Why are there bunkers with toilets under boulevards in Milwaukee?

A few hours after driving down Washington Boulevard, I received an email from reader Chris Dwyer. “This summer, I was with my family on the median of Washington Boulevard during a street festival,” he wrote. “Sure enough, there was a vault about 10'x15' and 8-10' deep with a toilet in the corner. It had clearly been a long time since it was used, but the water piping was clearly visible. A few feet away there is a 4'x8' rusted metal access hatch that covers a full concrete stairway.” Dwyer sent some photos that show the metal hatch and a concrete rectangle in the grassy median. The rectangle has two banks of glass block (most of them broken out and some patched with cement) that were clearly a vault light, meant to serve as a light source for the bathroom below. It seemed unlikely that it was ever meant as a public comfort station since the hatch door is extremely heavy and it’s a poor way to design an entrance into a public toilet. (via OnMilwaukee)

A 33-year-old woman made history by swimming the length of the California coast

Nearly four months ago, Catherine Breed, a 33-year-old from the San Francisco Bay Area, set out to become the first person to swim the entire coastline of California – from its northern-most tip to the border with Mexico. She and her support team prepared for encounters with sharks and storms. They hadn’t anticipated completing the marathon swim during a year of historic super El Niño weather. But after dodging hurricanes, wildlife and 8ft waves in an unusually volatile Pacific Ocean, Breed finally celebrated the end of her journey on a beach in San Diego on Monday. Breed joins a group of elite ultra-endurance swimmers who continue to set new records for long-distance swims, including swimming the entire coastlines of Ireland and Iceland and one side of New Zealand’s North Island – all journeys of close to 1,000 miles (1,600km). (via The Guardian)

Why do astronauts say space smells like seared steak or hot metal?

Astronauts who have gone on spacewalks consistently speak of space's extraordinarily peculiar odor. They can't smell it while they're actually bobbing in it, because the interiors of their space suits just smell plastic-y. But upon stepping back into the space station and removing their helmets, they get a strong, distinctive whiff of the final frontier. The odor clings to their suit, helmet, gloves and tools. Fugitives from the near-vacuum — probably atomic oxygen, among other things — the clinging particles have the acrid aroma of seared steak, hot metal and welding fumes. Steven Pearce, a chemist hired by NASA to recreate the space odor on Earth for astronaut training purposes, said the metallic aspect of the scent may come from high-energy vibrations of ions. "It's like something I haven't ever smelled before, but I'll never forget it," NASA astronaut Kevin Ford said from orbit in 2009. (via the CS Monitor)

Hi everyone! Mathew Ingram here. I am able to continue writing this newsletter in part because of your financial help and support, which you can do either through my Patreon or by upgrading your subscription to a monthly contribution. I enjoy gathering all of these links and sharing them with you, but it does take time, and your support makes it possible for me to do that. I also write a weekly newsletter of technology analysis called The Torment Nexus.

Workers in a Calgary office building surprised to see a moose wandering the halls

An office building in Calgary had an unlikely intruder on Tuesday morning. Police and animal control officers were called to agriculture company AgCall’s Calgary office in Midnapore on Midpark Boulevard S.E. Grant Thomas-Nelson, who operates the building, said he got a call in the morning from a colleague who said the giant creature had broken a window and entered the building. “I initially thought it was a prank. I had a little laugh at first,” he told CTV News. But when Thomas-Nelson arrived at the building, he discovered the moose had broken a window. It was “roaming around in the front foyer” when he arrived, he said. Thomas-Nelson said he then propped open the doors and entered the building from another entrance so he could encourage the moose to leave. The moose soon took off, heading toward nearby Fish Creek Provincial Park. He added the creature seemed to be young but was about the size of a horse. (via CTV News)

He ran the Twin Cities marathon while carrying a canoe on his head

What would you portage a marathon for? A Minnesota man recently ran the entire Twin Cities Marathon while carrying a canoe to raise awareness for the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCA). He now plans to portage a marathon every week for an entire year to advocate for the permanent protection of the wilderness area from copper-nickel mining. Travis Meier finished the Twin Cities Marathon in just under six hours but was ultimately disqualified from the race for carrying a canoe. While disappointed about the disqualification, Meier says he still achieved his goal. “It’s to create a conversation,” said Meier. “What are the politics surrounding this whole thing? Why is this guy running around with a boat on his head? And he’s deciding to do it 52 times in a year? Why?” For Meier the why is simple: the pristine waters of the Boundary Waters and all the ecosystems it supports are at risk. The wilderness area is at the center of a battle over a proposed copper-nickel mine in the Superior National Forest. (via Paddling)

Italian actors recreate paintings by Caravaggio

Acknowledgements: I find a lot of these links myself, but I also get some from other places that I rely on as "serendipity engines," such as The Morning News from Rosecrans Baldwin and Andrew Womack, Jodi Ettenberg's Curious About Everything, Dan Lewis's Now I Know, Robert Cottrell and Caroline Crampton's The Browser, Clive Thompson's Linkfest and Why Is This Interesting by Noah Brier and Colin Nagy. If you come across something you think should be included here, feel free to email me at mathew @ mathewingram dot com