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SearchResearch Challenge (9/31/17): Nautical mysteries?

Dan Russell • May 31, 2017
 SearchReSearch
Republished with permission from SearchReSearch
SearchResearch Challenge (9/31/17): Nautical mysteries? Dan Russell

Every so often you hear a few stories that just seem to go together.

This week, even though I'm teaching in Switzerland (maybe because I'm in Switzerland), I hear three stories that seem a bit too odd to be true. Can you help me figure out if these are real stories or not?

Here they are. In each case, what's going on? True.... or not?

1. I keep reading about people going whale watching in Lake Superior. Can I really see whales in Superior?? (It is, after all, a great lake. Could whales possibly live there?)
2. I was reading a bit o' Irish history and happened to read about a place called Clonmacnoise, where, once upon a time, a few of the monks apparently saw a sailing ship fly past in the air. How would such a thing be possible? Can you figure out any plausible way that people could see ships in mid-air?




3. Since I'm in landlocked Switzerland, someone happen to mention that Switzerland has a navy. I've only ever heard that term used perjoratively, so I wonder: Really? Does Switzerland really have a navy? If so, where is it?

I don't think these are really hard, but they're questions that all came up for me this week. What's your advice? Should I trust these statements? Or are they... fake stories?

Search on!


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About the Author

Dan RussellDan Russell

I study the way people search and research. I guess that makes me an anthropologist of search. While I work at Google, my blog and G+ posts reflects my own thoughts and not those of my employer. I am FIA's Future-ist in Residence. More »

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