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Editor's note
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Most of Britain’s wildlife has seen sharp declines in numbers since the 1970s. There were 44 million more breeding birds in that decade than in 2019, while two-thirds of all butterfly species have been on a downward trend since the decade ended. Everything from climate change to pesticides and road collisions have taken their toll on native species – let’s not even talk about bumblebees – but there are some interesting exceptions in the records of some less well studied forms of life.
In a new study, Charlie Outhwaite, a postdoctoral researcher at UCL, has found groups of species that are faring as well as or even better than they were five decades ago. Freshwater insects such as dragonflies and caddisflies have bounced back to 1970 levels in recent years after a period of decline. A similar increase was spotted for mosses and lichens – the colourful scraps of life that grow on tree trunks and fences.
What do all these species have in common? They’re all indicators of air and water quality. Some are found in more places today than 50 years ago, suggesting that Britain’s air and freshwater has improved in many places, perhaps as EU regulations have helped to clean up pollution.
Elsewhere, researchers have found that a meat-free diet could protect people from a host of chronic diseases. And as people mourn the death of the TV presenter Caroline Flack, a media expert criticises the
role that tabloids played in the tragedy.
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Jack Marley
Commissioning Editor, Environment + Energy
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Top stories
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A ruddy darter dragonfly perches on a stalk in Coleshill Park, Wiltshire, UK.
Ian_Sherriffs/Shutterstock
Charlie Outhwaite, UCL
While many surveys show the numbers of wildlife falling, there is good news for some species – including pondskaters and various mosses and lichen.
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Meat contains higher levels of sulphur amino acids than plant proteins.
Natalia Lisovskaya
Laura Brown, Teesside University; Kelly Rose, Teesside University
Eating plant-based proteins is linked with lower risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes.
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Hounded: television presenter Caroline Flack.
Ian West/PA Wire/PA Images
Beth Johnson, University of Leeds
The death of the well-known UK television personality highlights the oppressive way in which women are represented.
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Health + Medicine
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John Kinnear, Anglia Ruskin University
We need to recapture the humanity of the NHS and make doctors feel more than grinding cogs in a brutal machine.
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Jeremy Howick, University of Oxford
Recent evidence about the existence of nocebo effects has revealed that the way patients are informed about treatment side-effects is unethical.
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Politics + Society
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Tom Smith, University of Portsmouth
The US could be losing a key ally to China. But it has less to do with Trump's foreign policy and everything to do with a drug war in the Philippines.
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Arts + Culture
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Maria Flood, Keele University
The film misses an opportunity to highlight the broader problems of inequality and discrimination in the media.
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Featured events
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Yorkshire Room, JB Morrell Library, Campus West, York, York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of York
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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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Bowland Auditorium, Berrick Saul Building, Campus West, York, York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of York
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Room SLB/118, Spring Lane Building, Campus West, York, York, YO10 5DD, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland — University of York
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