Therefore, there is no statistically significant relationship, no causal effect, between water composition and bagel quality in any zip code in New York City.

Some people may find this uncompromising conclusion much to their liking. Others will doubtless damn it as lies, possibly damned lies,...

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In another cracking display of the impact of the UN’s International Years of Waste, May 30 will henceforth celebrate International Potato Day. It has been a while since the International Year of the Potato in 2008, but good things come to those who wait.

The Day “will allow us to draw attent...

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I love the idea of having an algorithm decide where I should go on an outing. The problem with geohashing is that “my” graticule is quite large and almost three-quarters water. Neighbouring graticules are often too far away. So despite my best intentions, I have not actually been on very many expeditions. That is why I was very interested when Christof said he was considering building an alternative version that would work on what I think one might call decigraticules and centigraticules or, more simply, what Christof calls walkable and bikeable. The result is a brilliant website that offers you much more accessible options every day.

Today, I put it to use for the first time.

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I have never felt as much a part of a close-knit community as I did in university. On the very first day, three of us (out of five) in what you might I suppose call a dorm discovered an instant friendship. By the cancelled 50^th reunion in 2020, one of us was no longer alive to attend. In between, and still now, there was just something very special that started back then.

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UN-sanctioned international years of this, that and the other have been with us since 1959 and World Refugee Year. In 2004, we were fed the first direct food year with the international year of rice, and since then we’re had potatoes, quinoa, pulses, fruits and vegetables and millets. Food-adjacent years have included biodiversity, family farming, soils, plant health, and artisanal fisheries and aquaculture. Next year promises camelids, with rangelands and pastoralists due in 2026.

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