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Grounded offers players a unique‚ whimsical adventure where even ‘safe’ places like the backyard are fraught with danger. Life in miniature is thrilling‚ and it’s even better with friends. The issue is‚ once you’ve beaten Grounded‚ what else is there? Fear not. Let me show you the 10 best games like Grounded. The top 10 best games like Grounded These titles are in no particular order‚ but each offers something that Grounded fans will find familiar. Valheim Image: Iron Gate Studios Let’s start this list hot with a game that should need no introduction. Valheim is a third-person‚ open-world survival game that can be enjoyed solo or with friends. While there’s obvious Viking inspiration‚ Valheim isn’t afraid to throw mythical creatures into the mix. There are decent base-building mechanics‚ and the procedurally generated worlds beg to be explored. A word of warning; Valheim takes the ‘survival’ part of the genre li...

I’m sure we can all wax poetic about all the cool toys we had when we were kids and all the hours of fun they brought us.  But on the other side of that coin CONTINUE READING... The post Toys I Never Had appeared first on The Retro Network.

Author of How to Prep When You’re Broke and Bloom Where You’re Planted online course One thing I learned when I went to Croatia to take Selco’s Urban Survival Course for Women years ago was that how you pack your bag matters. (He wrote about it here.) Taking that a step further‚ it also matters where you keep your preps in your home. When Selco explains how to carry your gear‚ he talks about layers. Your first layer‚ he says‚ should be on your body so that you have immediate access to it no matter what. You can lose a bag‚ you can be away from your car or cache‚ but the stuff on your body is immediately at hand. This might include carrying a knife around your neck‚ some urgent first aid supplies in your cargo pants pocket (such as a compression bandage)‚ a lighter in another pocket‚ a portable water filter in a waist bag‚ and a firearm in a holster at your waist. For ladies‚ you might have some of these items in a cross-body style purse. Then you have things you might urgently need to survive close at hand. I believe the same thing holds true for supplies in my house. Here are a few suggestions about where you might keep your preps at home. Layers count at home‚ too. What are the things you might need most urgently when you’re at home? I’m talking fast access‚ not climbing up to the attic or digging through an overstuffed closet. This first layer for the home is similar to the first layer on the body that Selco described. Where you keep your preps could mean the difference between seconds and minutes in an emergency. I want access immediately to the following items: Flashlights Urgent trauma care first aid supplies like pressure bandages‚ tourniquets‚ and EpiPens Packed bug-out bag Important documents Weapons Nearly anything else can wait until I dig it out‚ but these things could be needed urgently. So‚ where can you keep your preps so they’re easily accessible but not blatantly screaming that you’re stocked to the rafters? Prioritize these places for the first layer. There are a few home hotspots where I like to keep supplies‚ and I have duplicates of some items for this reason. By My Bed First of all‚ I like to have the things I might need when waking up in the middle of the night close at hand. By my bed‚ I keep these essentials: Shoes or slippers with a hard sole – these will protect my bare feet if there is some kind of middle-of-the-night emergency that causes broken glass or debris Flashlight – I keep one right on my nightstand so that I can see what’s going on if the power is out. Firearm – This is also on my nightstand when I sleep for the obvious reasons. Folding knife – I keep a small one tucked into my pillow case‚ clipped onto the hem. It’s a backup in case there’s some reason I can’t get to my gun. Phone and charger – If I need to call for help my phone is on my nightstand‚ which has a charging port built in. Now‚ I don’t have small children at home. If I did‚ I’d probably change where I kept my gun at night to some place they couldn’t access it if they popped in for a midnight snuggle. By the chair in the living room This area is really similar to my bed. If I’m sitting there‚ I’m relaxed. My end table has a little drawer that holds a firearm and a small flashlight. During the day‚ a pocket knife lives in my pocket‚ so that is always on me. By the door If you had to get the heck out of your house in a split second‚ how long would it take you to gather the most important things? I keep those things right by the door so that I can dash out of here fast in an emergency‚ and I’ve done so ever since I lived in wildfire country back in California. Bug-out bag – I keep one packed and in the entryway closet‚ on the shelf. It’s easy to get to and always ready to go. Important documents –  I keep photocopies of these in my bug-out bag‚ a set in the cloud‚ and a folder with originals in the drawer of the table by the