Millions of people across southern England are subject to hosepipe bans after prolonged periods of extreme heat and reduced rainfall. On Tuesday, Thames Water, Britain’s biggest water company, announced a ban starting on Thursday. Here, the Guardian answers questions about what the restriction means for you. How do water companies decide to implement a ban? … Read more
The problemWe’ve all done it: picked up a lush, generous-looking pot of basil from the supermarket – full of promise and pesto plans, and within a fortnight it has collapsed into a dried-out, leggy mess. You assume you did something wrong. In reality, the plant was set up to fail before it even reached your … Read more
Name: Barkitecture. Age: 27 years old. Appearance: Plush provisions for posh pooches. It’s 27 years old? That’s hardly newsworthy. Well, there was Fred Albert’s 1999 book Barkitecture, about upmarket kennels. And then there was the 2020 Quibi platform show Barkitecture, where a Bachelorette runner-up made kennels for celebrities. Also, the Guardian has covered the term … Read more
Heating and burning The problem Whenever we burn anything inside our homes, we cause indoor air pollution, whether we’re cooking using gas, frying bacon, lighting a wood burner, an open fire, a cigarette or incense, or ruining the toast. “ We spend 80-90% of our time indoors,” says Prof Francis Pope, chair of atmospheric science at … Read more
States Rush to Fill Graduate Loan Gap Opened by G.O.P. Budget Bill
A.I. Is Running on Borrowed Money
I hope that, as you’re reading this, your veg patch is in full swing. Despite my slightly later than usual start to the season (spring was confusing, weather-wise!), my tomatoes, cucumbers and courgettes are growing well, and I have just planted out another round of lettuce and spring onions. Now we’re in midsummer, much of … Read more
United Will Soon Let You Take Over the Middle Seat, for a Price
‘I don’t see how I can possibly do my job and eat mushrooms,” says Sally Nex, a campaign advocate for the Peat-Free Partnership. “An awful lot of the food you buy in the supermarket is grown in peat: field mushrooms and little button mushrooms, salads and many brassicas, herbs in pots … all of those … Read more
You might not know the term Caryophyllaceae but I guarantee you’d be able to spot a carnation, which is part of this family. Garage forecourt carnations have been having a semi-ironic fashion moment as a cut flower for a while now, but I’m yet to see them making a garden comeback. I’d always dismissed the whole … Read more