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The Infinite State by Richard Swan

I hear good things about this one from Emily H. Wilson, who has a review forthcoming. It’s set in a fascist and galaxy-spanning empire, where Katherine Fuller’s husband has died, leaving her an immensely wealthy woman. Katherine is given the chance to buy a world, and create a better society – but will the empire let her make a democracy? It’s pitched by its publisher as Nineteen Eighty-Four meets The Man in the High Castle, which is enough to hook me.

A Plagued Sea by Kim Bo-young, translated by Sophie Bowman

I’m also really excited about this one, in which bodyguard Mu-young is heading to an isolated Korean seaside village with her niece when she learns that a huge earthquake has hit the region. She travels there regardless, but the earthquake unleashes an ancient plague, which turns those who catch it into “fishy monsters”. The village is locked down – and Mu-young is trapped. Perfect beach reading, perhaps?

The Jewel and the Comet by Tim Pratt

This space opera with a “touch of romance” follows graduate student Glenn and his girlfriend Vivy, a spy who has been tasked with stopping a rogue comet but finds herself also trying to find a stolen jewel that can destroy universes.

The Two of Us at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher

I always love a post-apocalyptic story in which a few hardy souls are struggling to survive. As previously noted, we’re reading Peter Heller’s The Dog Stars in the New Scientist Book Club this month, and it’s a prime example of the genre. In Fletcher’s intriguing-sounding take, humans have stopped being able to have children (shades of P. D. James’s The Children of Men, perhaps?), and Mouse and Cat are our indomitable duo living in an almost-empty world, 200 years on.

The Redemption Center Is Closed on Sundays by Andrea Hairston

I rather like this title – and the story sounds fun, too. It’s a murder mystery set in the multiverse, in which Oona (a St Berdoodle, which I’m assuming is a type of dog) and her owner Zsuzsu are investigating the death of a local celebrity. Oona, it turns out, can travel between dimensions, and she knows the identity of the killer. We are also promised “conundrums” and “alien tricksters” from the publisher.

No Higher Ground by Nicole Brooks

A “once-in-a-lifetime flood” hits Raven’s family home, and she finds herself trapped on the roof with her children, her dog and her stepmother, struggling to survive. The novel is set over 6 hours and sounds very nail-biting – more thriller-y than sci-fi perhaps, but it’s an exploration of the power of a changing nature, so I’m keen to read it.

Them by W.H. Chizmar

Described as a post-apocalyptic horror survival novel by its publisher, and therefore ticking all my favourite boxes, this follows the fallout when a government project to transport matter across the universe brings back something alive – and dangerous. When this “something” is being transported (in a lorry – come on, people!), its lorry overturns and “unleashes an otherworldly horror upon an unsuspecting New England countryside”. Three years on, a man is trying to stay alive on the US’s now-deadly East Coast.

A Family Affair by Jodi Taylor

This is the latest Smallhope and Pennyroyal time-travelling adventure, and sees Lady Amelia Smallhope attempting to relax after she nearly died in the last book. However, she and Pennyroyal are targeted by someone with knowledge of the latter’s “murky past”, and further adventures ensue.

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Burnham is said to be concerned about the increase in government debt that Treasury projections show could be a result of nationalising water companies.

He has previously called for “public control” of the companies, which have pumped sewage into England’s waterways while hiking bills and failing to invest in infrastructure.

But Labour MPs and regional mayors say a mutualised model, where water companies are transformed to not-for-profit entities run by local people, could remove the debt risk while allowing for public control.

Their intervention comes with the release of a report published by the Good Growth Foundation on water cooperatives. Burnham has generally been supportiveof these kinds of models.

The Labour MP Helena Dollimore said Burnham should “end the era of extraction” in the water industry, as she launched the plans for the mutualised model, with the support of Surfers Against Sewage, the mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, the mayor of South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, the mayor of York and North Yorkshire, David Skaith, and the Co-operative party general secretary, Joe Fortune.

They say the model could be tested first with Thames Water, which is close to financial collapse and in talks with the government over a potential rescue deal for its creditors. This deal would let the company off fines and environmental obligations. If it fails to be agreed, the company will be put under temporary government control, known as a special administration regime (SAR).

According to the report’s recommendations, the rest of the sector would be “put on notice”, with every company facing tougher regulation, including enhanced monitoring, tighter restrictions on executive pay, and a ban on dividends unless a company meets performance targets.

Any company that fails under these conditions would be forced into SAR and then into a cooperative model.

MPs and mayors say Burnham should introduce a “bail-in” mechanism for the SAR, similar to the one used by the Bank of England for failing banks, so that shareholders and creditors bear the cost of failure rather than the taxpayer.

