Most of us know that feeling of being crazy in love. It usually doesn’t end well. We typically first experience it in high school or, for some, even middle school. It’s that one person you dream about but who seems so far out of reach, and almost always is. Then eventually, if one is lucky, as they get older, they find that one person who may finally give them a look back, and possibly even more. Then it all starts—that crazy in love feeling that turns your world upside down. For very few, it will last a lifetime, but for The post 10 Classic Rock Songs About Being Crazy In Love appeared first on ClassicRockHistory.com.

The post 10 Basics of a Homemade Fresh Diet for Cats: Our Vet Explains by Dr. Luqman Javed DVM (Veterinarian) appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com. Many pet parents are keen to explore fresh at-home diets for their cats. In fact, research shows that a majority of pet owners are keen to give equal, and in some instances, more priority to buying healthy food for their pets.1 The process, however, can be somewhat frustrating for those new to the concept. Understandably, it is difficult to find a reliable diet, but many owners also believe it might be too costly to make the switch. Interestingly, though homemade diets often do cost slightly more than commercial dry food, they are in fact more economical than commercial canned food.2 As more owners explore the world of fresh diets for their pets, it’s important to keep some rules in mind. If you’re curious about such a diet for your pet, read on as I highlight the main rules of such a dietary transition. The 10 Basics of a Fresh Diet for Cats: I consider these basics to be fundamental rules for at-home diets. Though not all of them may apply to you, it’s great to have a list of expectations so that nothing catches you off-guard. 1. Prioritize Your Health Given the fact that most at-home diets for cats involve raw meat or some raw ingredients (more on this shortly), keep in mind that there are instances where such circumstances might not be safe for you. Pregnant women (or those planning to conceive), immunocompromised individuals, the elderly, young children, and a few other age groups or categories of individuals should not be near or handling raw meat. It’s best to discuss this with your healthcare provider in more detail prior to switching your cat to such a diet. Alternatively, let your veterinary nutritionist know of your circumstances so that they only formulate cooked diets for your pet. 2. Prioritize Your Cat’s Health, Too! Image credit: Gorodenkoff, Shutterstock This might come as a surprise, but not all cats are candidates for a raw diet! Many diseases, ailments, and conditions in cats can limit their ability to handle or utilize a raw diet properly. You should always have your cat checked by your veterinarian before you change their dietary style. It’s also important to routinely have lab work done by your veterinarian for your cat. These include blood tests, a weight check, a body condition score analysis, a urinalysis, and possibly a fecal test. Determining which tests would be best and most relevant for your cat is up to your veterinarian’s discretion. Though your cat might not need all these tests performed, it’s good to have a realistic expectation of what your veterinarian might recommend for them. 3. Select Your Pet’s Nutritionist Carefully Keep in mind that there are many animal nutrition courses for pet owners out there. These don’t follow the same syllabus or include all of the aspects veterinarians learn when specializing in animal nutrition. The fact that there is a huge medical component when it comes to figuring out what to feed your cat means that it’s important to ensure that you have your diet formulated by someone who is also a veterinarian. Always keep in mind that your pet is a unique biological entity, and as such, they will do best with a diet formulated by someone up to date on their health and medical status. Being well informed about feline nutrition is a fantastic thing, but if someone is a feline (or even canine) nutritionist without being a veterinarian, they wouldn’t have all the necessary knowledge to formulate a diet for pets with specific conditions or requirements. I don’t say this to malign or disparage individuals who are feline and canine nutritionists but aren’t vets. I think the fact that more individuals are looking to learn about feline and canine nutrition is a wonderful thing. Rather, I say this from the point of view that your pets deserve the best and you play a huge role in their nutritional welfare. Regardless of who you choose to make meals for your cat, ensure that they have both the veterinary and nutritional credentials your pet deserves. 4. Get Ready For Raw Image Credit: Nils Jacobi, Shutterstock When it comes to preparing at-home diets for your cats, raw meats remain the best option for beginners. This is because cooking, baking, boiling, broiling, steaming, or grilling meat in any way reduces its nutritional yield considerably. Though it’s possible to cook homemade meals for cats, a few seconds of excess cooking time or a few degrees off the recommended temperature (factors often out of our control) can make or break the diet, resulting in a pet that’s inadvertently nutritionally deprived. Cooked diets almost always require the addition of multivitamins, multi-minerals, or other such supplements to ensure they are nutritionally adequate for your pet. This can be discouraging for those eager to explore a “natural” diet, as adding supplements would make the diet seem unnatural to an extent. In addition, most people interested in fresh diets for their pets are keen to follow the most biologically appropriate nutritional profile. For cats, this would be a raw diet. 5. Meat Sourcing I strongly recommend sourcing meat intended for human consumption. It’s also best to opt for raw meat that has undergone some form of quality control or check, such as raw meat pasteurization. As a rule, if you wouldn’t buy it for yourself, you shouldn’t buy it for your pet, either! 