Today is Independent Bookstore Day! Here are ways you can support and celebrate your local. / Book Publishing Brick by Brick
Millions of Lego pieces fell overboard near Land’s End in 1997. Now, a 13-year-old has found a “holy grail” piece—one of the payload’s 4,200 octopus figurines. / The Guardian
See also: Geologists are divided on whether conglomerates of natural materials held together by plastic—and that frequently wash up on beaches are “rocks,” only new. / Slate
Researchers identify medicinal and hallucinogenic plant DNA at an ancient Mayan ball court in what they call a “special ritual deposit.” / Gizmodo
Every spring on Mars, buried carbon dioxide ice emerges as dark, spider-like formations. / Live Science
“I love everything about Marginalia, which is a search engine with its own index, run by a single dude, initially on a server in his apartment.” How I search in 2024. / Normcore Tech
See also: “This is the story of how Google Search died, and the people responsible for killing it.” / Where’s Your Ed At
Smartphone sales have shrunk in six of the last seven years, and people just don’t feel the need anymore to replace their phones every few years. / The Verge
Looking back at the pre-smartphone era, when digital PDAs—and specifically Palm Pilots—briefly ruled the land. / Ars Technica
See also: The dumbphone boom is real. / The New Yorker
“In 2008, amidst this slow transition, Magneto finally became canonically Jewish.” The ever-changing implications of the X-Men’s core villain’s Judaism. / Defector
Brandy Jensen on nonmonogamy, which everyone claims they don’t want to read about, but everyone wants to talk about. / The Yale Review
“Having a stocked pantry makes it possible to whip up something that still makes you feel good when you’re feeling down.” Breaking up with perfectionist cooking. / Gentle Foods
A rundown of known scams targeting travelers in Europe. / The Points Guy
