This week, we learned …
… Easter Islanders did not engage in ecocide. Read of the week!

Photograph by Randy Olson, National Geographic
Who are the most famous residents of Easter Island?
… new underwater sensors are searching for the Big One off Canada’s west coast.

Is the North American West Coast prone to earthquakes?
… how layers in a latte form, and why this is important to oceanography.

Photograph by Jesse Sutton
What are the layers in the deep blue sea?
… bar mitzvah motivators get the party started.

Photograph by Selena N.B.H., courtesy Wikimedia. CC-BY-2.0
What are bar mitzvahs? (Page 48!)
… deaf servants thrived in the Ottoman Empire’s carefully cultivated culture of silence.

Photograph by James L. Stanfield, National Geographic
… the California drought helped the Sierras rise by almost an inch.

Map by National Geographic
What was California’s “megadrought”?
… scientists revealed a connection between lightning and the solar wind—thanks to the personal diary of a medieval princess.

Woodblock print by Katsushika Hokusai. Public domain
… how bidding for Amazon’s second headquarters could impact civil rights.

How are other e-commerce giants managed?
… 2,000 years later, Romans repealed Ovid’s exile.

Painting by Luca Signorelli, courtesy Wikimedia. Public domain
What were the limits to citizenship in Ancient Rome?
… what we’ve learned from 60 years of U.S.-funded UFO studies.

Learn a little about Project Blue Book—the government program to study UFOs.
… Ghana’s hip-hop artists rap about the environment.
Download and print your own map of this coastal African nation here.