What's on Your Mind?

A new study paints a promising picture for the ways that digital technology use affects the aging brain. Published in Nature Human Behavior last month, neuroscientists at Baylor University and the University of Texas at Austin conducted a meta-analysis drawing on 57 different studies and data from more than 400,000 participants over the age of 50. A digital brain boost The new study found that across the board, the use of everyday digital technology like computers, smartphones, and the internet is associated with lower measures of cognitive decline in middle-aged and older adults. The strength of that positive association was comparable to established protect…

Keyboard shortcuts are efficiency’s greatest secret weapon. Yes, they can take a bit to learn and yes, sometimes you’ve got to—gasp!—take your hand off your mouse to reach all the keys. But man, oh man, once you’ve mastered the best ones, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without them. If you want to navigate Windows 11 faster, work smarter, and minimize unnecessary clicks, these are the 10 shortcuts worth memorizing. Alt + Tab: Switch Between Open Apps As far as most shortcut experts are concerned, this is the Windows shortcut to rule all shortcuts. This venerable classic lets you cycle through open applications with ease. Hold Alt and tap Tab to ju…

Fast Company explores the complicated truth about the effect social media has on this generation’s teen population. View the full article

Well over a decade on from its initial launch, it’s safe to say that Google Glass was not a success. While the product had some forward-thinking ideas, it’s generally not a good sign when your product leads to the coinage of a brand-new insult. The design was off-putting and the technology wasn’t ready—and neither was society. Today, things are a little different. Meta and Ray-Ban’s smart glasses are a hit, despite offering the same camera capabilities that turned so many off Google Glass in the first place. It helps, of course, that they just look like normal Ray-Bans. So for Google’s second swing at the product category, it’s focusing on design and functionality…

No place is more vulnerable to hurricanes in the 50 U.S. states than the Florida Keys. The chain of islands celebrated by singer Jimmy Buffett in his odes to tropical escapism is surrounded by water, jutting out 120 miles southwesterly from Florida’s mainland to Key West with the Gulf and Atlantic Ocean on either side. The archipelago historically has been known for its quirky and libertarian inhabitants who revel in the islands’ hedonistic, artistic and outdoorsy lifestyle. In recent years, it also has become a haven for the wealthy. Overseeing safety for the more than 80,000 inhabitants of the Conch Republic — the nickname for the islands after denizens declared a to…

The list of Rite Aid drugstores marked for closure continues to grow at a furious pace after the ill-fated pharmacy chain filed for bankruptcy a second time. In a court filing last week, the company said it would move to close 151 additional locations in 10 states, its largest batch of closures since the Chapter 11 process began three weeks ago. Three earlier filings had disclosed a combined 210 closures, as Fast Company previously reported. That means the list of stores that are expected to shutter on an accelerated timeline is now over 360—more than a quarter of Rite Aid’s fleet of 1,277 locations. Fast Company reached out to Rite Aid for more information …

Lego just announced its first book nook: Sherlock Holmes’ Baker Street. I was guessing this was coming sooner than later, with Lego’s ever-increasing focus on the adult market and the growing popularity of book nooks. The design is fantastic, full of the fine details you expect of high-quality book nooks, which are miniature dioramas that are designed to fit between books on a shelf. But, unlike those, you can actually take this off the bookshelf, unfold it into a three-building Victorian London street, and play with it. Conceived by Japanese artist Monde in 2018, book nooks often depict a street, a room, or some other structure inspired by a theme from a real boo…

One of the most popular smartphone apps in the world has finally come to the iPad. Today, Meta has officially released WhatsApp for iPad. The release comes nearly sixteen years after WhatsApp debuted on the iPhone, and went on to become the de facto messaging app for most of the world. WhatsApp comes to the iPad WhatsApp debuted on the iPhone in 2009, and within just five years, that messaging app had become so popular that Facebook (now Meta) announced in 2014 that it was acquiring it for a staggering $19 billion. But the extraordinary sum Meta paid for WhatsApp seems to have been worth it. On Meta’s financial conference call on April 30, Mark Zuckerberg annou…

After six years in the game, Nuuly, the clothing rental service from Urban Outfitters, has done what few thought possible: turned a profit. In an industry full of flashy failures and billion-dollar burns, Nuuly is quietly winning with a strategy that’s shaking up fashion and business. View the full article

