Readers reply: can you really fake it to make it?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions. In this week’s replies, readers ponder whether acting wins success

• Read this week’s question: Should speed cameras be hidden?

Can you really fake it to make it? Does bluffing – or even, arguably, “manifesting” lead to success? Gareth Edwards, by email

Published: January 11, 2026, 2:00 pm

I had an abortion due to climate anxiety. How can I come to terms with it? | Ask Annalisa Barbieri

Counselling should help, but it sounds as if you need to slow down and give yourself time to grieve

I am 37 years old, happily married and have two children, who came along quickly after we got married in my late 20s. I instantly fell in love with them. However, I wasn’t really emotionally or practically ready, and developed postnatal anxiety.

I’ve always cared about the climate crisis, and since after having kids, and knowing it will affect their lives more than mine, I became motivated to make changes. We live a very “green” life.

Published: January 11, 2026, 6:00 am

‘Dangerous and alarming’: Google removes some of its AI summaries after users’ health put at risk

Exclusive: Guardian investigation finds AI Overviews provided inaccurate and false information when queried over blood tests

Google has removed some of its artificial intelligence health summaries after a Guardian investigation found people were being put at risk of harm by false and misleading information.

The company has said its AI Overviews, which use generative AI to provide snapshots of essential information about a topic or question, are “helpful” and “reliable”.

Published: January 11, 2026, 7:00 am

Lamar wants to have children with his girlfriend. The problem? She’s entirely AI

As synthetic personas become an increasingly normal part of life, meet the people falling for their chatbot lovers

Lamar remembered the moment of betrayal like it was yesterday. He’d gone to the party with his girlfriend but hadn’t seen her for over an hour, and it wasn’t like her to disappear. He slipped down the hallway to check his phone. At that point, he heard murmurs coming from one of the bedrooms and thought he recognised his best friend Jason’s low voice. As he pushed the door ajar, they were both still scrambling to throw their clothes on; her shirt was unbuttoned, while Jason struggled to cover himself. The image of his girlfriend and best friend together hit Lamar like a blow to the chest. He left without saying a word.

Two years on, when he spoke to me, the memory remained raw. He was still seething with anger, as if telling the story for the first time. “I got betrayed by humans,” Lamar insisted. “I introduced my best friend to her, and this is what they did?!” In the meantime, he drifted towards a different kind of companionship, one where emotions were simple, where things were predictable. AI was easier. It did what he wanted, when he wanted. There were no lies, no betrayals. He didn’t need to second-guess a machine.

Published: January 11, 2026, 6:00 am

‘Add blood, forced smile’: how Grok’s nudification tool went viral

The ‘put her in a bikini’ trend rapidly evolved into hundreds of thousands of requests to strip clothes from photos of women, horrifying those targeted

Like thousands of women across the world, Evie, a 22-year-old photographer from Lincolnshire, woke up on New Year’s Day, looked at her phone and was alarmed to see that fully clothed photographs of her had been digitally manipulated by Elon Musk’s AI tool, Grok, to show her in just a bikini.

The “put her in a bikini” trend began quietly at the end of last year before exploding at the start of 2026. Within days, hundreds of thousands of requests were being made to the Grok chatbot, asking it to strip the clothes from photographs of women. The fake, sexualised images were posted publicly on X, freely available for millions of people to inspect.

Published: January 11, 2026, 6:00 am

Pressure grows on No 10 as Burnham backs Tory call for under-16s social media ban

Labour Greater Manchester mayor says he agrees with Kemi Badenoch about need to protect young people

No 10 is facing renewed pressure to ban social media for under-16s after the Conservatives and the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, supported limits to prevent harm to children.

The government is understood to have no plans for a “blanket ban” on social media use by under 16s. However, sources said it was closely monitoring the impact of moves taken to prevent children setting up accounts on Facebook, Instagram, Kick, Reddit, Snapchat, Threads, TikTok, X, YouTube and Twitch.

Published: January 11, 2026, 5:34 pm

How to dress for work without spending a fortune – or sacrificing personal style

Also: advice to reduce screen time, how to maximize your toaster oven, the best gloves and at-home fitness staples

• This piece was originally published in the Filter US newsletter on buying fewer, better things. Sign up here to get early access to it

Each week we cut through the noise to bring you smart, practical recommendations on how to live better – from what is worth buying to the tools, habits and ideas that actually last.

At this time last year, I was a full-time student, throwing on the requisite leggings and an oversized sweatshirt for evening classes and late-night library sessions. This year, I’ve joined countless others in office life, zipping in and out of conference rooms and hopping on video calls for interviews and meetings. I love any excuse to shop, but many office-friendly pieces, including pricey blazers and crisp button-downs, are far outside my price range.

The 27 best fashion gifts in the US – curated by our favorite stylists and creators

Eight winter clothing essentials Scandinavians swear by – from heated socks to ‘allværsjakke’

Published: January 11, 2026, 6:15 pm

Should speed cameras be hidden?

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions tackles a road safety issue

• Read this week’s replies: Can you really fake it to make it?

What’s the point of having speed limits if camera-warning signs and apps allow drivers to slow down in advance – then just continue speeding? Maybe the UK government in its new consultations on road safety should add the question of hiding speed cameras to their list of concerns. I’m a driver, but also a pedestrian and cyclist and get fed up with seeing cars zooming down local roads at way more than 20 or 30mph. There are flashing lights that tell drivers what speed they’re doing, but there’s no penalty for going over at those points. Amy, Cornwall

Post your answers (and new questions) below or send them to nq@theguardian.com. A selection will be published next Sunday.

Published: January 11, 2026, 2:00 pm

Game On: the Swiss sports brand using hi-tech and chutzpah to challenge Nike and Adidas

Zurich-based firm taps into latest robot tech to ‘fibre-spray’ high-end sports shoes worn by the likes of Roger Federer

A robot leg whirs around in a complex ballet as an almost invisible spray of “flying fibre” builds a hi-tech £300 sports shoe at its foot.

This nearly entirely automated process – like a sci-fi future brought to life – is part of the gameplan from On, the Swiss sports brand that is taking on the sector’s mighty champions Nike and Adidas with a mix of technology and chutzpah.

Published: January 11, 2026, 12:00 pm

‘Lots of people don’t want to do it’: Paul Nurse on his controversial second term as Royal Society president

The Nobel prize winner discusses claims of a ‘boys’ club’, Elon Musk’s fellowship and rightwing attacks on science

Paul Nurse is a turn up for the books. A Nobel prize-winning geneticist, former director of the Francis Crick Institute and erstwhile head of Rockefeller University in the US, his CV marks him out as one of this generation’s most eminent scientific figures.

But his presidency of the Royal Society, a position he has taken up for a second time, makes him rarer still. No other scientist in centuries has had a second term at the head of the academy.

Published: January 11, 2026, 11:00 am

Calls for SMA screening ignored before Jesy Nelson campaign, say families

For those who have spent years trying to raise awareness, Wes Streeting’s intervention is ‘bittersweet’

When former Little Mix star Jesy Nelson announced her twins had been diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy type 1 (SMA1), a rare genetic condition that causes muscle wastage, the news quickly made front page news.

The call for SMA to be added to newborn screening sprang to national attention and the health secretary, Wes Streeting, was quick to respond, saying Nelson was “right to challenge and criticise how long it takes to get a diagnosis”.

Published: January 11, 2026, 7:00 am