> Furby: The Salton Sea is the largest lake in California, but it actually started out as an accident.
This is not true, or at least not fully accurate, and not what I expect of a publication like Scientific American.
Not sure if you read the history section of the wikipedia article but it was intentional:
> In 1900, under Governor James Budd, the California Development Company began construction of irrigation canals to divert water from the Colorado River into the Salton Sink, a dry lake bed. After construction of these irrigation canals, the Salton Sink became fertile for a time, allowing farmers to plant crops.
> Within two years, the Alamo Canal became filled with silt from the Colorado River.
> Engineer Charles Rockwood, faced with bankruptcy and "after mature deliberation", directed the construction of a breach in the bank of the Colorado River approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the existing wooden headgates (the Chaffey Gate).
> Rockwood's action in ordering the breach was later described as a "blunder so serious as to be practically criminal."