger, hyperinflation, military rule and a coup attempt in just a few decades. The next presidential term, however, is likely to be a shambles, bit.ly/4xGzhez Illustration: Ben Denzer

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A Californian startup called Reflect Orbital hopes to fly tens of thousands of highly reflective mirrors into space, and then use them to illuminate dark parts of the Earth on demand. Grand plans. Could any of them actually happen? bit.ly/4d5I3vl Photo: Bjoern Steinz/Panos Pictures

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“The anti-tech trend is not just a yearning for simpler times.” On “The Intelligence”: the rise of phone-free gigs bit.ly/3Vjc9FJ

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Fighting between the Ethiopian army and Tigray’s ruling party has resumed. If it continues, this latest round will be dramatically different from the previous civil war. Register for free to learn why bit.ly/4hnjsDA Photo: Getty Images

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“Is the woman allowed to go out to work in the first place?” In some countries the biggest barrier to prosperity is honour culture in the home, Robert Guest tells “The Intelligence” bit.ly/4yEMy97

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As in Dostoyevsky’s era, this moving prison sketch is a scan of Russia’s soul. It is a bleak picture, but not entirely. At the poignant heart of this book is the author’s bond with his cellmates bit.ly/4duYFgr Photo: Reuters

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Israel’s economy has weathered its wars better than expected. But threats to its prosperity lurk over the horizon bit.ly/4hbqGvE Photo: Getty Images

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Bitter rivals have come together to curb threats to humanity in the past. But enforcing an agreement to limit the training of supremely powerful AI systems would be a huge challenge bit.ly/3TyKno6 Illustration: Adam Maida

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Police in Italy are coming to the conclusion that a real-life version of a plot point from “The Godfather” trilogy may have played out in the country over the past decade. Discover more bit.ly/4ybiHol Photo: Alamy

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In China, calibrating how much censorship to apply is an art that officials often struggle to master. In recent months several articles in state media have implied that many are not doing it right bit.ly/4iPeIcf Illustration: Jared Bartman

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Donald Trump hopes to rekindle his bromance with Kim Jong Un. But with support from Russia and a revived relationship with China, North Korea’s dictator is less interested bit.ly/3VUz764 Illustration: Bina Thorsen

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RAF Fairford is one of the biggest airbases in Europe, and the only one in Europe set up to act as a forward operating base for America’s huge strategic bombers. That has made it a site of some controversy bit.ly/4hfxh8m Photo: Getty Images

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On “The Intelligence”, why women’s earnings rise when their male manager has a baby daughter bit.ly/4yffmoh

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