Don’t ‘over-engage your core muscles’ and other tips for looking after your pelvic floor

From not treating your rectum as a storage facility to lifting weights, experts offer advice on how to maintain a healthy pelvic floor for longer

Pelvic floor health has long been relegated to whispered conversations about pregnancy or aging, often reduced to vague instructions to “do your kegels”.

But according to experts, daily maintenance of the pelvic floor is important.

Published: January 14, 2026, 2:00 pm

Musk’s X to block Grok AI tool from creating sexualised images of real people

UK government claims vindication after Keir Starmer criticised earlier decision to keep functionality as ‘horrific’

The UK government has claimed “vindication” after Elon Musk’s X announced it had stopped its AI-powered Grok feature from editing pictures of real people to show them in revealing clothes such as bikinis, including for premium subscribers.

After a fortnight of public outcry at the tool embedded into X being used to create sexualised images of women and children, the company said it would “geoblock” the ability of users “to generate images of real people in bikinis, underwear, and similar attire via the Grok account and in Grok in X”, in countries where it was illegal.

Published: January 15, 2026, 9:19 am

Social media time does not increase teenagers’ mental health problems – study

Research finds no evidence heavier social media use or more gaming increases symptoms of anxiety or depression

Screen time spent gaming or on social media does not cause mental health problems in teenagers, according to a large-scale study.

With ministers in the UK considering whether to follow Australia’s example by banning social media use for under-16s, the findings challenge concerns that long periods spent gaming or scrolling TikTok or Instagram are driving an increase in teenagers’ depression, anxiety and other mental health conditions.

Published: January 14, 2026, 1:56 pm

Use of AI to harm women has only just begun, experts warn

While Grok has introduced belated safeguards to prevent sexualised AI imagery, other tools have far fewer limits

“Since discovering Grok AI, regular porn doesn’t do it for me anymore, it just sounds absurd now,” one enthusiast for the Elon Musk-owned AI chatbot wrote on Reddit. Another agreed: “If I want a really specific person, yes.”

If those who have been horrified by the distribution of sexualised imagery on Grok hoped that last week’s belated safeguards could put the genie back in the bottle, there are many such posts on Reddit and elsewhere that tell a different story.

Published: January 14, 2026, 10:00 am

My work went from air-conditioned offices to delivering food on a bike. The culture shock is significant | David Rayfield

The plan was to get on a bicycle to earn some money. It wasn’t to get hit by cars, thumped by skinheads or to see my surroundings in a whole new light

At first I didn’t realise I’d been punched. I’m not sure why my brain assumed a bird had flown into me, but I suppose a magpie attack was more likely than a random bloke lashing out at my ribcage, so it took a second to realise what was happening.

I was on my bike, waiting in a side street for traffic to clear. The punch came from behind and by the time my mouth let fly a few expletives, the culprit was leaving. Then he caught wind of my colourful language and turned back to get in my face. He was a skinhead in a bad mood. Accusing me of being in his way, he told me I was lucky he didn’t do more damage. I paused mid-reply. This was the moment I realised he was ready to go to hell tonight, and the only thing he wanted to take with him was me.

Published: January 14, 2026, 2:00 pm

Elon Musk’s stubborn spin on Grok’s sexualized images controversy

Musk attempts to recast AI tool’s misuse. Plus, tech billionaires plot against a proposed California tax on their fortunes

Hello, and welcome to TechScape. I’m your host, Blake Montgomery, US tech editor for the Guardian. Today, we discuss Elon Musk’s rosy depiction of Grok’s image generation controversy; the seven-figure panic among Silicon Valley billionaires over a proposed wealth tax in California, though with one notable exception; and how AI and robotics have revitalized the Consumer Electronics Showcase.

Under a tax proposal that could be put to voters this November, any California resident worth more than $1bn would have to pay a one-off, 5% tax on their assets to help cover education, food assistance and healthcare programs in the state.