6. Hygiene Image Credit: Budimir Jevtic, Shutterstock Hands should be thoroughly washed (for at least 20 seconds with a disinfectant soap) and dried before and after handling raw meats. In addition, any surface used to cut meat should be washed with hot water and disinfectant soap. 7. Segregation Ideally, different cutting boards, knives, bowls, and utensils should be used for meats that you prepare in your house. These should not be used with or stored with other kitchen appliances, bowls, or utensils that you use for other types of food (such as vegetables). 8. No Cats! The kitchen is one of the most dangerous places for a pet cat, as they can easily jump onto counters. Cats are naturally inquisitive and may sample items in a kitchen that they shouldn’t be eating. A cat on a counter is also at risk of injury from kitchen appliances or sharp objects (such as knives). Therefore, it’s strongly recommended to not allow your cat in the kitchen. This is a general guideline I recommend for anyone even if they aren’t making meals for their pets at home. 9. … And No Other Pets, Either This is a natural extension of the previous point. Like cats, other pets should not be allowed in the kitchen, either. If you have dogs, ferrets, or other carnivorous pets, they may not think twice before trying to sneak some food intended for your cat off the counter. Even non-carnivorous pets may sometimes sample the food intended for your pet cat. This is because many pets are naturally inquisitive and often form social bonds with their caretakers; they might be interested in eating whatever it is you’re preparing, even if it isn’t good for them. Image Credit: New Africa, Shutterstock 10. Keep Your Expectations Realistic Finally, though natural diets may be very beneficial for some pets, most of the benefits of such a diet are still considered anecdotal and not entirely verified by research. As such, it’s important to keep your expectations realistic. Yes, your cat might benefit from such a diet. However, thinking that such a diet will cure a disease (or make your cat immune to acquiring diseases) is a stretch! In addition, it’s important to keep in mind that the process of a dietary transition is slow, and therefore, the expected results from such a diet would also take considerable time. Conclusion And that does it for my 10 quintessential rules for those who are new to the world of fresh homemade diets for their cats (or other pets). Naturally, there might be other rules that could apply to your circumstances. However, these tend to cover most of the relevant bases when it comes to the fascinating world of homemade nutrition for our pets. Sources https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6515811/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32706820/ Featured image credit: LightField Studios, Shutterstock The post 10 Basics of a Homemade Fresh Diet for Cats: Our Vet Explains by Dr. Luqman Javed DVM (Veterinarian) appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Blog Front Lines and Frontiers From Comic Book to Novel: Captain America: The Great Gold Steal and Captain America: Liberty’s Torch Two novelizations starring Captain America show how the character and his world have grown more complex over time… By Alan Brown | Published on August 20, 2024 Comment 0 Share New Share In this bi-weekly series reviewing classic science fiction and fantasy books, Alan Brown looks at the front lines and frontiers of the field; books about soldiers and spacers, scientists and engineers, explorers and adventurers. Stories full of what Shakespeare used to refer to as “alarums and excursions”: battles, chases, clashes, and the stuff of excitement. Today, as part of my summertime search for pulpy adventure books to read, I’m looking at two novelizations featuring my favorite comic book character, Captain America. Novelizations, or adaptations of stories from other media, are not always seen as the pinnacle of literature—and when novels are based on superhero comic books, they tend to get even less respect. But these stories can often be enjoyable, especially in the hands of authors who are knowledgeable about and comfortable with comic book superheroes. I found these two books in a recent archaeological expedition in my basement. The first is from 1968, and the second is from 1998, and the approaches to the novelizations reflect the publishing industry in two different eras. The first is a slim novel; in length, format, and style very similar to the Doc Savage novelizations so popular for Bantam Books in that era. It was part of what appears to be a series of only two novels, which also included The Avengers Battle the Earth-Wrecker by Otto Binder, which suggests that this particular publishing venture was not a success. The second novel is