Want every day to be a good hair day? We tested 20 hair dryers to find the best, from gentle diffusers to high-speed and travel-ready models

• The best hot brushes, tried and tested by our expert

In my years of reviewing beauty tech, it was upgrading my hair dryer that made the biggest difference to my beauty routine. I used to dread hair-wash days: the chore of shampooing, conditioning and rinsing my hair, plus the time – and aching arms – spent getting it dry again.

My clunky, bargain-bucket hair dryer of seven years was weighty, deafeningly loud, and took a painstaking 20 minutes to dry my hair completely. So happier days really did arrive when I switched it up for a new model.

Best hair dryer overall:
Hershesons the Great

Best budget hair dryer:
BaByliss Hydro-Fusion

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Tech company’s stock enters positive territory for first time this year after gaining about 13% since new iPhone launches

Apple topped $4tn (£3tn) in market value for the first time on Tuesday, joining Microsoft and Nvidia as the third company in history to hit the milestone, thanks to strong demand for its latest iPhones.

Apple’s share price has increased by more than 50% since a low point in April, thanks to the debut of its latest products.

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After the release of a slew of other AI-integrated browsers, Anthony Enzor-DeMeo discusses ChatGPT Atlas, the Google monopoly trial – and the future

Do you need an assistant for your online activities?

Multiple major players in artificial intelligence are moving on from chatbots like ChatGPT and are now focusing their efforts on new browsers with deep AI integrations. Those could take the form of an agent that shops for you or an omnipresent chatbot that follows you around and summarizes what you’re seeing, looks up related stuff, or answers related questions.

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Executives at world’s biggest datacenter owner grappled with disclosing information about water used to help power facilities

Amazon strategised about keeping the public in the dark over the true extent of its datacentres’ water use, a leaked internal document reveals.

The biggest owner of datacentres in the world, Amazon dwarfs competitors Microsoft and Google and is planning a huge increase in capacity as part of a push into artificial intelligence. The Seattle firm operates hundreds of active facilities, with many more in development despite concerns over how much water is being used to cool their vast arrays of circuitry.

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Exclusive: Pictures depicting the most vulnerable and poorest people are being used in social media campaigns in the sector, driven by concerns over consent and cost

AI-generated images of extreme poverty, children and sexual violence survivors are flooding stock photo sites and increasingly being used by leading health NGOs, according to global health professionals who have voiced concern over a new era of “poverty porn”.

“All over the place, people are using it,” said Noah Arnold, who works at Fairpicture, a Swiss-based organisation focused on promoting ethical imagery in global development. “Some are actively using AI imagery, and others, we know that they’re experimenting at least.”

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Report found coroners raised concerns over suicide forums at least 65 times to three government departments since 2019

Bereaved families and survivors of a pro-suicide forum have called for a public inquiry into the government’s failure to prevent harm linked to the online platform.

The calls came as a report found that coroners had raised concerns regarding suicide forums at least 65 times to three government departments since 2019.

In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie . In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org , or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

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Social media didn’t live up to its promises. So why do we think artificial intelligence will be any better?

There is a “hype cycle” that maps the euphoria and hysteria generated by new technology and then the consequent plunge into the “trough of disillusionment” when it fails to deliver on its promises.

The Gartner Hype Cycle was coined in 1995, timely for the dotcom boom, and now traces the trajectory of artificial intelligence. We are at the “peak of inflated expectations” before we nosedive into that aforementioned disillusionment. Some would say we are already in freefall, with companies struggling to convert their investments into productivity.

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Entries include Welsh language names for fields and hills in move to ensure preservation of stories and legends

Dozens of placenames in Welsh, some hinting at ancient legends, others telling rich stories of how people used to live, have been submitted to a project designed to make sure they are preserved.

The Welsh government appealed for people to add historical names that may be missing from online maps so they could be saved for future generations. Within two weeks, about 200 submissions were received, including local Welsh language names for fields, hills and areas.

Dôl y Tylwyth Teg (Fairy Folk Meadow/Fairies’ Meadow) in Aberfan, south Wales. The person who sent the suggestion said the field was known by the Welsh name by people who spoke Cymraeg, the Welsh language. A nearby school that teaches through Welsh refers to the field by this name and uses it for events.

Caeau Maelorddin (Fields of Maelor City) near Aberystwyth, west Wales, are a collection of fields near Tanybwlch beach. The contributor said his late grandfather recalled many people referring to a group of now individually named fields as Caeau Maelorddin. They were close to Pen Dinas, the hill where the giant Maelor Gawr was said to live.

Ffynnon Glog (Rock Well) near Rhyd, in Gwynedd, north Wales, is a hidden well in a roadside bank, according to the contributor. The water in the well was once used as a remedy for ailments and takes its name from Y Glog, a prominent rocky outcrop nearby.

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As an immersive Hunger Games show opens in London, producers turn to bankable franchises, with mixed results

When the first ever stage adaptation of the global book and film franchise The Hunger Games opens its doors in London next week , fans paying up to £200 have been promised an “electrifying” and “immersive” experience.

The show at the purpose-built 1,200 seat Troubadour in Canary Wharf, which features Hollywood A-lister John Malkovich appearing via screen as the evil President Snow who oversees the televised spectacle of teenagers fighting to the death, is the latest in an explosion of launches looking to cash in on a boom in consumer demand for experiential entertainment, often linked to bankable franchises.

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