door. They’re in a fireproof document folder for an added layer of protection. Keys – If I’m at home‚ my keys are always on a hook by the door. ALWAYS. Sturdy shoes – We don’t wear outdoor shoes in the house in my family. I always have a pair of sturdy hiking shoes by the door for emergencies. Extra socks are in my bug-out bag‚ so if I have to jam bare feet into the boots‚ it’s only temporary. Flashlight – I always keep a flashlight right beside the door in case I need to go outside and see what’s going on. I started this habit when we lived in the Algonquin Forest – it was so incredibly dark there‚ far from civilization. The flashlight I keep by the door is the spotlight type. It’s also handy if the dog needs to go outside. With these things by the door‚ I can leave fast if the situation calls for it. And it’s not just for natural disasters. These things are helpful for other types of emergencies‚ too. When I had to rush to the hospital for a family member one night‚ I grabbed my purse and my bug-out bag and had everything I needed to stay there overnight. In the kitchen Did you know that most accidents at home happen in the kitchen? Statistically speaking‚ “Two-thirds of home fires start in the kitchen‚ 480 people die a year in kitchen fires‚ and 350‚000 people are injured by kitchen knives each year. The most common injuries are burns‚ fires‚ and lacerations.” I base my kitchen preps on these threats. Fire extinguisher – I always‚ always have a fire extinguisher in the kitchen. (At least one.) These aren’t extremely expensive and it could save both your home and your life. I like this brand of fire extinguisher for its reasonable price and reliability. I keep one mounted in the cabinet beside the stove for fast access and a second one across the kitchen in case I can’t get to the first one due to the fire. When my daughter was 13‚ she had an unfortunate macaroni and cheese accident and used the fire extinguisher herself to deal with it. I believe these are vital additions to your home. Fire blankets – Another really useful addition to the kitchen that is in the cabinet beside the stove is a fire blanket. Some fires need to be smothered – and if someone catches a sleeve on fire or something‚ these could be urgently needed. First aid supplies – I keep a small stash of supplies to stop bleeding in my kitchen – you know‚ where all the sharp knives live. Under my sink I have a little kit containing a packaged compression bandage‚ a tourniquet that can be applied with one hand‚ and then some everyday bandaids for little cuts. If I were to sustain a bad cut‚ my immediate need is to stop the bleeding. I don’t need my aftercare items like wash‚ ointments‚ and gauze to be in the kitchen because I’m probably not going to clean and dress the wound there. The philosophy of where you keep your preps Things that are life and death matters – something you need urgently and immediately – should be stored where you are the most likely to need it. If you have a tractor‚ for example‚ you might want to keep a trauma kit in it. If you work on your car in your garage‚ you might require the same type of prep. If you have a workshop with a butane torch‚ you may want fire prevention items nearby. You get the idea. Having things close at hand can save you valuable seconds in a life-or-property-threatening scenario. It will only take a few minutes of your time to move everything into place‚ but when you need those items‚ you’ll be exceptionally glad you took the time to locate them conveniently. So often‚ prepping isn’t about the huge expenses like a generator or a fancy new rifle. It’s about the little things‚ like having the things you need when and where you need them. Relocating a few supplies is something anyone‚ at any level‚ can do to be better prepared. Where you keep your preps matters. Do you have any little survival stations around your home and property? What kinds of things do you stash there? Where do you think it’s important to have a small stash of emergency supplies? Let’s talk more about where to keep your preps in the comments section. About Daisy Daisy Luther is a coffee-swigging‚ adventure-seeking‚ globe-trotting blogger. She is the founder and publisher of three websites.  1) The Organic Prepper‚ which is about current events‚ preparedness‚ self-reliance‚ and the pursuit of liberty; 2)  The Frugalite‚ a website with thrifty tips and solutions to help people get a handle on their personal finances without feeling deprived; and 3) PreppersDailyNews.com‚ an aggregate site where you can find links to all the most important news for those who wish to be prepared. Her work is widely republished across alternative media and she has appeared in many interviews. Daisy is the best-selling author of 5 traditionally published books‚ 12 self-published books‚ and runs a small digital publishing company with PDF guides‚ printables‚ and courses at SelfRelianceand Survival.com You can find her on Facebook‚ Pinterest‚ Gab‚ MeWe‚ Parler‚ Instagram‚ and Twitter. The post Where You Keep Your Preps Matters appeared first on The Organic Prepper.

