For many international students, a visit to a traditional pub is seen as an essential way of experiencing British culture. But as Thomas Thurnell-Read, Lorraine Brown and Philip Long found out when they asked students to tell them what they encountered, the reality was public vomiting, urination and collapsing in the street. And surprise over how an excessive drinking habit is tolerated and in some cases celebrated by their British counterparts.

The mood changed dramatically at the Conservative Party conference yesterday as Boris Johnson stopped making snide digs at Theresa May and went for a flat-out impersonation instead. At a packed event, he gave a wide-ranging speech that couldn’t have looked more like a leadership address if he tried. Tim Bale reports from the fringe and explains why Conservative conference 2018 feels like even more of a bubble than usual.

This year’s Nobel Prize in Physics has gone to three pioneers in laser technology. Miles Padgett recalls how his own research was inspired by one of the winners, Arthur Ashkin. Ashkin’s invention of optical tweezers that can trap and move tiny objects with a beam of light have paved the way for a whole new understanding of how biological cells work.

London’s Metropolitan police officers are now allowed visible tattoos. So does that mean inking has lost its rebel mojo? Tattooed professor Ruth Simpson investigates body art’s changing fashion fortunes.

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