I recently came across a reference for a “nocturnal for both bears.” It sounded, at first, like a piece of music written by Mussorgsky or perhaps Prokofiev, which it isn’t. It is a device used for telling time at night by the position of Polaris and the stars of the constellation Ursa Major, the “big bear.”
The instrument, known in English as a noctural and in French as a nocturlabe, is essentially an astroble to be used at night. As the pole star, Polaris, is in the constellation Ursa Minor, the “little bear” and the device involves sighting the stars from both big and little bears, the device is a “nocturnal for both bears.” It was first developed in the 1500s and was used up into the 18th century. As a device used for telling time at night, it was apparently only accurate to within 15 minutes or so.
For the last several days, 
The cruise industry in the Caribbean is donating to help the Bahamian victims of Hurricane Dorian. Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian Caribbean and Disney have all pledged millions in hurricane relief.
The 
A horrific fire broke on the commercial scuba diving vessel, 
On September 7th at 2PM, the 
Recent video of the extremely well-preserved wreck of Franklin’s ship 
Accompanied by a flotilla of well-wishers, 16-year-old Swedish climate activist, 
I feel like beginning this post with the old cheer, “The King is dead! Long live the King!” But no. That is hardly apt. How about “the schooner
Given all the economic damage being done by needless trade wars, it seems worthwhile to recall the ship that opened the trade with the United States’ first trading partner, China. The new nation had won the Revolutionary War but had lost much of its foreign trade. The economy slumped. The American banker Robert Morris decided to venture into new markets. If the British wouldn’t sell Americans tea from India, then Americans would buy tea from China. He hired a newly built privateer, renamed the ship the