I don't have a lot of links for you, but suffice to say I'm now finding out that a LOT happened in 1913, and most of it bad. When the same guys behind the founding of the American Cancer Society are the great-grandparents of the guys trying to erase all memory of the Epstein files? You know there's something fishy going on. When mustard gas is treated as medicine, but human-grade natural dewormer is constantly threatened with being banned, when those with pharmaceutical monopolies are blood relatives of those who run the oliopoly of oil? Yeah. Also kind of explains why these guys are impossible to prosecute, no matter how often their drugs get pulled from the market for literally killing the patient! But why a missionary in Colombia not part of the club can treat himself with a well-known natural remedy, and is then immediately kidnapped and imprisoned by the FDA, along with his sons being kidnapped out of spite.

But it's not all bad news. Below, here's a gem of something nice:



That being said, as research for Anarteq: Top of the World, set in Greenland, I've found this lady's channel extremely helpful. Maybe if the book and tie-in media sell well enough, I can afford to actually visit Greenland in person.

It's green in Greenland in the south in the summer. And they have Qinngua Valley, though it's more birch white and brown than actual green. They also have the northern lights, which are mostly green. And they produce some of the greenest green plants. They also have even nicer strawberries than Egypt has. So their name isn't a misnomer in most of the settled areas. It's only once you get to the mountains just along the north edge of Qinggua that it truly becomes a barren, frozen, uninhabitable desert wasteland. Even then, the northern lights make the snow appear green, so the entire landscape looks like you're walking inside a giant Shamrock Shake from McDonald's.

However, the permafrost reaches even the southern portions. Hence why they have very few traditional cemeteries as we'd understand them. And also why they can't build a lot of basements. Which also limits expansion. This is also why they are so preoccupied with low-footprint lifestyles, and don't have many roads. The soil makes these things impractical.

To be fair, about the only northern place harsher than Greenland is Nunavut. Which somehow has it rough, even by the standards of Siberia! Grise Ford is a testament to the resilience of its locals, surviving in a place most wouldn't dare to even visit.

Iceland totally earns its name though, especially in the mountains where ice is permanent. And in the winter, where it's almost as cold as in Greenland. Granted, they don't have as much permafrost. Which also means Iceland can afford to grow a wider variety of crops, have more traditional European summers, etc. And have enough differentiation of wildlife from Greenland that they're able to have an easier time shipping their seafood exports to other markets. This is why you can by Icelandic food in Florida, but you can't buy Greenlandic food in Florida. (However, I've developed an entire menu of how to make Florida-legal-safe flavor pallet imitations of Greenlandic food.)

And these differences have affected the two lands culturally as well. When you look at the myths and legends in Greenland that children are still taught about, the Inuit population (many of them descendants of Canadian Inuk) know all about Sedna, Kaassassuk (Eskimo Hercules), Qalupaliks, and the Qivvitoq (those claimed by the wilderness to become wandering guardian spirits after being exiled from society.)

However, Iceland didn't have that strong Inuit presence before Vikings arrived. So in Iceland, it's all Thor this, Odin that, Loki the third thing, Frigga the fourth. In essence, very little separating early Icelandic culture from being just like Norway.

In many ways, Greenland is like a real life version of the planet Pandora from James Cameron's Avatar, but with fewer trees and swamps. And the locals think like Nav'vi. So when Trump wanted to buy them and extract their minerals, you can understand why they threw such a hissy fit. To them, the ice sheet is as sacred as the Nav'vi's tree in the movie was to them. In fact, the popular Greenlandic hymn "Silarsuaq Takuiuk" (inspiration behind "What Does Abound" in Anarteq: Top of the World) literally contains the line: "If this [the environment's integrity] disappears, you disappear."

Suffice to say, he really didn't read the room (or didn't care.) (Denmark facepalming was equally to be expected.)

A golden hare sold at auction very recently in the UK for £82,550.

It was created by an Artist called Kit Williams back in 1979 for a book he illustrated and wrote, which contained the clues for a treasure hunt. The golden hare was the prize, and it was buried in a secret location in the UK, so that readers of the book could solve the puzzles contained wherein, to find it.



https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c87ld115ndvo
(I added that page to the Wayback Machine in case people outside of the UK can't view it).