part of a much more extensive series from the 1990s which included more than forty books. They were published by Berkley Boulevard Science Fiction imprint, and packaged by Bryron Preiss, which specialized in illustrated books (and later in early forms of electronic books). As it turns out, this series was edited by Keith R.A. DeCandido, who is well known to readers of Reactor as a long-time reviewer of superhero and science fiction movies and television shows. The cover of the older book is by the incomparable Robert McGinnis, whose work on detective and romance novels was ubiquitous in the 1960s, and who was perhaps most widely known for his book covers and movie posters for the James Bond series. His depiction of Cap captures the character well, depicting him as lean and athletic, and not overly muscle-bound like some comic book depictions. The second book has a cover by famed comic book artist Jim Steranko, although unfortunately it is printed in metallic colors, and superimposes Cap on a featureless silver background, which somewhat diminishes Steranko’s distinctive work. Oddly, the cover has no copy on the front, with the title and author only listed on the spine. Each chapter is illustrated by a pen and ink illustration by comic book artists Mike Zeck and Bob McLeod, which is a nice way to leverage the visual appeal of a comic book in a prose novel. This is not the first time I’ve reviewed a comic book novelization in this column, having covered Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.: Empyre here. And when Stan Lee died, I looked at a favorite comic book featuring the WWII adventures of Nick Fury and Captain America here. About the Authors Ted White (born 1938) is an American science fiction author, editor, fan, and critic. His earliest contributions to the field were in fanzines, and he won a Hugo Award in 1968 as best fan writer. He’s written over a dozen science fiction novels, and participated in a number of collaborations. He was an assistant editor of the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction for five years in the 1960s, and then edited Amazing Stories and Fantastic magazines. He later worked at Heavy Metal and Stargate magazines. Tony Isabella (born 1951) is an American comic book fan, writer, editor, artist, and critic. He worked as an editorial assistant for Marvel, and scripted a number of their books. He then wrote for DC comics, and later for Comico and Innovation Comics. He had a long-time column in Comic Buyer’s Guide. Bob Ingersoll (born 1952) is an American lawyer and comic book writer. His full-time occupation before he retired was as a county public defender in Cleveland, Ohio. He’s written a number of comic books, which included superhero, science fiction and other stories. He also wrote a column in Comic Buyer’s Guide that discussed the portrayal of the legal profession in fiction. Captain America Captain America was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby in 1940 for Timely Comics (which later became Marvel). The cover of the first issue had the flag-clad superhero punching Hitler in the face. At this point, the US had still not entered the war, and American Nazi sympathizers picketed the Timely building. I once met the elderly Joe Simon at a New York Comic Con, and in addition to talking about creating Captain America, he took great delight in describing how the pugnacious Jack Kirby had headed straight downstairs to fight the picketers, only to return disappointed because they had already left. Like many characters in comic books, Captain America’s origin has been retold many times, although the basics remain the same. Young Steve Rogers was 4F due to poor health, but volunteered to serve as the subject of an experiment to create a super-soldier. The successful experiment granted him superhuman strength, reflexes, and stamina, but the scientist who created the process was murdered by a Nazi spy, and the secret of Cap’s creation died with him. In the days before the US entered the war, Cap served as an enlisted man on the home front, taking on the bumbling persona of Private Steve Rogers by day, and donning his colorful uniform to fight saboteurs at night. Because in those days, comic creators thought teen sidekicks helped sales, the unit mascot, James “Bucky” Barnes, discovered his secret and extorted him into accepting him on as a partner. The comic company attempted to keep the Captain America comic going after the war, but sales tailed off, and the book was cancelled. Then, in the mid-1960s, having created a new super-team called the Avengers, Stan Lee decided that team would discover Captain America, lost at sea after attempting to stop a missile at the end of WWII, and frozen in suspended animation ever since. He was revived and became a member of the Avengers. He fought not only the usual villains of the time, but also unrepentant Nazis trying to revive the Reich. And he mourned his old partner Bucky, who had died in their attempt to stop that missile. Over the decades, while they tried to keep comic book continuity and history intact, Marvel eventually had to abandon Cap’s fixed mid-1960s revival date, revising it to a more nebulous “several years ago.” And his adventures began to reflect the complexities of modern politics, as his desire to represent American ideals often brought him into conflict with the government. Cap spent a long time partnered with the Falcon, a Black man from