As the summer winds down, parents and their incoming college freshmen are preparing for move-in days across the state of Maine — at UMaine in Orono, it’ll be Aug. 28, while down at the University of Southern Maine, it’ll be Aug. 29, for instance. And every year around this time, Wisconsin’s Beloit College releases what […]
Some colonial era foods that were popular in Maine and New England — like baked beans and fruit pies — remain popular today, even if we may not commonly prepare them the same ways our ancestors did. But over the years, people’s tastes and available foods have changed, and regional recipes have changed with them. […]
It’s barbecue season in Maine, and it’s hard to resist that extra scoop full of homemade potato salad someone brought over, or that slice of blueberry pie. Or a second cheeseburger. And look, someone brought a chocolate ice cream cake. According to a report published in the molecular biology journal BioEssays and later highlighted by […]
Once or twice every summer, Maine news feeds explode with word of great white shark sightings off the state’s coast. Last month, three reported great white sightings — near Wells, Old Orchard Beach and Portland — stirred up all sorts of beach excitement and anxiety. But after reviewing images taken of these supposed great whites, […]
According to a report this week in Slate, a team led by the former lead NASA scientist on climate change is now forecasting a much more rapid and dramatic rise in sea level than was previously expected. James Hansen’s 16-person team of researchers has concluded that, as Slate reports, “glaciers in Greenland and Antarctica will […]
Come March or April of each year, after our umpteenth snowstorm hits and we swear we may never see the sun again, many Mainers start grumbling about fleeing the state for good in search of warmth. Those are usually empty threats, as we push back memories of the winter hardships once the summer rolls around. But […]
You’ve sent up your tent for camping and are ready to retire for the night. Just you and the Maine summer wilderness. And, depending on your excursion and tent type, oppressive heat. You’re acres away from the nearest road, much less electrical outlet, and the prospect of the next day’s adventure hike seems less appealing […]
On July 4, 1827, less than a decade into Maine’s life as an official state, outspoken sawmill owner John Baker raised a homemade American flag on the western side of the junction between Baker Brook and the St. John River. It was a bold statement on what was still disputed territory as the dust slowly […]
It was late December of 1710 when a frozen body washed ashore in York. Locals followed the ocean trail left in the wake of the grisly discovery all the way out to the barren Boon Island, six miles out. Nothing could have prepared them for what they’d find on the desolate rock, which would not […]
The movie “Jurassic World” — the latest in a series of thrillers about genetically re-engineered dinosaurs populating ill-advised amusement parks — smashed Hollywood records by opening with a gross of more than $520 million worldwide over the weekend. The movie’s success is the latest sign that people remain fascinated by the long-extinct beasts 200 years after their […]