This is a little introduction to the puzzle:
https://dreamsofgerontius.com/2016/...y-kit-williams/

And this article describes how to solve the ingenious riddles on each page:
https://dreamsofgerontius.com/2016/...s-the-solution/

Back in the 80s, this puzzle caused quite a frenzy in the UK, with treasure hunters from far and wider digging holes all over the countryside in search of the hare!

You can read the book on the Internet Archive for free (but you do need an account):
https://archive.org/details/masquer...00will/mode/2up

The artwork is quite intriguing!

Today, while browsing YouTube for interesting videos about Bulgaria, I came across an episode from The Prehistory Guys channel. The video looks at the oldest known gold in the world, discovered in Varna, Bulgaria.

It focuses on the Varna Culture, a prehistoric society that lived around 4500 BC along the western coast of the Black Sea. What really stood out is that this culture produced some of the earliest gold artifacts ever found, making it an important moment in human history.

One of the most interesting parts of the video is the Varna Necropolis, an ancient burial site where archaeologists discovered graves filled with gold jewelry and ornaments that are more than 6,500 years old. These finds are some of the earliest examples of skilled goldworking in the world.

The amount of gold found in some of the graves is incredible. One elite male burial alone contained nearly 1.5 kilograms of gold, which suggests that this society already had clear social differences and a strong sense of hierarchy.

This video really left an impression on me because it highlights a powerful but often overlooked part of Bulgaria’s ancient past. I was honestly surprised to learn that the world’s oldest gold comes from Varna, proving that advanced craftsmanship and organized communities existed here much earlier than I had expected.

The discovery of the Varna Necropolis stood out the most, not just because of the gold, but because it shows how structured and developed these early societies were. It made me think about how much of early European history is still unknown or underestimated.

Overall, this episode deepened my interest in prehistoric cultures and made me feel proud and curious about Bulgaria’s role in early human civilization.

Link to the video:

Things that have been interesting me lately.

Betelgeuse and Siwarha:
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/h...companion-star/

Britain's Celtic languages:

Strange Figures Discovered on a Galcier in Southern Chile on Google Maps



You can see it on Google Maps, here.

@ScaryRob The trouble is, the satellite photos for that region are so low-res that this is likely to be compression artefacts, or something caused by the way the data is handled. I'm not convinced that these features would look like faces if you were to use a drone with HD camera to examine the region. A bit like the face on Mars, perhaps?
https://www.skyatnightmagazine.com/...ce/face-on-mars

Space- I've always been fascinated by Betelgeuse (alpha Orionis), the big red supergiant star visible in the constellation of Orion. Orion is visible from almost everywhere in the world at some point in the year, so it's probably one of the better known constellations. And Betelgeuse is notable because it's a variable star, which means that at times it dims, and other times it appears brighter. And of course it's red, and quite visible so in the night sky.


Orion, with Betelgeuse the orange star top-left in the image

There have been many theories about why Betelgeuse is variable; in 2019-2020 the star dimmed quite dramatically, and all sorts of theories abounded as to what was happening. For example, some theorised that an alien species had built a Dyson Sphere around the star. Or that there was a massive spacecraft in the line of sight between us and the star, blocking out the light. Or perhaps there was dust from an explosion near to the star, obscuring the light? Or the cooling of gas ejected from the star? Or maybe it's going to supernova? Very exciting.

But another theory has been developed, and studied since the mid 1980s. Recent data from 2024 and 2025 indicated that it was likely that Betelgeuse had a stellar companion, most likely a low-mass young stellar object. Analysis of data from the Gemini North observatory from 2020-2024 indicated that the companion star had been directly imaged, and it was named 'Siwarha'.

Further spectroscopic observations, some by the Hubble Telescope, have helped to strengthen the evidence to support Siwarha's existence, and recently NASA published this information:
https://science.nasa.gov/missions/h...companion-star/

Really wonderful to see how our old friend Hubble is still making discoveries after 36 years. A real testament to its design and engineering!