What could Apple possibly want with a dam in Oregon?

What could Apple possibly want with a dam in Oregon? Is raising condors with hand puppets going just a bit too far? Why should we all start eating prickly pears? Hey, it’s time for this week’s Landscape Reads.

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Ice Age Fossils Are Being Unearthed By L.A.'s Subway Construction

Ice Age Fossils Are Being Unearthed By L.A.'s Subway Construction

A 65-foot deep shaft being dug for Los Angeles’s newest subway line is filled with buried treasure. The so-called Subway to the Sea is still nine miles from the beach, but excavation has already revealed some creatures from the ocean floor… the prehistoric ocean floor!

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Mini Museum Contains Tiny Samples of Rare Objects: What is This? A Museum for Ants?

Mobile devices let us look up practically anything we want to know about anywhere and anytime, but there’s nothing like looking at the real deal. Relics and artifacts invoke a sense of wonder and fire up our imagination. Product designer Hans Fex thought of a brilliant way for us to experience that spark anytime and anywhere with his Mini Museums.

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Hans says he’s wanted to make the Mini Museum since he was seven years-old. He got the idea from his father, a research scientist. In 1970 the elder Fex brought his son some artifacts that he embedded in clear resin, perhaps to protect them from his child’s curious and unsteady hands.

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Now in his forties, Hans has gathered 33 very rare specimens that he’s chopping into tiny bits to share with you. These include a meteorite from the Moon, a T-rex tooth and even a 4,568,200-year old object, the oldest piece of matter ever collected.

Help Hans feed his growing beard. Pledge at least $99 (USD) on Kickstarter to get a Mini Museum as a reward. Pledge at least $230 if you want to get the Mini Museum that has all 33 specimens.

[via NOTCOT]

Exploring the Prehistoric World, By Way of Virtual Reality

Exploring the Prehistoric World, By Way of Virtual Reality

For most history students, "exploring the past" means sifting through mountains of data. But digital archaeologist Marcus Abbott wants to make early human civilization—or its digital simulacra—freely accessible to anyone who wants to explore it. His first prehistoric VR environment? A 3,000-year-old spiritual site in the East Anglian fens.

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Archaeologists Think Hidden Imperial Tomb May Be Too Deadly to Explore

After discovering a secret palace hidden in China’s first emperor massive burial complex, Chinese technicians are nervous. Not because Qin Shi Huang’s tomb is the most important archeological discovery since Tutankhamun, but because they believe his burial place is full of deadly traps that will kill any trespassers. Not to talk about deadly quantities of mercury. More »

This Is the First Website Ever—Rebooted [History]

Once upon a time, Tim Berners-Lee took the concept of Hypercard and turned into a world of networked pages. Then there was the first website ever, a boring but clean and well-lighted place that started with the title: “World Wide Web”. More »

30-Year Quest Ends In $15 Million Gold and Silver Coin Treasure [Money]

Thirty years ago, a farmer found a few Iron Age silver coins while working on his land in the island of Jersey, off the coast of Normandy. Now, after combing the soil with metal detectors for three decades, two treasure hunters have found a hoard of silver and gold coins, the biggest of its kind, valued at $15 million. More »