The sea level rises, and Venice is also sinking into the ground. Within a few decades, every single high tide could see the Italian city hit by severe floods. Carl Amos and Georg Umgiesser say that proposed tidal floodgates won’t save Venice. In the Indian Ocean, meanwhile, Holly East has surprisingly found that rising sea levels may help make some islands in the Maldives more resilient and able to physically ‘grow’. But there is a catch: climate change will also severely damage coral reefs as ocean acidity increases. That and other environmental changes mean there remains an uncertain future for the Maldives.

People who try to be younger than they are are often laughed at. Emile Ratelband, who has recently launched a legal battle to change his official birth date to reflect the fact that he feels 20 years younger, is no exception. But, as Catherine Loveday explains, research is actually showing that there are a number of health benefits to feeling young – potentially giving people such as Ratelband the last laugh.

Why are more boys than girls diagnosed with autism? Is it something to do with the male sex hormone, testosterone? Are autistic people more masculinised? Simon Baron-Cohen, David Greenberg, Carrie Alison and Varun Warrier think so. Using data on over half a million people, they have put their “extreme male brain” theory of autism to the test. You can read about the results of their study here.

As the commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the end of World War I passes, the conflict’s legacy continues to have echoes today. James Rodgers, who was posted as a BBC reporter to Gaza in 2002, writes that the British Mandate in Palestine, which emerged in the aftermath of the Armistice and lasted until 1948, sowed the seeds for a struggle which has riven the Middle East ever since.

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