All the fantastic football on display over the past few weeks during the men’s World Cup is currently being eclipsed by a scandal involving a red card, Fifa rulemakers and US president Donald Trump. At the heart of the issue is a rule that triggers a one-match ban for any player receiving a red card.

Folarin Balogun, star striker for host nation the US, received a red card in a match against Bosnia and Herzegovina last Wednesday and was supposed to sit out last night’s match against Belgium as a result. But Trump lobbied the president of football’s governing body Fifa, Gianni Infantino, who suspended the ban to allow the Balogun to compete. Cue bewilderment and outrage from the Belgian team and just about anyone else who loves football. The latter group includes Josh Bland, a researcher in football culture at the University of Cambridge, who believes this episode has the potential to seriously tarnish the sport as a whole.

Much of the south of England is experiencing another heatwave this week, with temperatures hitting the 30s again. For those of us without air conditioning, it’s going to be uncomfortable, to say the least. New homes must be checked at the design stage to prevent overheating, but a study of existing homes during the hot weather in 2018 found that 19% of bedrooms and 15% of living rooms were in danger of overheating. Buildings expert Ben Roberts is experimenting with a pair of semi-detached houses in Loughborough to see what could help. Each is kitted out with different fittings – such as awnings and shutters –– and his team intends to work out which additions are most effective when the weather heats up. Find out what they’ve concluded so far.

The bottom of the deep ocean is one of the largest and least explored habitats on Earth. Yet, as scientists unlock its secrets, they are discovering how amazingly diverse the deep sea bed is. One theory is that conditions have a way of “supercharging” evolution to allow organisms to mutate faster. Importantly, discoveries from the deep oceans are already finding applications in the surface world.