The mummies predate the famous burial practices in Ancient Egypt

The evidence is far older than better-known examples from ancient Egypt and South America

The next pandemic or geopolitical shock could be close at hand. To look after our people, we’re looking after our supply chains, agriculture and fuel reserves

• Miika Ilomäki is chief preparedness specialist for Finland’s National Emergency Supply Agency

In times of crisis, food is more than sustenance. It is a pillar of national stability. Finland has long understood this, not just because of policy, but because of who we are and where we live. Geography, a mild continental climate and our history have shaped a mindset where preparedness is essential. In a country with vast territory, a sparse population and long distances between communities, resilience must be built into everything we do.

This understanding is deeply rooted in our society, in individual households as much as government institutions. Today, Finland’s approach to preparedness is rightly seen as a model for Europe. But it is not a one-size-fits-all solution. What works for Finland, such as our high levels of food self-sufficiency, strong institutions and a culture of cooperation, may not work elsewhere. Still, our experience offers valuable lessons. Preparedness must be proactive, inclusive and deeply integrated into national strategy.

Miika Ilomäki is chief preparedness specialist for Finland’s National Emergency Supply Agency

Calf mortality is always high among orcas

FAA ruled to have satisfied obligations in granting approval for expanded SpaceX operations next to wildlife refuge

A US district court judge on Monday rejected a suit by conservation groups challenging the Federal Aviation Administration approval in 2022 of expanded rocket launch operations by Elon Musk’s SpaceX next to a national wildlife refuge in south Texas.

The groups said noise, light pollution, construction and road traffic also degrade the area, home to endangered ocelots and jaguarundis, as well as nesting sites for endangered Kemp’s Ridley sea turtles and for threatened shorebirds.

It felt like a gargantuan achievement – I’m someone who regularly forgets the most important item on a shopping list

• Tell us about your colorful wedding dress

There’s a scene from the 2010s series Sherlock that I think about a lot. Sherlock Holmes (Benedict Cumberbatch) visits his “mind palace” to figure out how he and his friend/minion John Watson (Martin Freeman) got drugged. Words, phrases and images float around his head, and he moves them around with his hands.

“It’s a memory technique,” Watson explains to a confused onlooker. “You plot a map of a location – it doesn’t have to be a real place – and then you deposit memories there.” Theoretically, he says, you can never forget anything, he says: “All you have to do is find your way back to it.”

They promised utopian paradises, unshackled by governments and buoyed by tech. What they built instead was a costly illusion. Holly Baxter reports on how seasteading started, unraveled and is now rising again in popularity

Staggeringly simple, tormentingly tough

Today’s puzzle is a classic – one of the most celebrated, perhaps, of all time.

The T-puzzle