Who was Etta Place? She was the lover and perhaps wife of Pennsylvania-born Harry Alonzo Longabaugh‚ aka the “Sundance Kid‚” and a peripheral associate of the Wild Bunch‚ the outlaw gang headed up by Robert LeRoy Parker‚ aka “Butch Cassidy.” But little is known about her origins and less about what happened to her after Sundance and Butch were killed in South America. Larry Pointer‚ author of the 1977 book In Search of Butch Cassidy‚ wrote that Etta’s identity is “one of the most intriguing riddles in Western history.” Place was likely born in 1878 and as an adult was described as having “classic good looks‚” with a nice smile and a refined bearing‚ a description confirmed by a full-length portrait of her and Longabaugh—some say the couple’s wedding picture—taken in February 1901 at Joseph B. De Young’s photo studio at 815 Broadway in New York City. She spoke in an educated manner and knew how to handle a rifle. She had met Longabaugh a year or two earlier and may have been involved in some of the Wild Bunch robberies‚ scoping out a bank in advance or holding the group’s horses during a heist. But the New York City picture‚ historian Thom Hatch wrote in his 2013 book The Last Outlaws‚ “hints of proper high teas‚ Central Park carriage rides and evenings at the theater.” Even her name is probably false. “Place” was the maiden name of Longabaugh’s mother‚ Annie‚ and Sundance sometimes used the alias “Harry Place.” It has been suggested she took to using the first name “Etta” in South America after Spanish speakers mispronounced “Ethel‚” which may or may not have been her actual first name. The Pinkertons variously referred to her as Ethel‚ Eva‚ Rita‚ Etta and Betty Price. In a letter to friend David Gillespie shortly after the gang’s June 2‚ 1899‚ train robbery near Wilcox‚ Wyo.‚ Longabaugh enclosed a copy of the portrait of himself and Place‚ whom he described as his wife and a “Texas lady.” The Pinkertons‚ who spent a lot of time and effort pursuing the Wild Bunch‚ always believed Etta was from Texas‚ which fits with her noted skills with horses and firearms. In 1906 William Pinkerton‚ his detectives having traced Place to Fort Worth‚ asked that city’s police chief to “find out who this woman is.” Based on the theory Etta’s real name was Ethel and she hailed from Texas‚ researcher Donna Ernst compiled a list of all women named Ethel born in or around Fort Worth and San Antonio between 1875 and ’80. Over time she eliminated each as a contender for the youthful Etta Place. Except one. Desperate to place a name to Etta’s face‚ or vice versa‚ some have suggested she’d been mistaken for Colorado rancher and Wild Bunch associate Ann Bassett‚ though the evidence doesn’t square. That one was Ethel Bishop‚ who resided with four other women in what was probably a brothel near notorious madam Fannie Porter’s San Antonio pleasure palace‚ a known Wild Bunch hangout. Another oft repeated story suggests Butch rescued Etta from a brothel when she was 16. Longabaugh biographer Ed Kirby believes Place was the daughter of one Emily Jane Place of Oswego‚ N.Y.‚ who was related somehow to Sundance’s mother. Still others have suggested Etta was in fact Colorado rancher Ann Bassett‚ a Wild Bunch associate known to have vied with sister Josie for Cassidy’s affection. Could Bassett have won Sundance’s attentions as well? Probably not. By 1903 Bassett had married Hirum “Hi” Henry Bernard and that same year was arrested (and later acquitted) on a charge of cattle rustling while Place was in South America. On Feb. 20‚ 1901‚ after posing for their portrait‚ Place and Longabaugh boarded HMS Herminius in New York‚ disembarking in Buenos Aires‚ Argentina‚ on March 23. Traveling with them was Cassidy‚ using the alias “James Ryan” and claiming to be Etta’s brother. In 1902 Place and Longabaugh returned briefly Stateside for Etta to seek treatment of an unknown disease‚ and again in 1904‚ when Pinkerton operatives believed she visited family in Texas. In 1906 Place returned Stateside for keeps‚ possibly due to her illness. Sundance returned to South America‚ where most historians believe he and Butch died in a 1908 shootout with soldiers in Bolivia. Meanwhile‚ Etta vanished. Several researchers have suggested she became a brothel operator in Fort Worth under the name Eunice Gray. But in an article in the October 2010 Wild West Donna Humphrey-Donnell noted she’d seen an alleged portrait of the young Gray‚ and the woman in that photo definitely “was not the same woman seen in the famous New York City portrait of Etta Place and the Sundance Kid.” In 1909 an unidentified woman fitting Etta’s description asked a U.S. diplomatic official in South America for help in obtaining Longabaugh’s death certificate. But she never returned to his office. At most‚ however‚ the incident only proves Place was alive in 1909. Other theories have since surfaced: that Etta was the wife of legendary boxing promoter Tex Rickard; that she relocated to Paraguay and remarried; that Longabaugh had survived the 1908 shootout in Bolivia and lived happily ever after with Place in Alaska; that Etta died in the 1906 San Francisco earthquake; or that she was either killed during a domestic dispute or took her own life in Argentina in the 1920s. In 1970 Cassidy’s sister‚ Lula Parker Betensen‚ told Los Angeles Times reporters that her brother had not been killed in Bolivia as thought‚ and that Etta had lived out her days as a schoolteacher in Denver. Playing Place in the 1969 Western Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid was Katharine Ross (above‚ with Paul Newman as Butch in the “Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” bicycle scene). In the end‚ speculation‚ guesswork and coincidence aside‚ we only know for certain she was a pretty woman who once carried on a romance with the Sundance Kid and then disappeared from the pages of history. Nothing more. To this day similarly incredible tales circulate about Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid‚ stories relating their escape from the Bolivian gunfight and their subsequent lives of anonymity in various locales out West or in South America. Like the theories surrounding Etta Place‚ though‚ they are unsubstantiated and probably false. But tempting.  This article originally appeared in the Spring 2024 issue of Wild West magazine.

