Ancient Chinese secret, huh?
No -- it's not some reference to a vaguely racist home goods advertisement popular years ago, but the fact that sticky rice combined with slaked lime (not an item off a Chinese menu) equals a super sticky mortar that is holding up the Great Wall and may be strong enough to survive an earthquake, or so say scientists this past summer. I think I just found a new use for my leftovers!!
And, my Amazing Race Aside for the week -- here's a slew of ancient Omanian secrets learned from last week's episode: maps don't work there, stray goats will eat your clues, water from deep underground looks amazingly clear, it's a great place to get engaged, one way streets are not an exclusively American tradition, Ali Baba's apparently abandoned his forty thieves and now has gone all commercial, and the daughter that I thought I was going to dislike actually won me over from her very first words on the very first episode and she and her dad will be missed by me as the show winds toward its final episodes. Shame on me for pre-judging!
STICKY RICE SAVES THE WORLD:
http://www.livescience.com/history/sticky-rice-mortar-100601.html
CLIFF NOTES ON OMAN:
http://www.everyculture.com/No-Sa/Oman.html
AS ALWAYS, FACEBOOK HAS A PAGE FOR EVERYTHING:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=31325288653
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