Articles

“The Coast is Clear”

Children use the phrase when playing war in the backyard. If one in the group says that “the coast is clear” it means that it is safe for the group to advance. No enemies threaten. Whether or not a coast is nearby is irrelevant. The message suggests that the group can change position with minimal

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Form and Function

Visitors to the Vikingship Museum in Oslo, Norway, wonder why there is a notch extending from the holes that were used as oarlocks on Viking longboats. The notch allowed the blade of the oar to pass through the hull from inside the boat. If the Vikings had not cut the notch, they would have had

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The Barberry Coast

Rick Dyer takes Japanese barberries personally. As a professional forester he has seen the barberry scourge invade Eastern woodlands and he has witnessed the startling robustness of the aggressive, non-native import on coastal islands such as Monhegan. Two years ago, when he was studying for a master’s degree in Forestry at the University of Maine,

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Editing the past

We pray that the young girl never knew who and what struck her. At the moment of her death it would have been best if she were preoccupied with a toy or a household chore. At worst, she would have turned her head at the last moment, reacting to the sound of a creaking floorboard

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Ferry Follies

Ticket agents at Maine state ferry terminals are a patient bunch, answering simple questions about schedules that require only a routine response. Some questions, however, invite multiple responses or are so open-ended that there’s a temptation to bark a short-tempered retort. More often than not, though, an agent will respond to an unusual or unexpected

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