Harlem with mechanical wings and a telepathic connection to birds, including his pet hawk Redwing. At times, the Falcon even assumed the mantle of Captain America himself. Over the years, some people have dismissed Captain America because the idea of a person wrapped in a flag turned them off, seeing him as a symbol of blind patriotism and runaway nationalism. The truth, however, is that he (a product of New Deal optimism) leans a bit left of center, and often finds himself at odds with those whose patriotism takes a darker or fanatical turn. Another impression people have is that virtuous characters are boring, and less interesting than complex villains or antiheroes. Yet, in the right hands, a good person’s struggle to live up to high ideals can be just as interesting as the pursuit of vengeance or evil. Captain America: The Great Gold Steal The resemblance of The Great Gold Steal to Doc Savage novels is no coincidence, as one of Ted White’s other novels was a Doc Savage pastiche featuring a character called Doc Phoenix. The book opens with Cap trying to read some novels, and not being happy with any of them (the in-joke there is that one, a science fiction novel, fits the description of a book by White). And when a character delivers a piece of a gold bar to Captain America, and gets murdered by a laser beam while doing so, that character is given the name of Monk Mayfair, which is the name of one of Doc Savage’s assistants. Mayfair has apparently run afoul of a shadowy organization, led by a shadowy figure, whose members have adopted the names of birds as code names. White spends the first few chapters re‘cap’ping the history of Captain America (see what I did there?), and does a great job evoking New York City in the 1960s. The villain’s use of lasers is also an artifact of the 1960s, as the devices were all the rage back then. The plot hinges on the fact that in those days, US currency was tied to the value of gold bullion stored at Fort Knox and Federal Reserve Banks around the country. Cap, going it alone because the other Avengers are off in space (they very frequently disappear to give Cap a chance for solo adventures), recognizes the seal on the gold Mayfair had given him, and meets with the Vice Director of the New York Federal Reserve Bank to discuss the issue. The villains have tunneled from an abandoned warehouse into the bank vault and steal a few truckloads of gold, only to be confronted by Captain America, who they attempt to blow up. His remarkable healing powers allow him to recover from being buried by the explosion. The villains, wanting to make one more try at the gold, use their laser to destroy a power plant and distribution node, plunging the city into darkness and chaos. Cap immediately realizes what is going on and confronts them in a grand battle. The book is a fun one, although very much a product of its time. Unfortunately, it doesn’t give Cap enough chances to demonstrate his fighting prowess, and in one case he is rather easily captured by his foes. He also grabs a handgun to wound an adversary at one point, perhaps because White wanted to give him a grittier edge, but it would have been more in character for him to use some other means to neutralize the opponent. The mysterious mastermind is finally revealed, although because the author didn’t introduce enough characters to properly misdirect the reader, the reveal is rather anti-climactic. Overall, the book is a fun experiment in rendering the character’s comic book adventures into the format of a novel. Captain America: Liberty’s Torch The book opens with the obligatory re‘cap’ (I did it again) of the character’s history, this time using the new “several years ago” timeline in describing his thawing from suspended animation. Cap now works with the Falcon as a partner. The authors introduce a new character, a mystery writer named Colin Maxwell, whose work is set in the 1930s, and which Cap enjoys. When Cap goes to get a book signed, they strike up a friendship, and over the next few years Cap helps Colin with getting details of the era right. But Colin is now working on a novel set in modern times and decides to research the threat of militia groups, which leads to his murder by an especially nasty group called Liberty’s Torch. With real-world incidents like the bombing of the Oklahoma City Federal Building fresh in everyone’s minds, this was a very timely topic in the late ’90s. Cap and Falcon find that the Liberty’s Torch group is not only anti-immigration, anti-welfare, bigoted, and homophobic, but they are also conducting a wave of crimes against symbols of the “socialism” they see as destroying America. Moreover, they are planning to soon engage in open revolt. Wealthy industrialist Taylor Douglas, leader of Liberty’s Torch, decides to capture Captain America and put him on trial for the various “wrongs” the United States has comitted. Because Captain America often proves surprisingly easy to capture when the plot requires it, he is soon imprisoned in the extensive bunkers beneath Douglas’ large upstate New York estate. The group sets up a “citizen’s court,” presided over by Douglas, and with a jury made up of loyal militia members. They release daily tapes of the proceedings to a sympathetic news network to get publicity. To give the appearance of fairness, they kidnap a lawyer, Mark Gruenwald, to represent Cap (as a tribute, the authors gave the character the name of a beloved