On Sunday night, as the war in Ukraine ground through yet another week, the ordinary act of checking a phone became terrifying. At 10:47 p.m. local time, Air Alert, Ukraine’s widely used civilian warning app, began lighting up screens across the country with messages that made no sense—and yet, in the context of an invasion, carried an unmistakable weight: radiation, chemical threats, a nuclear attack, and even reports of street fighting in the capital, Kyiv. The app, developed by Ajax Systems and Stfalcon with support from Ukraine’s Ministry of Digital Transformation, had been built for a clear purpose: to warn…

With the 2026 midterm election just days away, Americans are doing something both simple and profound: showing up to have their say. But this year, as in recent cycles, a shadow is following them to the ballot box. Online, alarming posts are spreading fast, warning that voting machines are flipping votes, that poll workers are secretly sabotaging ballots, that envelope holes are designed to expose choices, and that phantom ballots are omitting candidates. It is easy to understand why these things make people’s hearts race. Voting is sacred, and the idea that it could be rigged feels like a personal…