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Food with a pinch of salt: The crops we can harvest from the sea
Filling, rewarding and nutritious, vegetables and plants grown in saline environments — whether by accident or design — have plenty of potential. Illustration by Alan Baker.
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Why do the English constantly say sorry?
What is that makes the people of this island so overly fond of apologising? Deborah Nicholls-Lee finds out.
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Playing the fool: The rich history of tarot and how it satisfies our desire for transcendence
Once an elaborate art form that entertained 15th-century Italian nobility, tarot cards have evolved into a tool of divination. A new exhibition shines a light on their history.
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‘Look out! Look out! Jack Frost is about!’
Variously described as ‘wearing a cloak of silver’ and looking like ‘a hoary old man’, Jack Frost has attracted many artistic depictions over the centuries — some more positive than others.
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'Fractals are everywhere, even within the human body: our nervous system, blood vessels and the structure of our brain and lungs'
What do spiders’ webs, snowflakes and snail shells have in common? They all contain fractals: Nature’s exquisite, endlessly repeating mathematical pattern.
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Mud, glorious mud: Why we should get down and dirty in our wet earth
We loved it as a kid, and we should love it as an adult. Mud is fun to walk through, play with and has real scientific benefits for our health to boot.
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'There was a 70ft hole beneath where the children were playing': The ups and downs of having a well on your property
Discovering a well on your property can be viewed as a blessing or a curse, but all’s well that ends well, says Deborah Nicholls-Lee, as she examines the benefits of a personal water supply.
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This Victorian boozy blackberry cordial is as good today as it was 150 years ago. Here's how to make it.
Deborah Nicholls-Lee has been delving into the history of the blackberry, and discovered a brandy-enhanced blackberry cordial recipe from Victorian cook Phyllis Browne.