comic book author who had recently died). But while Douglas thinks he has the upper hand in these proceedings, even the trappings of an American courtroom have a power that undermines his attempted rush to judgement. While Cap is imprisoned, Falcon pairs up with a militia expert, and the two of them head out to explore the Liberty’s Torch compound. The expert turns out to be a politically conservative, law-abiding member of another militia, Phillip Barry, who the authors employ to keep the politics of the novel from falling into an overly simplistic left-versus-right dichotomy. The fantatical Douglas has decided, once the trial of Captain America is over, to stage his own death, and trigger his revolution by attacking a United Nations training exercise that is being held in the woods nearby. Soon the area erupts into chaos as all the plot threads collide in a thrilling climax. The book is well researched, and the fact that one of the authors is a lawyer makes the proceedings of the kangaroo court feel real. The prose is sometimes a bit stiff, and the authors have a tendency to show off the extent of their research in long expository lumps or detailed descriptions of weapons and devices. But the plot moves along at a brisk pace with plenty of action, so any flaws in the narrative don’t draw too much attention. All in all, the book is a fun read for Captain America fans, as well as a good introduction for readers who might be less familiar with the character. Final Thoughts These two books show the evolution of superheroes during the latter half of the 20th century, with the characters and the situations they faced becoming more complex over time. But through it all, the character of Steve Rogers remains as brave and steadfast as ever. Captain America was a favorite when I was a teenager, and remains my favorite comic book character today. And now I’d like to hear from you: What are your feelings on Captain America, and if he’s not your favorite comic character, I’d like to hear who your favorite is, and why…[end-mark] The post From Comic Book to Novel: <i>Captain America: The Great Gold Steal</i> and <i>Captain America: Liberty’s Torch</i> appeared first on Reactor.

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The European Space Agency’s Gaia observatory has produced the most accurate map of the Milky Way, with the position and motion of almost 2 billion stars being used to better understand our galaxy’s present and past. However, teams are now looking at the future. One of them aims to conduct a follow-up mission that can re-observe what Gaia has seen and see where Gaia couldn’t, going into the infrared.The incredible work of Gaia is ongoing – thanks to Gaia, for example, we know that the Milky Way absorbed several smaller galaxies many billion years ago – but with time the map will become more imprecise. In a few decades' time, it will no longer be good enough for the kind of work that the spacecraft has gotten astronomers used to.GaiaNIR (NIR stands for near-infrared) allows the observatory to see through the dust that features in the plane of the Milky Way. It will allow a better understanding of the dynamical processes at the core, in regions with a lot of star formation, and expand the measured number of stars by a factor of six if not ten.“Even though Gaia is very brilliant and is revolutionizing everything, it's really only measuring 1 percent of the galaxy,” GaiaNIR proposer Professor David Hobbs, from the University of Lund, told IFLScience. “The important thing about infrared, of course, is that all of the really dynamically interesting parts of the galaxy, they're all lying in the galactic plane, and this is where all the dust is as well. Gaia is very good at seeing out of the galaxy, but it's actually not that very good at seeing into the galaxy. It needs, in a sense, a pair of glasses to see through the dust, and that's what the near-infrared detectors will allow.”Not to be all Annie Get Your Gun about it, but the proposal sees GaiaNIR being able to do anything Gaia can do but better. We won’t be throwing away the incredible work done by Gaia – actually, building on it with a new mission is expected to push the precision up by a factor of 15. Such precision has long been sought in astrometry but it has remained elusive due to many challenges.The team also hopes to include new instruments such as a spectrograph to gain even more insights into the stars and other objects that GaiaNIR will measure. Gaia has let scientists discover black holes, asteroids, and moons of asteroids, on top of measuring the position of stars and distant galaxies. It’s crucial to keep measuring many of these systems, as their motion changes in ways we can’t predict.“If you don't keep measuring them, they won't be where you think they are in 20 years time,” Professor Hobbs continued. “The problem with this kind of mission is it's very hard to summarize how many interesting things there are because there are so many of them. I mean, I can list off case after case after case, but there are just so many different cases.”With boundless potential for discovery, the mission proposals for GaiaNIR hope for such a mission to be picked up. If it is selected, it will be sent into space in the 2040s, building on the still-growing legacy of its predecessor. Professor Hobbs presented details of the proposal at the XXXII International Astronomical Union General Assembly in Cape Town. 