Several Silicon Valley figures have already threatened to leave California and take their business elsewhere. But Jensen Huang, the CEO of Nvidia, whose net worth is nearly $159bn, told Bloomberg Television this week that he is “perfectly fine with it”.

Published: January 14, 2026, 7:37 pm

The best air fryers in the UK, tried and tested for crisp and crunch

Air fryers have taken over our kitchens, but which wins the crown for the crispiest cooking? Our expert peeled 7kg of potatoes to find out

• The best blenders to blitz like a pro, tried and tested

Air fryers inspire the sort of feelings that microwaves did in the 1980s. I vividly remember those new-fangled boxes being spoken about often, either dismissively or with delight. A rash of cookbooks followed, and dinner changed across the land. Fast-forward a few decades, and air fryers have become the same kind of kitchen “disruptors”, offering time-saving convenience and healthier cooking, but with the added allure of easily achieved, mouth-watering crispiness.

Since launching with a single-drawer design, air fryers have evolved. Sizes range from compact to XL, while drawer configurations can be double, split or stacked. Alongside air frying, many will grill, roast and bake, and some will dip to lower temperatures for dehydrating, fermenting and proving dough. One we tested features steam cooking, allowing you to whip up dim sum as easily as a roast dinner, while another included racks for cooking on four levels.

Best air fryer overall:
Tefal Easy Fry Dual XXL EY942BG0

Best budget air fryer:
Tower AirX AI Digital Air Fryer

Published: January 14, 2026, 10:00 am

Commodore 64 Ultimate review – it’s like 1982 all over again!

Showing the value of great design over visual impact, this faithfully resurrected home computer seamlessly integrates modern tech with some wonderful additional touches

The emotional hit was something I didn’t expect, although perhaps I should have. The Commodore 64 Ultimate, a new version of the legendary 8-bit computer, comes in a box designed to resemble the original packaging – a photo of the machine itself on a background of deep blue fading into a series of white stripes. Then when you open it, you find an uncannily accurate replica of what fans lovingly referred to as the breadbox – the chunky, sloped Commodore 64, in hues of brown and beige, the red LED in one corner above the row of fawn-coloured function keys. It’s like 1982 all over again.

My dad bought us a C64 in late 1983. It was our second computer after the ZX81 and it felt like an enormous leap into the future with its detailed colour graphics, advanced sound chip and proper grown-up keyboard. We unpacked it on our dinner table, plugging it into a small portable TV and loading the one game we had, a very basic Donkey Kong clone named Crazy Kong. My life would never be the same again. This contraption was my obsession for the next four years – my friendships and free-time would revolve around games such as Bruce Lee, Paradroid and Hyper Sports. To this day, I treasure the memories of playing golf sim Leaderboard with my dad. The sound effects, speech samples and graphics conjured by that computer have lived rent free in my head for, god, almost 40 years.

Published: January 15, 2026, 10:14 am

What’s behind the phenomenon of ‘gamer brain’

If you’ve ever refused to knock down a game’s difficulty level, or chased a purposefully pointless achievement, you might have this pernicious but pleasurable affliction

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Studies on gaming’s effect on the brain usually focus on aggression or the cognitive benefits of playing games. The former topic has fallen out of fashion now, after more than a decade’s worth of scientific research failed to prove any causative link between video games and real-world violence. But studies on the positive effects of games have shown that performing complex tasks with your brain and hands is actually quite good for you, and that games can be beneficial for your emotional wellbeing and stress management.

That’s all well and good, but I’m obsessed with the concept of “gamer brain” – that part of us that is drawn to objectively pointless achievements. Mastering a game or finishing a story are normal sources of motivation, but gamer brain is inexplicable. When you retry the same pointless mini-game over and over because you want to get a better high score? When you walk around the invisible boundaries of a level, clicking the mouse just in case something happens? When you stay with a game longer than you should because you feel compelled to unlock that trophy or achievement? When you refuse to knock the difficulty down a level on a particularly evil boss, because that would be letting the game win? That’s gamer brain.

