The one change that worked: I had Sad and felt desperate – until a scientist gave me some priceless advice

Since I was a teenager I had struggled in winter, experiencing excessive tiredness and low mood. A specific instruction lifted the gloom

I’m pretty sure I must be half human, half plant – how else to explain why I need the light to thrive? During the brighter seasons I feel fine, but when winter comes and the light begins to fade, I start drooping.

I have struggled with seasonal affective disorder (Sad) since I was a teenager. The symptoms of Sad are similar to regular depression, with low moods and lethargy, and can be equally debilitating. Over the years I’ve experienced the full Sad spectrum, from moments of excessive tiredness and carb cravings (yes, those are official Sad symptoms), to a low point of breaking down crying on the kitchen floor after school because it was so cold, dark and bleak.

Published: November 17, 2025, 10:00 am

Is it true that … you burn more fat by working out on an empty stomach?

There are modest benefits to exercising on an empty stomach, but it’s more important to burn more energy than you’re consuming

‘There’s an element of truth to that,” says Javier Gonzalez, a professor of nutrition and metabolism at the University of Bath. “When we exercise, we’re always burning a mix of fuels – mainly carbohydrates and fat. If you’ve fasted overnight, you’ll generally burn a bit more fat and less carbohydrate than if you’d eaten breakfast, especially one high in carbs.” But that doesn’t mean fasted workouts are better for weight loss.

“We can only store a small amount of carbohydrate as glycogen in our muscles and liver. Any extra energy – from carbs, fat or protein – eventually gets stored as body fat. So to lose fat, you need to be in an energy deficit: burning more energy than you consume. If you’re not, it doesn’t matter whether you’re fasted or fed – your body balances things out over time,” says Gonzalez.

Published: November 17, 2025, 8:00 am

I have hit the barriers trying to get my accident claim settled with Autonet

My van was hurtled into motorway barriers by a driver who did not stop and the vehicle is still being held in a compound along with the tools of my trade

My van was hit from behind on a motorway by a speeding driver who failed to stop.

It spun across the carriageway, hitting the barriers on either side, and went up in flames. I thankfully got off with a small head injury. I reported the collision to my insurance company, Autonet, and was told it would be in touch.

Published: November 17, 2025, 7:00 am

AI firms must be clear on risks or repeat tobacco’s mistakes, says Anthropic chief

Artificial intelligence will become smarter than ‘most or all humans in most or all ways’, says Dario Amodei

• Business live – latest updates

Artificial intelligence companies must be transparent about the risks posed by their products or be in danger of repeating the mistakes of tobacco and opioid firms, according to the chief executive of the AI startup Anthropic.

Dario Amodei, who runs the US company behind the Claude chatbot, said he believed AI would become smarter than “most or all humans in most or all ways” and urged his peers to “call it as you see it”.

Published: November 17, 2025, 11:35 am

White nationalist talking points and racial pseudoscience: welcome to Elon Musk’s Grokipedia

World’s richest person wanted to ‘purge’ propaganda from Wikipedia, so he created a compendium of racist disinformation

Entries in Elon Musk’s new online encyclopedia variously promote white nationalist talking points, praise neo-Nazis and other far-right figures, promote racist ideologies and white supremacist regimes, and attempt to revive concepts and approaches historically associated with scientific racism, a Guardian analysis has found.

The tech billionaire and Donald Trump ally recently launched xAI’s AI-generated Grokipedia with a promise that it would “purge out the propaganda” he claims infests Wikipedia, the free online encyclopedia that Musk has often attacked but that has long been a key feature of the internet.

Published: November 17, 2025, 12:00 pm

Paul McCartney joins music industry protest against AI with silent track

Former Beatle and artists including Sam Fender, Kate Bush and Hans Zimmer record silent LP Is This What We Want

At two minutes 45 seconds it’s about the same length as With a Little Help From My Friends. But Paul McCartney’s first new recording in five years lacks the sing-along tune and jaunty guitar chops because there’s barely anything there.

