Is it true that … you’re more likely to get sick when you’re stressed?

Stress releases hormones such as adrenaline and cortisol, which can suppress your immune system – but chronic concerns are more of an issue than short-term worries

‘Stress has a well-established effect on your immune health,” says Daniel M Davis, head of life sciences at Imperial College London. “But stress is a very broad phenomenon. You can feel stressed watching a horror movie, or you can experience long-term stress, like going through a divorce.”

Short-term stress can temporarily affect your immune system. “The number of immune cells in the blood changes,” says Davis. “But it returns to normal within about an hour, so it’s unlikely to have any major impact.”

Published: December 29, 2025, 8:00 am

Soak it up: everything science taught us about health and wellness in 2025

Do hot baths improve endurance? Will creatine bolster your brain power? Does pickle juice prevent cramp? Here’s what we learned about living well this year

The best advice for living a healthy, well-adjusted life – eat your vegetables, get a good night’s sleep, politely decline when the Jägerbombs appear – never really changes. Other nuggets, such as how much protein you should be eating or how to maximise workouts, seem to change every year. But as we wonder whether we should really give sauerkraut another go, science marches on, making tiny strides towards improving our understanding of what’s helpful. Here’s what you might have missed in the research this year, from the best reason to eat beetroot, to how to ruin your five-a-side performance before the game even starts. There’s still time to break out the pickle juice shots before 2026 …

Published: December 28, 2025, 6:00 am

My daughter is leaving for university. How can I support her – and cope with the loss?

It might seem like all gains for her and all losses for you, but it’s really the start of an exciting new chapter in your relationship

I am a single mum to an 18-year-old daughter. It has always been just us two, and we have a very open, supportive, healthy relationship.

She is going away to university in the new year and has recently developed a new friendship group I know less well than her old friends. They all seem friendly, look out for each other, and don’t let anyone go home on their own, etc. At first, I found her being out late with her friends particularly worrying. It took me a few days to get used to this new part of life, but we talked and I got across to her that it’s purely me worrying about her safety – I think she felt I was annoyed with her. I just worry, though I really appreciate that she keeps me informed of where she is, and I know many 18-year-olds wouldn’t be so open.

Published: December 28, 2025, 6:00 am

Bernie Sanders criticizes AI as ‘the most consequential technology in humanity’

Republican senator Katie Britt also proposes AI companies be criminally liable if they expose minors to harmful ideas

US senator Bernie Sanders amplified his recent criticism of artificial intelligence on Sunday, explicitly linking the financial ambition of “the richest people in the world” to economic insecurity for millions of Americans – and calling for a potential moratorium on new datacenters.

Sanders, a Vermont independent who caucuses with the Democratic party, said on CNN’s State of the Union that he was “fearful of a lot” when it came to AI. And the senator called it “the most consequential technology in the history of humanity” that will “transform” the US and the world in ways that had not been fully discussed.

Published: December 28, 2025, 7:00 pm

UK accounting body to halt remote exams amid AI cheating

Candidates will have to sit assessments in person unless there are exceptional circumstances, says ACCA

• Business live – latest updates

The world’s largest accounting body is to stop students being allowed to take exams remotely to crack down on a rise in cheating on tests that underpin professional qualifications.

The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), which has almost 260,000 members, has said that from March it will stop allowing students to take online exams in all but exceptional circumstances.

Published: December 29, 2025, 8:19 am

Louis Gerstner, man credited with turning around IBM, dies aged 83

Gerstner was chair and CEO at a time when the firm was struggling for relevance faced with rivals such as Microsoft

Louis Gerstner, the businessman credited with turning around IBM, has died aged 83, the company announced on Sunday.

Gerstner was chair and CEO of IBM from 1993 to 2002, a time when the company was struggling for relevance in the face of competition from rivals such as Microsoft and Sun Microsystems.

Published: December 28, 2025, 5:15 pm

Could AI relationships actually be good for us?

From companionship to psychotherapy, technology could meet unmet needs – but it needs to be handled responsibly

There is much anxiety these days about the dangers of human-AI relationships. Reports of suicide and self-harm attributable to interactions with chatbots have understandably made headlines. The phrase “AI psychosis” has been used to describe the plight of people experiencing delusions, paranoia or dissociation after talking to large language models (LLMs). Our collective anxiety has been compounded by studies showing that young people are increasingly embracing the idea of AI relationships; half of teens chat with an AI companion at least a few times a month, with one in three finding conversations with AI “to be as satisfying or more satisfying than those with real‑life friends”.

