Week of 2006-08-19 17:00 to 2006-08-26 16:59

Camus on bicycle

During the German occupation of France, Albert Camus earned hero status among the French for editing the underground newspaper Combat. It wasn’t until the war was over, however, that more than a handful of people knew it was Camus publishing the journal. Nevertheless, he lived at various times in hiding, using false identity papers. As a moral voice in the resistance, his travels had to be simple so as not to draw the unwanted attention of the German army….

via velorution

Never mind earthquake preparedness kits, digging out a storm cellar, or storing liters of water in your garage for emergencies — what do you do if an alien shows up in your living room? Robert J Sawyer provides a sensible approach, starting with the always-prudent advice from Douglas Adams:

First, in the time-honored words of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, “Don’t panic.”

Then, get down to business.

I like a story with science, history, environmentalism, irony, and birds:

Bolsa Chica Wetlands and the Pacific Meet Again - The marshland restoration effort takes a major step with the opening of an inlet to bring in seawater.

In the foggy, predawn hours Thursday, bulldozers and giant excavators shoved aside the remaining mounds of beach sand and reunited the Pacific Ocean and the Bolsa Chica wetlands for the first time in more than a century.

It was the most significant and visible step in the long, ambitious effort to revive the degraded wetlands. The flow of ocean water — cut off by members of a duck hunting club in 1899 — is expected to help transform the saltwater marshes into a major wildlife sanctuary.