The former Beatle, arguably Britain’s greatest living songwriter, is releasing a track of an almost completely silent recording studio as part of a music industry protest against copyright theft by artificial intelligence companies.

Published: November 17, 2025, 7:00 am

Jeff Bezos reportedly launches new AI startup with himself as CEO

Former Amazon CEO to co-head Project Prometheus with tech executive Vik Bajaj, according to the New York Times

After stepping down as Amazon’s CEO four years ago, Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder and former chief executive of the online shopping company, is going to be a CEO again. This time, Bezos has appointed himself co-CEO of an AI startup called Project Prometheus, the New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources.

The startup, which will focus on developing AI for engineering and manufacturing in various fields, has already received $6.2bn in funding – more than many companies are able to raise in their lifetimes. Leading the company alongside Bezos is his co-founder and co-CEO Vik Bajaj, a celebrity tech executive in his own right. Bajaj is a physicist and chemist best known for his work at Google’s moonshot factory, X, where he founded the health startup Verily.

Published: November 17, 2025, 4:47 pm

AI is guzzling energy for slop content – could it be reimagined to help the climate?

Some experts think AI could be used to lower, rather than raise, planet-heating emissions – others aren’t so convinced

• Cop30: click here for full Guardian coverage of the climate talks in Brazil

Artificial intelligence is often associated with ludicrous amounts of electricity, and therefore planet-heating emissions, expended to create nonsensical or misleading slop that is of meagre value to humanity.

Some AI advocates at a major UN climate summit are posing an alternative view, though – what if AI could help us solve, rather than worsen, the climate crisis?

Published: November 17, 2025, 1:00 pm

Rule Breakers review – rousingly feelgood real life story of Afghan girls’ robotics team

This story of emancipated young women escaping draconian social strictures brims with enthusiasm and features a cameo from Phoebe Waller-Bridge

Based on a true story, Bill Guttentag’s rousing drama attests to the resilience of women who dare to dream despite draconian social strictures. The film follows Roya Mahboob (Nikohl Boosheri), a trailblazing coach and businesswoman in Stem (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) who assembles a robotics team of Afghan girls for international competitions. The young dreamers hail from different walks of life but they all share the same zest for engineering. They face the same dangers too; in a country where women are not encouraged or even allowed to pursue higher levels of education, their quest for medals sees opposition from their own families as well as public scorn from conservatives.

Rule Breakers is at its most thrilling during the competition sequences, which splice together real-life documentary footage of the events with fictional re-enactments. (There’s even an appearance from Phoebe Waller-Bridge as a host.) A breathless enthusiasm thrums through the film, as the camera swirls around the young competitors, all energised by their love for science. These spaces are portrayed as a haven that encourages camaraderie rather than competitiveness, and in a world divided by military conflicts and war, they offer a utopiian vision of international collaboration and solidarity.

Published: November 17, 2025, 7:00 am

‘Better and cheaper’: the case for prostate cancer screening among black men

Decision over routine PSA testing is due at end of this month, though some feel the supporting data is unclear

Junior Hemans was having a routine health check in 2014 when he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, at the age of 51. He knew there was an increased risk of the disease in black men so asked to have a prostate specific antigen (PSA) test, which was not initially included.

“And when I went, they said I had a raised PSA level for my age,” Hemans said. “[The diagnosis] was a shock … because I had no symptoms.”

Published: November 17, 2025, 4:00 pm

Starwatch: track Cetus, the sea monster, sprawling across the night sky

Cetus, also known as the whale, is one of the faint constellations but you have a week to trace its outline

This week, track down the constellation Cetus, variously referred to as the whale or sea monster. It is one of the faint constellations, but it sprawls across the sky, taking up roughly 1,230 square degrees, which makes it the fourth largest of the 88 modern constellations. Although it lacks bright stars, there is something hypnotic about tracing its faint outline across the sky.

The chart shows the view looking south-southeast from London on 17 November at 20:00 GMT. However, the view will not change much all week. Since it lies close to the celestial equator, Cetus is visible in northern and southern hemispheres.

Published: November 17, 2025, 6:00 am