Companies that come out of a SAR would be required to do so as not-for-profit cooperatives, rather than being sold to the highest bidder, which is the case at the moment.

Coppard said: “Water is an essential utility that simply should not be farmed out to the private sector – that’s a lesson we’ve learned the hard way. A cooperative model would put control back in the hands of people, help keep bills as low as possible, and allow us to finally intervene in the inexorable dumping of sewage in our rivers.”

The prime minister is looking at options for how water could be brought under public control. Downing Street sources have said that there is no prospect of immediate nationalisation of Thames Water. The company’s creditors have also been gearing up to take the government to court if the deal fails.

Brabin said: “The people of West Yorkshire have paid the price for Yorkshire Water’s failings for far too long, with repeated pollution failings and hiking bills repeatedly during a cost of living crisis. Greater public control of water companies is the only way to protect our communities and environment for future generations.”

This plan would mean water company debts would not end up on the government’s balance sheet, and would give customers more control of how the businesses were run, the report’s authors said.

Praful Nargund, the director of the Good Growth Foundation, said: “Mutualisation offers a different route … It delivers the public control and long-term investment we need without handing taxpayers the bill for decades of failure.”

Dollimore, who is the MP for Hastings and Rye, said: “Our failing water infrastructure is a huge problem that must be a top priority for our Labour government. From pollution to outages to flooding, the people we represent experience the impact every day of this failure while paying more for the privilege.

“We have already taken important steps to ramp up regulation but we must now go further to protect this vital national infrastructure, while always being fiscally responsible.” %!s()

The growing use of GLP-1 weight-loss medications, which suppress appetite, has also boosted demand for concentrated whey protein – often found in protein shakes and bars – as users seek to preserve muscle mass while losing weight.

As demand rises, so do prices. Expana, a global market intelligence platform, said whey protein concentrate 80, with 80% pure protein, cost €11,733 (£10,050) per metric tonne in July 2025 and was now at €25,875.

Whey protein is a vital ingredient in infant formula where it is used to mimic human breast milk by adjusting the protein ratio and making it easier to digest. High-whey formulas are designed specifically for newborns and babies under one year old.

Industry insiders warn that rising demand could soon be felt by consumers as infant formula manufacturers struggle to absorb higher ingredient costs. Office for National Statistics data shows the average price of baby formula has already increased by 4.8% over the past year with a 750g box now costing £12.11, up from £11.55 a year earlier.

Dr Vicky Sibson, the director of the First Steps Nutrition Trust, an independent UK public health nutrition charity, said: “Whey is a major ingredient in infant formula, so significant increases in its price risk increasing the price of formula itself.”

She added: “We know from the Competition and Markets Authority’s [CMA] report that infant formula manufacturers have passed any rise in input costs on to consumers, including during the cost of living crisis.”

Sibson said it was “hugely concerning” because of “mounting evidence that many families using formula to feed their babies find it unaffordable, and the coping strategies they use – like watering down feeds – may be harmful”.

She said a solution the CMA had proposed was for the government to impose a mandatory price or profit cap. “There is precedent for this from other countries including Greece and it’s warranted because the CMA’s work exposed high profit margins of between 50% and 75%. Companies should not be allowed to protect their margins at the expense of the wellbeing of mothers and babies,” she said.

Jose Saiz, who covers the European dairy market at Expana, said: “Overall, higher ingredient costs have already led to higher consumer prices across many dairy and nutrition products, although the extent of cost pass-through varies by market and brand.”

He said some infant formula manufacturers were reformulating products to use more D90 demineralised whey powder. D90, which has 90% of its minerals removed, helps manufacturers achieve the required whey-to-casein ratio while supplying both whey proteins and lactose. As more producers switch to the ingredient, demand has risen sharply, pushing up D90 prices as well.

Saiz said: “Over the past six months, many manufacturers have reformulated their recipes in response to rising ingredient costs. One of the main responses has been to increase the use of demineralised whey powder 90 (D90), an ingredient used primarily in infant formula.”

He added: “Infant formula manufacturers report that current high whey protein prices are becoming economically unsustainable at existing retail price levels. Many believe further consumer price increases will eventually be necessary unless raw material costs ease.” %!s()

Where to find items

Battling

Max Battles

Special Pokémon and forms

Research Tasks and quests

How to evolve Pokémon

Ditto is an elusive Pokémon in Pokémon Go, as it disguises itself and you can’t actually just catch one straight-up.

In order to find Ditto, you’ll want to find the Pokémon that it currently disguises itself as. For example, you may see a Diglett, and it’ll stay a Diglett once you tap on it, but it’s secretly a Ditto. Once you catch that Pokémon, you’ll be met with an “Oh?” prompt, and it’ll turn into a Ditto — if you’re lucky.

