The Arctic is a frozen ocean.  Antarctica is a continent covered in ice.  *  The Nile is the world's longest river, stretching about 4,000 miles from its source in central Africa to the north coast of Egypt, where it flows into the Mediterranean.  *  Steamboat in Yellowstone National Park is the world's tallest active geyser, spouting water and steam 325 feet into the air.  *  Istanbul is the only city built over two continents--split by the Bosphorus Strait, with Europe on one side and Asia on the other.  *  Hundreds of life-size model soldiers made from terracotta were buried in central China more than 2000 years ago.  The soldiers were made to protect  the tomb of the first Emperor of all China, Qin Shi Huangdi.  *  Easter  Island heads in a remote area of the Pacific are stone statues, some as tall as 33 feet high.  *  Encyclopedia of Amazing Places, Discover Famous Places of the World by Robert Hamilton 

"Our five senses are incomplete without the sixth sense--our sense of humor."  Actual courtroom exchanges:  Were you acquainted with the deceased?  Was this before or after she died?  *  I have to kill you because you can identify me.  Did he kill you?  *  Do you remember the day of your birth?  No, but I've been told about it.  *   You worked seven days a week?  A lot of times I worked more than that.  *  Medical reports from early nineteenth century Missouri death records:  Went to bed feeling well, but woke up dead.  *  Cause of death unknown; had never been fatally ill before.  *  Advertisements:  Try our cough syrup.  You will never get any better.  *  FOR SALE:  Instant coffee table.  *  More Anguished English by Richard Lederer

August 24, 2017  Kevin Kemp and Jennifer Alexander were planning to raze a home that they bought recently on Riverside Drive in Dublin, Ohio to build a new house on the property, when Kemp and a friend, Larry Daniels, decided to remove some paneling for reuse.  “We pulled off one of the pieces of paneling and I said, ‘Larry, that’s a log,’”  Kemp recalled.  “We pulled off another and I said, ‘My god, this is a log cabin.’”  Behind the knotty-pine paneling and drywall were walnut and beech logs, some more than 16 inches wide and 30 feet long.  More deconstruction revealed the prize: a perfectly preserved two-story log cabin, probably built between 1820 and 1840.  Experts say it’s one of the largest and best-preserved log cabins discovered in central Ohio.  The remarkable find prompted Kemp and Alexander to halt their planned demolition and contact the city of Dublin.   “I was just amazed when I walked in and saw the cabin,” Assistant City Manager Michelle Crandall said.  “I knew when I walked in we had to find a way to salvage it.”  The city hired the Columbus company Structural Erectors to dismantle the cabin, at a cost of about $27,000, with the hope of rebuilding it elsewhere.  The logs will be tagged as they are removed and stored in a city barn until the cabin can be reconstructed.  No site has been selected, but Tom Holton, president of the Dublin Historical Society, would like to see the cabin rebuilt in Coffman Park on Emerald Parkway.  Jim Weiker  See pictures at http://www.dispatch.com/entertainmentlife/20170824/couple-renovating-dublin-home-discover-its-19th-century-cabin

Domestic goats live in southwestern Morocco, where the climate is dry and in some seasons the only available forage is in the trees.  So the goats climb up to get it.  Goats are good climbers—some sure-footed species live happily on mountains, leaping from ledge to ledge.  But these domestic goats are not born with an ability to climb trees.  They learn the technique as kids.  Their keepers help them climb, and they trim the trees to make it easier for the kids.  The goats eventually learn to do it themselves. In the autumn, when there is little food on the ground, they spend most of their time grazing the treetops.  Now researchers have found that the trees benefit, too.  Many animals eat the seeds of plants and then defecate them at another location.  But the seeds of the argan trees that these goats graze on are about an inch long and a half-inch across—too big for a goat to pass.  Fortunately for the trees, goats are ruminants:  They chew their cud and regurgitate it to be rechewed before being swallowed for good.  The researchers suspect that while the goats ruminate, they spit out the large seeds, often far away from the mother plant, increasing the chance of seed and seedling survival.  Nicholas Bakalar  See pictures of goats in trees at https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/12/science/goats-trees-seeds-morocco.html  Thank you, Muse reader!