Published: January 14, 2026, 3:00 pm

Clickbait review – gripping drama about the human cost of moderating the internet

A social media content moderator becomes obsessed with a violent video in this restrained, unsettling workplace thriller starring Lili Reinhart

Here is a workplace drama, of sorts. Like many people, Daisy (Lili Reinhart) works a desk job using a computer. Unlike most people, fainting at work is a rite of passage; she moderates videos on social media that have been reported for violating the terms of service. That means watching everything from horrible porn to horrible politics to horrible accidents and everything in between, a non-stop diet of videos with titles such as “fetus in blender” or “strangulation but she doesn’t die”.

Her boss takes her to task for deleting a graphic video showing a suicide, which supposedly has news value and should have been left up. But the tipping point for Daisy is a really nasty video titled “nailed it”, which shows violence and cruelty that she believes is real and non-consensual. So begins a low-key quest to track down the perpetrator, though she is far from sure what she will do when she finds them. Nor is she altogether sure why it is this particular video, of all the trash and hatred washing over her, day in, day out, that has inspired her obsession. Her colleagues and boss shrug off her concerns: this video is nothing special.

Published: January 15, 2026, 7:00 am

ISS astronauts return to Earth in Nasa’s first ever medical evacuation

Four astronauts emerge from capsule after Pacific landing, including crew member in ‘stable’ condition

Four astronauts from the International Space Station have returned to Earth a month earlier than planned after one developed a “serious” medical condition onboard the orbiting outpost.

Nasa confirmed the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft carrying the US astronauts Zena Cardman and Mike Fincke, the Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui and Oleg Platonov, a Russian cosmonaut, splashed down at 8.41am UK time off the coast of San Diego.

Published: January 15, 2026, 11:01 am

The surprising science of dreams and nightmares – podcast

Ian Sample puts listeners’ questions on dreams and nightmares to Dr Michelle Carr, director of the Dream Engineering Laboratory in Montreal’s Centre for Advanced Research in Sleep Medicine, and author of the new book Into the Dream Lab. They look at why we dream, what we can learn by examining our dreams, and what we can do when dreams turn to nightmares. Dr Carr gives her top tips for taking charge of our dreams and trying to influence their content

Support the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod

Order Into the Dream Lab by Dr Michelle Carr via the Guardian Bookshop

Published: January 15, 2026, 7:50 am

Royal Society president reignites Elon Musk row by defending lack of action

Society should only eject fellows for fraud or other defects in their research, says Paul Nurse

The president of the Royal Society has reignited a row over Elon Musk’s association with the body by arguing that fellows should only be ejected for fraud or other defects in their research.

In an interview with the Guardian, Paul Nurse defended the academy’s decision not to take action against Musk – who was elected a fellow in 2018 – despite claims the tech billionaire had violated its code of conduct, including by his role in slashing US research funding as part of the US “department of government efficiency”.

Published: January 14, 2026, 5:00 am

Horses can smell fear in humans, researchers say

Tests showed horses that smelled body odour from people watching scary films startled more easily

Horses can smell fear, or at least whether you have scared yourself witless watching a horror movie, according to researchers who say the effect has consequences for riders, trainers and others who work with the animals.

In a series of tests, horses that smelled body odour from people watching scary films startled more easily, had higher heart rates and approached their handlers less often than when the odour came from people watching more joyful scenes.

Published: January 14, 2026, 7:00 pm

Wolf’s dinner preserved in Siberia for 14,400 years sheds light on woolly rhino

Decoded genome of meat in pup’s stomach helps scientists build picture of what caused extinction of species

Researchers have shed light on the final centuries of the woolly rhinoceros after studying a hairy lump of meat from the stomach of an ancient wolf cub that became mummified in the Siberian permafrost.

The beautifully preserved remains of a two-month-old female wolf cub were discovered in 2011 near the village of Tumat in northeastern Siberia. The animal is thought to have died 14,400 years ago when a landslide collapsed its den, trapping the cub and others inside.

Published: January 14, 2026, 5:01 pm