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Editor's note
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Communities across northern England are reeling from the severe floods that hit the UK last week – and more rain is expected. Over 1,200 homes have been evacuated, the town of Fishlake is under a metre of water, and a woman died after being swept away by floodwater.
Such flooding is set to worsen as the climate crisis escalates. Acknowledging this, Boris Johnson has highlighted his government’s increased investment in flood defences. But this approach simply isn’t good enough. As water governance expert Liz Sharp points out, flood defences defend one location at the expense of another. She outlines alternative forms of flood management and mobilisation that would protect more people.
Such a holistic approach is more important than ever. Flooding around the world is only going to get more frequent and severe – and new research shows that our models ignore the fact that riverbeds are changing all the time, leaving existing defences woefully unprepared.
Meanwhile a bizarre historical fossil named the “Tully monster” is so strange that scientists cannot agree whether it had a backbone or not. And will drug prices rise following a UK-US trade deal? An
expert takes a look.
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Josephine Lethbridge
Interdisciplinary Editor
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Top stories
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Danny Lawson/PA Wire/PA Images
Liz Sharp, University of Sheffield
With the promise of more periods of intense rainfall in years to come, what do we need to do to protect ourselves more from flooding in future?
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Houses alongside the Saigon river in Vietnam.
Tony La Hoang/Unsplash
Louise Slater, University of Oxford; Abdou Khouakhi, Loughborough University; Robert Wilby, Loughborough University
In failing to acknowledge that the capacity of rivers can change quickly, some flood models and defences may not be equipped to deal with the consequences when they do.
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Artist’s impression of Tullimonstrum.
PaleoEquii/Wikipedia
Chris Rogers, University College Cork
Scientists claimed they knew what this bizarre creature was – our evidence suggests the question is still open.
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Karl Claxton, University of York
Michael Gove claims that drug prices are not on the negotiating table.
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Politics + Society
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Gemma Loomes, Keele University
The anti-EU party will not contest constituencies the Conservatives won in 2017 in the upcoming general election. But it still hopes to take votes from both of the two biggest parties.
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Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham; Tatyana Malyarenko, National University Odesa Law Academy
A complex mix of domestic and foreign issues is putting pressure on the new government of Volodymyr Zelenskiy.
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Daniel McKay, University of Cambridge
The first two-minute silence in 1919 was designed as a moment that could unite people across many divides. It has become a collective means of commemoration for all manner of tragedies
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Environment + Energy
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Ross Bradstock, University of Wollongong; Rachael Helene Nolan, Western Sydney University
They escaped to the coast for the quiet life, but now sea-changers are in the path of monster fires.
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Kate Winter, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Living sustainably has its challenges, but none greater than in the climate and geography of Antarctica.
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Health + Medicine
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Cameron Dockerill, University of Oxford
Hidden heart conditions, like rheumatic heart disease, can have deadly consequences if not treated properly – or not treated at all.
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Ian Hamilton, University of York; Harry Sumnall, Liverpool John Moores University
NICE has concluded that more research is needed before it can recommend the use of cannabis based products for medicinal use.
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Business + Economy
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Miriam Marra, University of Reading
The benefits of a four-day working week, without loss of pay, can outweigh the cons for both businesses and staff.
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Arts + Culture
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David Murphy, University of Strathclyde ; Aedin Ni Loingsigh; Ingeborg Birnie, University of Strathclyde ; Thomas H Bak, University of Edinburgh
Why the lives of bilingual dementia patients can be transformed by finding carers who speak their native language.
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Featured events
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The Berrill Theatre, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes , Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, MK7 6AA, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — The Open University
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Wivenhoe Park, Colchester, Essex, CO4 3SQ, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of Essex
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Julian Study Centre Lecture Theatre, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of East Anglia
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Julian Study Centre Lecture Theatre, University of East Anglia, Norwich, Norfolk, NR4 7TJ, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of East Anglia
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