Imagine a unicycle, but there's no seat, the wheel is much bigger and you ride inside it. That's a monowheel, and while it may not be a casual rider's cup of tea, extreme sports people are way into them. Plus: how would you like to recreate a piece of art in your house that's made of fortune cookies? 

Rise of the Monowheel (Mashable)

Want a Gigantic Pile of Cookies in Your Home? 1,000 People Are Being Asked to Hoard Fortune Cookies as Part of an Ambitious Global Art Show (Artnet)

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A new Harvard study finds those systems that suggest words to us when we type on our smartphones are actually shaping the way we write sentences and messages. The new app Drive + Listen can take you on the most realistic virtual road trip of our time. 

Predictive text systems change what we write (Harvard)

Listen to local music as you 'drive' through your favourite city with this new app (Lonely Planet)

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Otters are known to choose favorite rocks to carry around and juggle - it's a real sight to see. Researchers at the University of Exeter have been trying to figure out why otters juggle. Meanwhile: Juneau, Alaska just set up a joke hotline for residents looking for a laugh while staying at home.

Otters juggle stones when hungry (Science Daily)

City of Juneau started a joke hotline to cheer people up. High demand might have knocked it offline. (Anchorage Daily News)

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The moon waxes and wanes in its phases month after month, and it always comes back. Except for that time in 1110, when records indicate that the moon vanished for months, or maybe even a year or longer. Scientists finally think they know what happened. Plus: a Japanese newspaper has a secret message about social distancing - but you have to be social distancing to read it. 

In 1110, The Moon Vanished From The Sky. We Might Finally Know What Caused It (Science Alert)

A Japanese Newspaper’s Secret Social Distancing Message (Spoon + Tamago)

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Chris Sedden was looking at scans of a site near where he lived, and spotted something “a bit odd, and a bit round.” It might be a lost henge! Plus: the community of Dorset finds a way to hold the annual "knob"-eating contest even while everyone's staying home. 

Lost henge? Digging archaeology online during lockdown (The Guardian)

World-famous 'Knob-eating contest' held online for the fist time ever (Times Now News)

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Colleges and students are trying to make the best of the current difficulties - like with virtual commencement ceremonies, for example. But there are still some traditions that are hard to replicate online, like Meredith College's annual presentation of a class doll at the end of the year. Plus: meet Graham Walters, who rowed his way across the Atlantic Ocean, only to find the world had changed considerably since the start of his trip. 

Beyond Fashion: The Story Behind Meredith College’s Class Dolls (Walter Magazine)

A 72-year-old UK man has completed a solo trans-Atlantic rowing trip in 96 days (CNN)

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There's been a surge in popularity for jigsaw puzzles lately - not bad for an idea that was originally meant to teach kids in London about the countries of Europe. Plus: today marks the 10th anniversary of the world record for the largest group hug. Anyone want to try to break that record next year? 

Here’s How Those Hot Jigsaw Puzzles Are Made (New York Times)

Piecing together the history of jigsaw puzzles (CBS News)

Ottawa sets the world’s record for largest group hug (Guinness World Records)

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The city of Pompeii was buried by Mount Vesuvius almost 2,000 years ago. And yet something there may sound very familiar to us today: the community had a pretty elaborate recycling system. Plus: why staff at the Sumida Aquarium in Tokyo are encouraging people to video chat with their eels.

Did the Ancient Pompeiians Invent Recycling? New Research Suggests They Used Trash to Build City Walls (and Much More) (Artnet)

Japanese aquarium urges public to video-chat eels who are forgetting humans exist (The Guardian)

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Missing the sounds of a full restaurant on a Saturday night? Several well-known ambient sound apps and platforms feature a wide range of soundscapes, including restaurants, that might bring those familiar sounds back to you. Plus: the story of a dude in Wisconsin who woke up the neighborhood with his guitar shredding. 

The Sound of Silence (Eater)

Miss Reading in Public? Bring the Sounds of the Library to Your Home (Electric Literature)

Waukesha blotter (Waukesha Freeman)

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Authorities in Belgium are calling on citizens to do their duty and help the country's potato farmers by ordering frites twice a week - fitting, since Belgium is home of the world's only Frietmuseum and considers itself the birthplace of the fried potato. Plus: today in 2008, the passing of the man who made the Pringles can possible. And he included that iconic tube of chips in his final wishes. 

Belgians asked to eat fries twice a week (Brussels Times)

The Humble Origins Of The French Fry Might Surprise You (Food Republic)

Can Belgium Claim Ownership of the French Fry? (BBC)

The Man Buried in a Pringles Can (TIME)

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