‘It feels like fresh air to my ears’: can brown noise really help you concentrate?

Some people use it to improve their focus while others use it to drop off to sleep. The writer Zadie Smith says she listens to it day and night. But what is brown noise? And does it work?

Eye for an eye: Javier Bardem iris NFT to be sold for sight-saving charity

Image of actor’s eye to be auctioned to fund Ojos del Mundo in preventing blindness in developing world

Group chat overload: have we reached peak WhatsApp?

From pictures of puppies to deadly political manoeuvres, WhatsApp is the world’s most popular messaging platform. But is it losing its appeal?

Meditation app Calm sacks one-fifth of staff

Wellness tech company, which enjoyed a boom in custom during the Covid lockdown, has let 90 of its 400 staff go

Child vaping risks becoming ‘public health catastrophe’ in UK, experts warn

There are fears that the e-cigarette boom has the potential to create a generation of young people hooked on nicotine

Unplugging from the mind trap of online noise made me realise tuning out is the only way to truly tune in

Since rediscovering the calm of a quieter state, I’m learning to reconnect and embrace the sounds of my life

The secret to finding true joy online? Embracing your most cringeworthy self

Ditching perfectly filtered selfies and carefully curated memes for posts that show our real, messy selves might feel embarrassing, but it’s good for us, writes Ione Gamble

Tech neck: what are smartphones doing to our bodies?

Bending your head to use a phone stresses the spine, say chiropractors – and that’s not the only way the devices are injuring and changing us

‘Phones are like a scab we know we shouldn’t pick’: the truth about social media and anxiety

Although connecting with friends online has positive benefits for mental health, overdoing screen time can lead to a catastrophic emotional crash

Vac to the future! Can robot mops and self-cleaning windows get us out of housework for ever?

I despise chores – so I jumped at the chance to test the latest hi-tech solutions (and simple hacks) that promise to keep domestic drudgery to a minimum