|
How have you kept cool this bank holiday? I’ve been surviving thanks to a steady supply of lemonade-flavoured ice lollies, but our city-dwelling ancestors had rather more inventive strategies. As the historians behind the aptly named Melting Metropolis project explain, in 19th-century New York it wasn’t uncommon to see people sleeping on rooftops or cracking open public fire hydrants. The wealthy echelons of Victorian London, meanwhile, imported ice from Norway and employed servants to operate their fans. Today, we look at how city dwellers survived in heatwaves before there was such a thing as air conditioning.
Elsewhere, the latest UK figures show a decline in net migration and asylum claims – a migration expert explains what the data really reveals.
And we explore the surprising science of frailty reversal, including the small everyday changes that can help you stay strong as you age.
|
|
Anna Walker
Senior Arts + Culture Editor
|
|
Parisians swelter in a heatwave in 1895.
The Print Collector
Chloe Duteil, University of Liverpool; Daniel Cumming, Queens College, CUNY; Jon Winder, University of Liverpool
Across the 19th and 20th centuries, urban residents developed a range of strategies to manage extreme heat in densely built environments.
|
1000 Words/Shutterstock
Ben Brindle, University of Oxford
While net migration is on a downward trajectory, it is still positive, meaning that the foreign-born population continues to grow.
|
siro46/Shutterstock
Ide O'Shaughnessy, University of Limerick; Christina Hayes, University of Limerick; Katie Robinson, University of Limerick
Two people of the same age can age very differently. Frailty helps explain why, and what can be done to reduce risk.
|
World
|
-
Anna Grimaldi, University of Leeds
The US is pursuing a strategy of straining the Cuban regime internally, while constructing legal and political justifications for escalation.
|
|
Politics + Society
|
-
Rupert Younger, University of Oxford
The BBC’s impartiality and editorial fairness is under scrutiny following several deeply embarrassing incidents.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Mathew Dowling, Loughborough University; Alex Thurston, Loughborough University; Jinsu Byun, Yonsei University
These games should compel traditional sport to solve its fundamental problems and reflect upon the true value of sport and athletes.
-
Stevie Marsden, Edinburgh Napier University
The high drama of Douglas Stuart’s new novel sometimes feels like a soap opera – but his lyrical prose and atmospheric narrative elevate the genre.
-
Emily Coleman, The Open University
Offering an intensive programme of duty of care creates an impression of safety and control.
|
|
Business + Economy
|
-
Dan Plumley, Sheffield Hallam University; Rob Wilson, University Campus of Football Business
The financial cost of losing a football match can be huge.
|
|
Environment
|
-
Angus Atkinson, Plymouth Marine Laboratory; Simon Thomas, University of Plymouth
The southwest peninsula of the UK has a burgeoning network of marine observers.
-
Will Hayes, Royal Holloway, University of London
Changes in ways of farming are part of the reason why wildfires are more likely this summer, even in traditionally colder climates.
-
Antonella Mazzone, University of Bristol; Enrica De Cian, Ca' Foscari University of Venice; Giacomo Falchetta, Ca' Foscari University of Venice
Some parts of the world are warming far faster than other, but even within the same city some neighbourhoods are exposed and suffer more than others.
-
Narmin Nahidi, University of Exeter
Heatwaves, wildfires, floods and airport disruption can quickly turn a holiday into a financial loss.
|
|
Health
|
-
Cathy Montgomery, Liverpool John Moores University; Abi Rose, Liverpool John Moores University
This new drinking trend may help you to drink more mindfully and pace yourself better.
-
Philip Broadbent, University of Glasgow
The NHS modernisation bill promises reform, but past reorganisations suggest costly upheaval may distract from fixing care where it matters most.
-
Hampus Yngwe, Karolinska Institutet; Johan Lundberg, Karolinska Institutet
Our trial found psilocybin worked fast and lasted months, but unpicking the drug’s true effect from patients’ expectations remains a challenge.
|
|
Science + Technology
|
-
Syed Abdul Ahad, University of Limerick
Sodium-ion batteries use more abundant raw materials but don’t currently perform as well as those made with lithium.
-
Louise Gentle, Nottingham Trent University
The female animals that go it alone.
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
2 March - 30 September 2026
•
|
|
5 May - 3 June 2026
•
Greater London
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