The Swiss Mittelland or the Swiss Plateau (plateau suisse in French, Schweizer Mittelland in German) constitutes one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland alongside the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps.  It covers about 30% of the Swiss surface.  It comprises the regions between the Jura (in the west) and the Alps (in the south and southeast).  In the southwest, the Swiss Mittelland further is confined by the Lake Geneva Region, in the north and northeast by the Rhine and Lake Constance.  The Swiss Mittelland is by far the most densely populated region of Switzerland, and the most important with respect to economy, agriculture and transportation.  http://www.swissvacations.com/pages/en/swiss_mittelland.html

The Eden Project (Cornish:  Edenva) is a popular visitor attraction in Cornwall, England.  Inside the two biomes are plants that are collected from many diverse climates and environments.   project is located in a reclaimed Kaolinite pit, located 2 km (1.2 mi) from the town of St Blazey and 5 km (3 mi) from the larger town of St Austell, Cornwall.  The complex is dominated by two huge enclosures consisting of adjoining domes that house thousands of plant species, and each enclosure emulates a natural biome.  The biomes consist of hundreds of hexagonal and pentagonal, inflated, plastic cells supported by steel frames.  The largest of the two biomes simulates a Rainforest environment and the second, a Mediterranean environment.  The attraction also has an outside botanical garden which is home to many plants and wildlife native to Cornwall and the UK in general; it also has many plants that provide an important and interesting backstory, for example, those with a prehistoric heritage.  The clay pit in which the project is sited was in use for over 160 years.  In 1981, the pit was used by the BBC as the planet surface of Magrathea in the 1981 TV series of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.  By the mid-1990s the pit was all but exhausted.  The initial idea for the project dates back to 1996, with construction beginning in 1998.  The work was hampered by torrential rain in the first few months of the project, and parts of the pit flooded as it sits 15 m (49 ft) below the water table.  The first part of the Eden Project, the visitor centre, opened to the public in May 2000.  The first plants began arriving in September of that year, and the full site opened on 17 March 2001.  The Eden Project was used as a filming location for the 2002 James Bond film, Die Another Day (starring Pierce Brosnan).  Read more and see many pictures at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eden_Project

Succotash Salad  Salting and draining the zucchini beforehand prevents this summer salad from getting watery.  http://www.marthastewart.com/1518185/succotash-salad

Potato-and-Pickled-Beet Salad  Homemade pickle brine is whisked into a vinaigrette for this light, tangy potato salad.  http://www.marthastewart.com/1518187/potato-and-pickled-beet-salad

Freezing fresh corn  With sharp knife, slice off as many kernels of corn from the cob as possible.  Heat large skillet to medium.  Add one tbsp. unsalted butter per ear.  Cook stirring about one minute.  Spread on baking sheet to cool.  Freeze one hour.  Then transfer to resealable freezer bags.  Martha Stewart Living  July/August 2017

E-mail - By far the most popular means of communicating over the Internet, e-mail allows you to send a message directly to another person or group of people. Messages can range from short to long and may include quotes or attached files.  Chat - Chat is a conversation between two or more people that takes place in a chat room.  The chat room software allows a group of people to type in messages that are seen by everyone in the "room."  Instant messages - Instant messaging is something of a cross between chat and e-mail.  It allows you to maintain a list of people that you wish to interact with.  You can send messages to any of the people in your list, as long as that person is online.  Sending a message opens up a small window where you and your friend can type in messages that each of you can see.  Newsgroup - a newsgroup is a continuous public discussion about a particular topic.  Newsgroups are decentralized, which means that the messages are not maintained on a single server, but are replicated to hundreds of servers around the world.  Listserv - Most of us probably belong to one listserv or another.  Every time you register for a newsletter, such as the free HowStuffWorks newsletter, you are placed on a listserv.   Basically, this is a type of broadcast e-mail.  Information on a listserv is sent to everyone who is listed in the e-mail group on the server.  Read much more at http://homepage.cs.uri.edu/book/newsgroups/newsgroups.htm

The Safe Homes Coalition (SHC), a nonprofit started in San Diego to raise awareness about the proper use, storage and disposal of prescription medication, offers these tips:  Organize and keep careful track of prescribed and over-the-counter medications.  Keep stronger medicines separate from items more commonly found in medicine cabinets, keep medicines in the original bottle or container that it came in and never mix medications in the same bottle.  Keep medicines secure.  Ensure that all lids close tightly, and treat medications like you would other valuables.  Make sure they are concealed when guests or visitors are in your home.  The SHC even recommends installing a lock box in your medicine cabinet.  https://wire.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/3-steps-physicians-boost-safe-storage-disposal-opioids  Search for controlled substance public disposal locations at https://apps.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/pubdispsearch/spring/main?execution=e1s1

http://librariansmuse.blogspot.com  Issue 1761  August 28, 2017  On this date in 1609, Henry Hudson discovered Delaware Bay.  On this date in 1789, William Herschel discovered a new moon of Saturn:  Enceladus.  On this date in 1830, the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad's new Tom Thumb steam locomotive raced a horse-drawn car, presaging steam's role in US railroads.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/August_28