Ancient Aquiry

Nearly 2,000 years ago, the ancient city of Aquiry was very big. A new paper in Nature says that LiDAR has helped them identify 20,000 earthworks in the city. Seems like a lot.

Wiki - Steller's Sea Eagle

The Steller's Sea Eagle is a fascinating large bird. So large it can be a threat to bald eagles.

Rutgers' Irises

Great to see Danielle Lohrman (RULA '27) so involved with this special partnership at Rutgers Gardens:

Historic Iris Partnership Blooms at Rutgers Gardens

Wiki - Western Brook Pond

Western Brook Pond, inside Gros Morne National Park, is a freshwater fjord. The fishing isn't great because the lake is ultraoligotrphic; the water is so clean that it doesn't foster life. And that is despite the prominent contributions of Pissing Mare Falls. It had a 30m tsunami in the early 20th century.

Wiki - Well to Hell

 An urban legend about a very very deep well.

Wiki - Landlocked countries

Wikipedia has a lengthy entry on landlocked countries. It includes basic "records" like largest (Kazakhstan) and most populous (Ethiopia). Less basic, like the fact that Kyrgyzstan is the farthest landlocked country from any ocean. And a little odd was a list of countries that are landlocked by exactly two other countries.

But the truly unexpected section was about "double-landlocked" countries, which are countries surrounded by landlocked countries. In all the world, there are only two of these exist: Liechtenstein and Uzbekistan.

Wiki - Immortal jellyfish

When immortal jellyfish get older they just get younger again. 

August quote

I should post this every year...

"When the first of August came round, the Professor realized he had pleasantly trifled away nearly two months at a task which should have taken little more than a week."

-Willa Cather (from The Professor's House, 1925) 

Wiki - Binondo

Binondo - I had not heard of the "oldest Chinatown in the world" but here it is. Founded in 1594. By the Spaniards, in the Philippines.

August with Wikipedia

 As I travel down rabbit holes and (re) discover curiosities and interesting tidbits, I sometimes end up with some bookmarks for Wikipedia that might be interesting to others. In August, I will post a link to a curious Wikipedia entry each day. Some are more about the content, while others are more about the entry itself. Either way, I encourage a quick click on the link before you decide which it is.

Wikipedia's entry on Wikipedia is a good place to start. Or, you can skip directly to the Wikipedia Controversies page.