Editor's note

Ahhh, a hot summer weekend ahead. The sun’s out and the World Cup is heating up. Time to crack open an ice cold beverage. Except what’s this? A national limit on lager? A cap on cokes? A freeze on Fanta? With stocks of carbon dioxide low, there are reports of a risk of a shortage of fizz in British fridges. What’s going and will it ruin our barbecues? Supply chain experts explain.

More than three weeks into the tournament, I watched my first World Cup match the other day — well, my first second half of a World Cup match. Everyone was whooping. For a whole 45 minutes I got seriously caught up. What is that all about? Why do people who pay absolutely no attention to sport suddenly turn into screeching footie fanatics every four years? A psychologist reveals all. What’s really hard to explain though, is the sexism that endures in sports punditry. Kath Woodward has had enough of it.

Pigeons will be out in force as usual this weekend, scratching about for leftovers and menacing landmarks. But given there are so many of these beastly birds in our cities, how come you never see a dead one? Biologist Steve Portugal knows where our feathered nemeses go to die.

Also this week, we’ve taken a frankly eye popping journey into Spanish erotic cinema and a slightly more gentle foray into kamishibai, a Japanese storytelling technique currently enjoying a renaissance.

Try to have a refreshing weekend.

Laura Hood

Politics Editor, Assistant Editor

Shutterstock

How to not run out of beer (or soft drinks, or chicken) – by supply chain experts

Jas Kalra, University of Bath; Jens Roehrich

Supply chains are complex things. Big firms need to give them more attention.

shutterstock.

Where are all the dead pigeons?

Steve Portugal, Royal Holloway

Cities should be giant pigeon cemeteries, but you rarely see the bodies.

Eniola Aluko is a key player in the England national team. EPA/Stefan Jerrevang

World Cup: sexism in British punditry is clear for all to see

Kath Woodward, The Open University

Thanks to the #metoo and 'everyday sexism' movements, the sexism at this World Cup is not going unnoticed.
Shutterstock

Descended testicles: DNA study drops new hints on secrets of low hanging glands

Neil Adams, University of Leicester

'Molecular fossils' in the DNA of elephants could help explain why their testicles are inside their bodies.

Environment + Energy

  • Orangutans have been adapting to humans for 70,000 years

    Douglas Sheil, Norwegian University of Life Sciences; Mike Bruford, Cardiff University; Serge Wich, Liverpool John Moores University; Stephanie Spehar, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh

    Time to rethink orangutan conservation, now we know that our red relatives are actually very adaptable.

World Cup

Arts + Culture

Politics + Society

Business + Economy
 

Featured events
ALBERT WOLTERS PUBLIC LECTURE WITH PROFESSOR ELIZABETH LOFTUS

G11, Henley Business School, Whiteknights campus, University of Reading, Reading, Reading, RG6 6AH, United Kingdom — University of Reading

Friday afternoon tours of the University of Reading's Meteorological Observatory

The Atmospheric Laboratory, Earley Gate, Whiteknights Road, , Reading, Reading, RG6 6BZ, United Kingdom — University of Reading

COnference: The Paranoid Style Revisited: Postwar American Cultural Politics and The Argosy Magazine

John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester, Deansgate, Manchester, Manchester, M3 3EH, United Kingdom — University of Manchester

Strategies for tackling inequality

Renold Building, The University of Manchester, Manchester, Manchester, M1 7JA, United Kingdom — University of Manchester

More events
 

Contact us here to have your event listed.

For sponsorship opportunities, email us here