He calls the new syntax a “star mention.” Two asterisks are typed around the name of, say, a restaurant or a city, and clicking on that star mention will lead to more information about it. “That is our atomic unit for content,” he said. He hopes it will one day be universally recognizable.

Creating a Language for the Web - NYTimes.com

It’s amazing that we live in an age where new invention can be as simple as naming and supporting an existing connection between nouns. It feels akin to exploring a new continent and discovering whole rivers of information, just waiting to be tamed and put to use.