Category Archives: Uncategorized

Tradition has it that when the resurrection comes, it will begin at this holiest of Jewish burial sites, which has been in use for more than 3,000 years. Packed with sand-hued tombs, the Mount of Olives looks over Jerusalem to … Continue reading →

The Qutb Shahi Tombs are in the Ibrahim Bagh (garden precinct), close to the famous Golconda Fort in Hyderabad, India. They contain the tombs and mosques built by the various kings of the Qutb Shahi dynasty and are one of … Continue reading →

The elusive glass ball is one of the finer treasures to find on BC’s west coast. Of all the flotsam found on our beaches, they are the coveted prize. Even though there is nothing special about them – they’re just … Continue reading →

Nov 15th 2018| ECONOMIST  “The decline of the birth rate and the ageing of Japanese society is accelerating at unprecedented speed,” warns Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister. Given the scale of the problem, he told The Economist this week, the government must … Continue reading →

LEFSE is a traditional soft Norwegian flatbread. It is made with riced potatoes, flour, butter, and milk or cream and cooked on a large, flat griddle. Special tools are used to prepare lefse, including long wooden turning sticks and special rolling pins with deep grooves. It is … Continue reading →

They were a people descended from Norse (“Norman” comes from “Norseman”) Vikings from Denmark, Iceland and Norway who first arrived at the mouth of the Seine in 911. In the 10th and 11th centuries, they gave their name to Normandy, … Continue reading →

Largest City and Capital: Dublin (pop 553,165) Area:   84,421 km2       20th Coastline: 2,797km Highest Elevation (Carrauntoohil): 1,041m (3,415′) Population: 6,572,728 (19th). Density 77.8/km2 Languages: English, Irish, Ulster Scots Ethnic Groups: 96.4% White, 1.7% Asian, 1.1% Black, 0.8% Other Time Zone: Greenwich Mean Time Drives: on the left … Continue reading →

The Struve Geodetic Arc is a chain of survey triangulations stretching from Hammerfest in Norway to the Black Sea, through ten countries and over 2,820 km, which yielded the first accurate measurement of a meridian. The chain was established and used by the German-born Russian scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve in … Continue reading →

SHIPPING & GREENHOUSE GASES Nov 1st 2018 Economist Shipping is a dirty business. Since the late 19th century, when steam replaced wind as the main means of propulsion, ships have relied on filthy fossil fuels. Coal-fired steam has given way to … Continue reading →

Nov 8th 2018 Economist Diva Amon, a researcher at the Natural History Museum in London, spotted her first whale skull in 2013, during an expedition to the Clarion Clipperton Zone (ccz) in the tropical Pacific. It sat on beige silt, … Continue reading →