Contrary to what many of us thought, great white sharks are not made up of a single species but are actually separated into three distinct populations that inhabit different parts of the world’s oceans. The results raise concerns for conservationists, as it seems these distinct populations rarely interbreed.The discovery was made by an international team of scientists who applied new advanced genome analysis to white sharks from around the world. They found that the three distinct geographic lineages separated between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago, during the Penultimate Glacial Period, and each inhabits waters in the south Pacific Ocean (Indo-Pacific), northern Pacific Ocean, and in the North Atlantic and Mediterranean, respectively.Despite their global distribution, previous research into the molecular population of white sharks has been limited to opportunistic sampling from single ocean basins or regions. In addition, most of these relied on an analysis of “microsatellites”, repetitive segments of DNA that repeat multiple times at specific points in a genome, and small fragments of the mitochondrial control region, which controls RNA and DNA synthesis.However, the focus on these markers created a confusing picture that appeared to be unhelpful for understanding recent connectivity between white shark populations. As such, the researchers in this study turned to high-resolution genome-wide markers – something called single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) – which provided a reliable and reproducible image of the situation that revealed the three distinct lineages.This discovery is more than a curiosity about an (in)famous marine species – it also highlights a significant conservation problem.  Crucially, the researchers found that the sharks do not interact with those from other populations. This means the global population of white sharks is actually at a greater risk of extinction than previously thought, as a loss in any lineage is unlikely to be recovered through interbreeding.“If all the white sharks belonged to a single large, integrated global population, it would not matter so much if they vanished from a specific area,” Dr Catherine Jones, the study’s lead researcher at the University of Aberdeen, explained in a statement.“But if white sharks comprise separate genetically distinct populations, such as in the Mediterranean, and this were lost, unique genetic diversity would also be lost.”The research demonstrates the need to understand the distribution and health of these different groups of sharks if they are to be protected in the future.“Successful conservation requires recognition of management units, but this has been unavailable for white sharks, which were suspected to exist as a single global population,” Les Noble, Professor of Aquatic Biosciences at Nord University in Norway, added.“Although not widely appreciated man’s future is increasingly bound up with that of white sharks. As top predators they play a crucial role in maintaining the health and diversity of local marine ecosystems which are responsible for 20 percent of protein in our diet. In the last 50 years white shark abundance has almost halved, and it is recognized as critically endangered in Europe.”If recent forecasts are correct, then we may see changes in the strength and direction of the major ocean currents within the next 50 years. If this happens, then it could lead to the breakdown of the geographic boundaries between these shark lineages, which could lead to more unproductive mating, further endangering white sharks along with the overall diversity, health, and productivity of the world’s oceans.“It has long been considered that sharks lost from one area would be compensated for with the movement and matings of sharks from other locations. Our findings suggest this is clearly unlikely and this, together with bycatch fishing, depletion of their food reserves, pollution, and poaching, could put this iconic apex predator in real danger of extinction,” Jones concluded.The study is published in Current Biology. 

Archaeologists have been furiously digging to unearth a stunning mastodon skeleton in Iowa. It’s the first time that well-preserved remains of the prehistoric beast have been scientifically excavated in the state – and what a beauty it is.Researchers at the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist were first contacted in the fall of 2022 after a local resident of Wayne County stumbled across a strange, long bone poking out of the creek bed. A preliminary probe revealed that the bone was the femur of an extinct mastodon. They also discovered part of a tusk, which they believed to be still attached to the skull, sparking interest in a full scientific investigation. After securing the necessary funds, archaeologists returned to the site in August 2024 and commenced a 12-day dig, excavating the skull and several more bones. Look at the size of this thing!Image credit: Kirk Murray/University of Iowa Office of the State ArchaeologistTheir radiocarbon dating of the remains suggests the mastodon lived around 13,600 years ago, roaming North America towards the end of the last Ice Age when the animals fell into extinction.Mastodons were large mammals similar to both modern-day elephants and mammoths that stomped around North America from around 3.5 million years ago until 10,500 years ago. One of the key differences between mastodons and mammoths was their teeth: mastodon teeth had unusual cusps specially adapted for eating woody plants, while mammoths possessed teeth that were flatter and ridged, perfect for munching grasses.    The discovery in Iowa is especially exciting as it coincides with the era in which humans had settled in the region. This overlap is significant because it's well-documented that mastodons were hunted and butchered by these early inhabitants of North America. The archaeologists have already discovered several human-made artifacts at the site, including stone tools. While they are a few thousand years younger than the mastodon skull, it hints that some fascinating discoveries could be revealed by further research.“We’re really hoping to find evidence of human interaction with this creature — perhaps the projectile points and knives that were used to kill the animal and do the initial butchering. There’s also potential evidence on the bones themselves — there could be identifiable cut marks,” John Doershuk of the University of Iowa Office of the State Archaeologist (OSA) said in a statement.Once it's been fully studied and preserved, OSA is planning on putting the bones on display at the Prairie Trails Museum in Corydon for the public to peruse.

