Svarga, the island utopia that's also an innovative artificial ecosystem, is now back in Second Life. First created in 2006 by a UK programmer known in SL as Laukosargas Svarog, last August it disappeared from the grid without much warning. But now it's returned intact, with its randomly wandering rainclouds and bees and birds and plant life. I took the screenshot above last weekend, and now you can visit too: Direct SLurl teleport to Svarga at this link.

There is some mystery why it's back now. Last year after it had gone offline, Ms. Svarog told me she'd sold it to Linden Lab, though she's still currently listed as the owner. (I'm checking with the Lindens for confirmation.) For now, be sure to visit the place Philip Linden often describes as coming to close to his original vision for Second Life.

Thanks to Lukas Mensing and everyone else who pinged me on this!

Update, 2:40PM: Just got word from company PR rep Peter Linden: "Yes, Linden Lab purchased Svarga for much the same reason as we recently announced the Linden Endowment for the Arts: to provide a way for this high-quality experience to live on in the ever-changing world of Second Life."