Ditto’s chosen disguises change from time to time, so you’ll want to make sure you know what the disguises are currently if you’re Ditto hunting — especially if you are after a shiny.

Below, we’ve listed out the current Ditto disguises in Pokémon Go for August 2026.

Pokémon Go Ditto disguises in August 2026

As of Sept. 23, 2025 — following the "Completely Normal" event — Ditto can currently be any of the following Pokémon in Pokémon Go:

Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Source images: Niantic

Thanks to Grass Cat of PokeMiners and Leek Duck for the help confirming the above.

How to find shiny Ditto in Pokémon Go

There’s a few things to know about Ditto and shiny hunting. For one, if you encounter a shiny Pokémon that can be a Ditto, it will never be a Ditto. Don’t worry, you won’t lose your shiny.

Graphic: Julia Lee/Polygon | Source images: Niantic

Finding a shiny Ditto is just the luck of the draw. Any Ditto you find and catch has a chance to be shiny, and the shiny rates are higher than usual. Expert research group The Silph Road says it’s about a one in 64 chance to be shiny (via Wayback Machine). You’ll just have to get lucky when you find disguised Pokémon.

Shiny Ditto was initially made available to players via a paid Special Research Task set for the Kanto Tour back in 2021, but is now just a regular encounter. %!s()

Employees Feel Like Different People At Work

‘Severance’ puts forth the debate of identity at home versus identity at work and takes it to the extreme. But many professionals already experience this, psychologically, to a degree. Individuals do not always feel comfortable showing up authentically. Research has found that 62% hide their true selves at work. People may suppress their personality, emotions, or opinions to fit workplace expectations. While respect and courtesy should cross both our personal and professional lives, employees should not have to compartmentalize who they are.

There is a benefit to sharing your full self at work. The distinct work and life separation shown in ‘Severance’ stunts the development of both sides of the characters. Research by the Washington University found that coworkers sharing personal information built stronger bonds and were more willing to respond to work needs, even when viewpoints differed. ‘Severance’ demonstrates the importance of creating safe environments where sharing your struggles and solidifying relationships is welcomed, especially during tough and uncertain times.

‘Severance’ Captures The Frustration Of Meaningless Work

The main character Mark S., played by Adam Scott, works alongside Dylan (Zach Cherry), Irving (John Turturro), and Helly (Britt Lower) in the mysterious Macrodata Refinement. The team has no idea why their work matters. Mark even loudly exclaims “What is it we actually do here?” in a memorable office scene.

This sentiment corresponds to many employees in workplace environments with no clear connection of how their work contributes to the organization’s mission. Seeing the characters of ‘Severance’ experience the same puzzlement makes the show relatable. Employees can easily become disengaged when their tasks do not clearly line up to specific outcomes. Purpose is a strong driver of engagement and productivity. Great leaders state the ‘why,’ not just the task request.

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Bureaucracy Feels More Powerful Than People

‘Severance’ showcases a workplace dominated by rules, handbooks, procedures, approval chains, and layers of management. Employees appear to exist only to satisfy the system. This premise reflects a frustration that many professionals recognize.

Organizations can unintentionally create systems employees serve rather than systems supporting employees. Procedures and processes should make things smoother, not create friction. Every additional form, meeting, approval, or policy may make sense on its own. However, over time they can accumulate into unnecessary roadblocks and complexity. This slows down decision-making, reduces autonomy, and distances employees from meaningful work.

Effective leaders regularly evaluate whether a process is still serving its original purpose or if it has become another bureaucratic hurdle. The popularity of ‘Severance’ reflects a broader workplace truth: people seek organizations where systems empower employees. The best processes operate almost invisibly and enable faster decisions.

Employees Want Autonomy

In the show, every aspect of Lumon employees’ day is monitored by the company. Their movements are tracked, conversations are restricted, decisions are tightly controlled, and accomplishments are rewarded with superficial incentives. Unsurprisingly, employees find both subtle and significant ways to reclaim their independence. ‘Severance’ demonstrates what happens when an organization operates from a foundation of micromanagement and distrust rather than empowerment.

Professionals increasingly want autonomy, flexibility, and ownership at work. Companies should trust employees in reaching outcomes versus having constant oversight. Great leaders provide clear expectations and accountability while giving employees the freedom to determine how best to achieve those goals.

While Severance takes workplace dysfunction to an extreme, its popularity stems from the real concerns it reflects. Every great workplace story reflects something true about work. ‘The Office’ highlighted awkward office culture and ‘Succession’ explored power and leadership. ‘Severance’ resonates because it begs the question we’ve all asked ourselves: How much of ourselves should we have to leave behind when we go to work? %!s()