Earlier this month, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced a multistate investigation of a Salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers believed to have been grown by Bedner Growers Inc. of Boynton Beach, Florida. That outbreak has so far sickened 26 people in 15 states. And now, that outbreak has caused Walmart to recall a select cucumber product from some of its stores. Here’s what you need to know about Walmart’s cucumber recall. What’s happened? On May 22, Walmart announced that it was recalling a select cucumber product over fears that it had the possibility of being contaminated with Salmonella…

With Memorial Day behind us, America’s summer travel season is now in full swing. While flyers should be aware of how to find great fares and the best apps to use when taking a vacation overseas, they should also be mindful of a few new rule changes going into effect at popular airlines, which could impact their trips. Those changes are happening at two of America’s most well-known airlines—Southwest and United—and include alterations to the airlines’ free baggage and check-in policies, respectively. Here’s what to know about the changes and when they go into effect. Southwest’s signature “Bags Fly Free” policy changes on May 28 On Wednesday, May 28, Southwest’…

Salesforce is buying AI-powered cloud data management company Informatica in an approximately $8 billion deal. Informatica’s shareholders will receive $25 per share, a premium of about 11% from Friday’s closing price of $22.55. The transaction will give Salesforce access to Informatica’s data management capabilities. Informatica was taken private in 2015 by private equity firm Permira and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board for about $5.3 billion. It went public again in 2021. “Joining forces with Salesforce represents a significant leap forward in our journey to bring data and AI to life by empowering businesses with the transformative power of their most critic…

More Klarna customers are having trouble repaying their “buy now, pay later” loans, the short-term lender said this week. The disclosure corresponded with reports by lending platforms Bankrate and LendingTree, which cited an increasing share of all “buy now, pay later” users saying they had fallen behind on payments. The late or missed installments are a sign of faltering financial health among a segment of the US population, some analysts say, as the nation’s total consumer debt rises to a record $18.2 trillion and the The President administration moves to collect on federal student loans. Shoppers who opt to finance purchases through BNPL services tend to be younger t…

Kelly Krasner was always interested in healthcare, but losing both parents to cancer when she was 24 reinforced what she thought would be a lifelong calling. After spending 13 years helping hospitals integrate more cancer screening and diagnosis technologies as a radiology sales and marketing director, Krasner spent six more working at various healthcare technology startups. When her company downsized and she lost her job in 2023, however, Krasner said it felt nearly impossible to get back into the industry. “I was applying and applying, and unfortunately—perhaps because of my age, my status, or people thinking I had to have a high title or a high income—I just wa…

Few illustrations have electrified the climate movement more successfully—and globally—than Ed Hawkins’s climate stripes. Since the British climate scientist first published his graphic in 2018, the stripes have been displayed on Times Square billboards, printed on beer cans, splashed across fashion collections, and even woven on a scarf that was worn by the late Pope Francis. The graphic was enshrined as a design object in the Museum of Modern Art’s permanent collection in New York. The problem is, “warming stripes” have only ever shown part of the picture—namely, global average temperatures on the surface of the Earth. But climate change doesn’t stop at the surf…

When Sky Kurtz set out to grow produce in the desert via vertical farming in 2016, laying the groundwork for what became Dubai-based ag-tech startup Pure Harvest Smart Farms, “People thought we were crazy,” he says. “I was fearful, I would never get off the ground.” But Kurtz’s came at a time when the UAE was beginning to take the idea seriously and companies like Pure Harvest began cropping up. Over the past nine years, though, Pure Harvest Farms has become one of the sector’s biggest players. It has raised more than $450 million in funding, according to market analysis company PitchBook, and grows an array of crops that includes tomatoes, green vegetables, and berr…

We’re often told to stand up for ourselves, have boundaries, “do you,” and often in the process, frequently encouraged to say “no.” In recent times, we’ve seen entire books and productivity philosophies built around the art of refusal. Saying “no” works well for establishing healthy workplace boundaries and for self-preservation, and many see it as the stamp of a mature professional. The ability to say “no” creates a respectful and safe workplace, helps avoid burnout, and importantly, elevates and empowers individuals. But there is such a thing as saying “no” too often. And as a result, you might miss out on promotions, learning opportunities, and being part of im…