Editor's note

It’s common for city dwellers to find the experience of cycling in traffic intimidating and dangerous. Urban areas are built for cars, and instead of challenging that status quo, we’ve adapted to it. This has enabled a certain type of cycling culture to emerge in our metropolises. To get around on two wheels, you need to be fast, bold and prepared to take on drivers – your competition for road space.

It’s worth questioning whether, in accepting this system, we are also designing out women cyclists, who are proven to take a completely different approach to biking. We also heard this week that a large group of people are potentially being inadvertently designed out of taking part in the fitness tracker revolution. These wearable devices are amazing for managing our exercise, diet and general wellbeing. So it’s far from ideal to hear that some of them are giving less accurate readings to people of colour.

Boris Johnson’s working majority in parliament has been cut to just one since the Liberal Democrats took the Brecon and Radnorshire seat in a by-election this week. This was an odd contest, for sure. The vote was held in the first place because constituents signed a petition to eject the local Conservative MP for misusing funds. The local Conservatives then took the interesting decision to stand that same MP again. Oh, and at one point a campaign bus was found in a hedge. We’ve looked at what this singular electoral event means for all the parties involved — including the emerging ‘Remain Alliance’.

There’s surely no one left on the planet who doesn’t know that children need a nutritious lunch when they’re at school. So how come the food they are provided with is still so bad? It’s not just about spending, there are complex human behaviours behind this enduring problem.

This week we’ve also dug up some interesting people in Egypt, asked chickens how they’re feeling and really just tried to get some sleep.

Laura Hood

Politics Editor, Assistant Editor

Tejvan Pettinger/Flickr

Stop that car, and plan cities around bikes to make cycling a real option for more women

Katja Leyendecker, Northumbria University, Newcastle

A substantial building programme is needed to rearrange our cities to benefit all types of journeys – not just commutes.

Zivica Kerkez/Shutterstock

Some heart-rate monitors give less reliable readings for people of colour

Tim Collins, Manchester Metropolitan University; Sandra Woolley, Keele University

People with darker skin tones get less reliable readings from fitness trackers.

Jane Dodds celebrates her victory in Brecon and Radnorshire. Ben Birchall/PA

Boris Johnson’s majority cut to one as UK Conservatives lose Brecon and Radnorshire by-election

Matthew Cole, University of Birmingham

The Remain Alliance is excited but, given the odd circumstances of this campaign, the Conservatives could have done a lot worse.

Neolithic skull.

Who were the mysterious Neolithic people that enabled the rise of ancient Egypt? Here’s what we’ve learned on our digs

Joel D. Irish, Liverpool John Moores University; Czekaj- Zastawny Agnieszka, Polish Academy of Sciences; Jacek Kabacinski, Polish Academy of Sciences

Stone Age people in Egypt showed great respect for their dead, providing a glimpse of what was to come in the Dynastic period.

Hurricanehank/Shutterstock

Finding signs of happiness in chickens could help us understand their lives in captivity

Mary Baxter, Queen's University Belfast

Understanding happiness in chickens could tell us how to improve their housing.

Shutterstock/Sam Wordley

Insomnia: how to help children (and their parents) get a good night’s sleep

Michael Gradisar, Flinders University; Rachel Hiller, University of Bath

It's not just babies who have trouble sleeping.

 

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