In The Know

13/10/2026

Remember when Halloween wasn't really that big a deal in Britain?

A few decorations, maybe some trick-or-treating, and then it was time to get excited about Bonfire Night.

Now we've got Halloween trees, entire houses covered in decorations, pumpkin-picking attractions and shops that seem to start celebrating in August!

So how did Halloween grow into such a big British celebration, and is it really as American as we think?

https://www.itkmagazine.com/post/when-did-halloween-become-such-a-big-deal-in-britain

08/10/2026

One of the things that has always excited us about AI in gaming is the possibility of games that never truly run out of content.

But recent experiments have shown AI helping developers understand and alter complex games far quicker than many of us expected, and that raises a rather bigger question.

If AI can learn how something as complicated as a modern video game works, what happens when the software it is looking at isn't a game?

https://www.itkmagazine.com/post/ai-could-make-games-last-forever-but-what-else-could-it-learn-to-rewrite

07/10/2026

Do you remember getting the Christmas TV guide and going through it with a pen, circling everything you wanted to watch over Christmas?

There was something strangely exciting about discovering what films and specials were going to be on, then realising two programmes you wanted were showing at exactly the same time.

https://www.itkmagazine.com/post/whatever-happened-to-watching-the-same-television

07/10/2026

From rubber keys to enormous open worlds, Britain has played a bigger part in gaming history than you might realise.

This week’s ITK Quiz travels from the home computer boom of the 1980s through some legendary British-made games and right up to the modern titles being created today.

How much of your gaming history do you remember?

Weekly Quiz from ITK Magazine. Test your knowledge on a variety of General knowledge questions. We will have a new Quiz every week. This week, Christmas from around the World

07/10/2026

Missed last week’s quiz?
You can still catch up with The Autumnal Equinox & Season Change Quiz, covering everything from the changing length of our days to why Britain’s trees suddenly start putting on their autumn colours.

Give it a go here:
https://www.itkmagazine.com/last-weeks-itk-quiz

Weekly Quiz from ITK Magazine. Test your knowledge on a variety of General knowledge questions. We will have a new Quiz every week. This week, Christmas from around the World

06/10/2026

Praying mantises breeding in Britain sounds like something from a nature documentary set somewhere considerably warmer, but that is exactly what wildlife experts have been recording.

As warmer conditions make Britain increasingly suitable for species arriving from continental Europe, the wildlife we consider typically British could gradually begin to change.

https://www.itkmagazine.com/post/the-praying-mantis-has-arrived-is-british-wildlife-becoming-european

01/10/2026

Britain’s increasingly warm autumn weather raises a bigger question than whether we can enjoy another few days of sunshine.

What happens when repeated hot summers and delayed autumn conditions leave rivers, woodlands and wildlife with less time to recover?

hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag

Britain's warmer autumns could reshape rivers, woodlands and wildlife. What happens if repeated heat leaves nature less time to recover properly each year?

01/10/2026

f aliens arrived on Earth tomorrow, how would we explain billionaires?
Some humans own fortunes worth billions, private space companies and major media organisations, while millions of others worry about food, housing and bills.

Perhaps the strangest thing would not be that billionaires exist.
It would be explaining why the rest of us have become so used to them.

hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag hashtag

If aliens judged Earth by its billionaires, what would they make of record wealth, private rockets, immense influence and our strangely passive response?

01/10/2026

Netflix arrived in the UK at £5.99 a month with no adverts and a simple promise: pay one subscription and watch what you want, when you want.

Now we have Netflix, Disney+, Prime Video, NOW and countless others, with rising prices, advertising tiers and programmes scattered between different services. Subscribe to several and suddenly the monthly bill starts looking remarkably similar to the television package we were trying to escape.

Streaming promised cheaper, simpler TV. Rising prices, adverts and fragmented services are now recreating the very system viewers wanted to escape again.

30/09/2026

Autumn is officially on its way, but how much do you actually know about the changing seasons?
This week’s ITK Quiz looks at the autumnal equinox, changing leaves, shorter days and the science behind one of the most noticeable changes of the year.
See how many you can get right:
https://www.itkmagazine.com/itk-quiz

Weekly Quiz from ITK Magazine. Test your knowledge on a variety of General knowledge questions. We will have a new Quiz every week. This week, Christmas from around the World