Hydrated metals have been detected on the surface of the asteroid Psyche. The observations, made with JWST, raise some big questions for the mission named after the asteroid, which hopefully will be settled when the spacecraft reaches its target.At 222 kilometers (178 miles) wide, 16 Psyche is the 16th largest member of the asteroid belt (not the reason for its number), but its importance is greater than that. Where larger counterparts are mostly composed of silicates and carbonates, Psyche is the Solar System’s largest M-type asteroid, the most metal-rich category. Although expected to be predominantly nickel-iron, Psyche also contains large quantities of precious metals close to the surface. This sometimes leads to absurd headlines listing a value greater than the global economy, forgetting the fact that if we could mine its contents the sudden abundance of these metals would cause prices to crash. Recent re-estimates of Psyche’s density have also cast doubt on just how metal-rich it may be.Planetary scientists think Psyche’s true gold is the information it can offer, suspecting it is the surviving core of a protoplanet destroyed in a collision with an object of similar size. If so, it could teach us a lot about the cores of surviving inner planets, including our own, although alternative origin stories have also been proposed. The discovery of molecules combining water with metals at its surface could have implications for the source of Earth’s own water.Using JWST, a team of astronomers led by Dr Stephanie Jarmak, formerly of Southwest Research Institute (SwRI), found Psyche is absorbing light with a wavelength of 3-µm. This wavelength is associated with OH (hydroxyl) components of molecules, either when bonded to metals, or in water. With Psyche being so iron-rich, it is likely much of what was detected is iron hydroxides like Fe(OH)3, familiar as a component of rust.However, water produces a 6-µm line not seen by JWST or previous observations. Consequently, the authors conclude there cannot be more than 39 parts per million water on Psyche’s surface. That’s pretty dry – the Moon is 100-400 ppm, thought to be from hydrogen brought by the solar wind.Psyche gets too much sunlight for ice to survive on its surface, but exposed water-bearing minerals are a different matter, along with metals that have reacted with past water.One explanation for the presence of these hydroxides is that water was brought to Psyche on carbonaceous chondrite asteroids, which are known to carry it. These asteroids are common in the main asteroid belt, and it is to be expected some would collide with Psyche. Whether this happens often enough to account for what has been observed is uncertain, however.The alternative theory is that Psyche formed beyond the Solar System’s "snow line", where temperatures are low enough for ice to survive on objects, as seen with the outer planets. How Psyche migrated from there to its current orbit is unknown, but if this version is correct, it must have preserved some water in the process. In this scenario, Psyche is not the left-over core of a protoplanet after all.This debate mimics the long-standing one about Earth’s water. Was it all brought here by comets and asteroids, or did it survive deep in the mantle when the surface was magma and subsequently escape through volcanoes? If we can answer the question for Psyche, it may help us solve the issue closer to home.“Our understanding of Solar System evolution is closely tied to interpretations of asteroid composition, particularly the M-class asteroids that contain higher concentrations of metal,” Jarmak said in a statement. The Psyche mission is almost a third of the way on its journey to check the asteroid out, and will no doubt answer many questions. However, it is not able to measure spectra longer than 1.1 µm. “Using telescopes at different wavelengths of infrared light, the SwRI-led research will provide different but complementary information to what the Psyche spacecraft is designed to study,” said Dr Tracy Becker.The study is to be published in the Planetary Science Journal and a preprint is available on arXiv.org.