But we need to pump the brakes on the panic. The dangers are real, but so too are the potential benefits. In fact, there’s an argument to be made that – depending on what future scientific research reveals – AI relationships could actually be a boon for humanity.

Published: December 28, 2025, 12:00 pm

I ran 1,000km to test the best running watches in the UK – here are my favourites

We ran more than 1,000km to test top-rated GPS fitness watches including Apple, Garmin and the best for beginners

• The best running shoes for men and women

Whether you’re hitting the pavements for the first time, running with a club or racing for personal glory, the ability to track your workouts has become an essential part of any training regime. Not only can it help you improve, but you can also use it to avoid injury and share in the social experience. A running watch isn’t the only way to do this, but it is a pretty effective option.

But with the market flooded with options, offering an array of features, you might find it difficult to answer all the questions that arise. Do you need offline maps? Do you want to listen to music while you run? Which brand is best, and how much do you really need to spend?

Best running watch for beginners:
Garmin Forerunner 55

Best budget running watch:
Suunto Run

Published: December 28, 2025, 7:00 am

More than 300 earthquakes recorded in UK this year, study finds

Western Highlands and southern Wales among most active regions, according to British Geological Survey

More than 300 earthquakes have been recorded in the UK this year, according to the British Geological Survey (BGS).

Among the most active regions to experience quakes were Perthshire and the western Highlands in Scotland, southern parts of Wales, and Yorkshire and Lancashire in England, the BGS data shows.

Published: December 29, 2025, 5:00 am

Starwatch: tracking down Aries, the faint ram of winter skies

One of the zodiac’s subtler constellations comes into view on winter evenings, with the moon helping to point the way

You can track down one of the zodiac’s fainter constellations this week. Aries, the ram, lies between Taurus to the east and Pisces to the west. In the northern hemisphere, it is situated at its best during the deep winter months.

Aries is an ancient constellation. It was originally designated by the early Babylonians as a hired hand who tended fields, but became recognised as a ram and has remained so in most sky cultures. To the Egyptians, it was Amun-Ra, the ram-headed god of creativity and fertility. In Greek myth, Aries is associated with the golden fleece that Jason and the Argonauts sought.

Published: December 29, 2025, 6:00 am

The Guardian view on the new space race: humanity risks exporting its old politics to the moon | Editorial

Over the holiday period, the Guardian leader column is looking ahead at the themes of 2026. Today we look skyward, where a new lunar contest mirrors humanity’s struggle to live within planetary limits

During the cold war’s space race, the Apollo moon missions were driven by the need to prove American superiority. Having made that political and technological point with the 1969 moon landing, the contest between Moscow and Washington petered out. A new dash across the skies kicks off in 2026, reigniting geopolitical competition under the guise of “peaceful exploration”. The moon’s south pole is emerging as the most valuable real estate in the solar system, offering “peaks of eternal light” for solar arrays and ice deposits in craters shielded from the sun.

The US and a China-led bloc are eyeing the lunar surface and its potential to control a post-terrestrial economy. Space had been humanity’s last commons, supposedly shielded by the 1967 UN outer space treaty that bans state exploitation of the heavens. It is vague, however, on private claims – a loophole that is now fuelling a tycoon-led scramble for the stars. The aim is obvious: to act first, shape norms and dare others to object. Two lunar missions launching next year– Nasa’s Artemis II and China’s Chang’e 7 – are competing for strategic supremacy.

Published: December 28, 2025, 5:30 pm

AI being used to help cut A&E waiting times in England this winter

Forecasting tool predicts when demand will be highest, allowing NHS trusts to better plan staffing and bed space

Hospitals in England are using articificial intelligence to help cut waiting times in emergency departments this winter.

The A&E forecasting tool predicts when demand will be highest, allowing trusts to better plan staffing and bed space. The prediction algorithm is trained on historical data including weather trends, school holidays, and rates of flu and Covidto determine how many people are likely to visit A&E.

Published: December 28, 2025, 10:30 pm