When a Castaway Sends an S.O.S. to the World, Where Does It Go?
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The myth of the desert island castaway, kept alive forever in movies, song and frequent New Yorker cartoons, needs a rewrite.
The poor soul scrawls his plea for salvation (conventionally his) with whatever writing instrument and parchment the island allows. He rolls it up, slides it into a bottle, pops in the cork and launches it into the sea.