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A gigantic balloon has spent a record-breaking 55 days‚ one hour‚ and 34 minutes in the air above Antarctica while scooping up scientific data to gain a deeper understanding of the cosmos. NASA’s GUSTO (Galactic/Extragalactic ULDB Spectroscopic Terahertz Observatory) scientific balloon mission was launched on December 31‚ 2023‚ near the US National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station in Antarctica. On February 24‚ 2024‚ the balloon earned the record for the longest flight of any NASA heavy-lift‚ long-duration scientific balloon mission.More is yet to come‚ though. The GUSTO mission is set to run for just over 60 days‚ but will then continue to fly and push the record ever further. “After that‚ we plan to push the limits of the balloon and fly as long as the balloon is capable to really demonstrate the capabilities of Long Duration Ballooning‚” Andrew Hamilton‚ acting chief of NASA’s Balloon Program Office at the agency’s Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia‚ said in a statement.“The balloon and balloon systems have been performing beautifully‚ and we’re seeing no degradation in the performance of the balloon. The winds in the stratosphere have been very favorable and have provided stable conditions for extended flight‚” added Hamilton.The GUSTO satellite being hoisted above Antarctica by the giant balloon.Image credit: GUSTO team/Johns Hopkins UniversityThe balloon is absolutely enormous‚ measuring over 1.1 million cubic meters (39 million cubic feet) in area. Its job is to carry the van-sized GUSTO telescope to the stratosphere at an altitude of 36 kilometers (22 miles) above Antarctica‚ right at the edge of space. Here‚ the lack of water vapor allows the instrument to pick up on extremely faint terahertz signals that provide an insight into the life cycle of the interstellar medium‚ the gas‚ dust‚ and radiation that exist in the space between the star systems in a galaxy."We were all part of the interstellar medium – every atom and molecule in your body was at some point gas and dust flowing between the stars‚" Chris Walker‚ an astronomy professor at Steward Observatory and the principal investigator for the GUSTO mission‚ said in a statement.The chemistry of the universe has radically shifted since the Big Bang. To understand how the universe and our own galaxy came to be‚ astronomers must look at the interstellar medium in galaxies of different ages.GUSTO attempts to do this by looking at the makeup of carbon‚ oxygen‚ and nitrogen in the young Milky Way and in the neighboring Large Magellanic Cloud. By comparing these two celestial systems‚ researchers can learn about the different stages of the stellar life cycle‚ including the birth and evolution of stars.Planning their next move‚ Walker and the GUSTO team have recently applied for a new project that could see the same instrumentation currently aboard GUSTO being used in space to hunt for planet-forming systems and habitable zones."If you're not pushing the edge‚ what's the point?" Walker said.

“Water‚ water everywhere‚ and not a drop to drink.” So wrote Coleridge in 1834‚ unwittingly providing a pretty good description of the planet Earth: so inundated with water that our world looks blue from space‚ and yet only about 2.5 percent of it is actually drinkable – i.e. freshwater.Of that‚ almost all is groundwater – 99 percent‚ in fact‚ of all liquid freshwater is found in this form‚ hiding just under the Earth’s surface in cracks and pores of rock and sediment. It’s a crucial resource for some 2.5 billion people today‚ providing drinking water and irrigating crops – even generating energy and powering industries. So you’d think we’d keep an eye on how much we’re getting through.Instead‚ the world has been “squandering groundwater like there’s no tomorrow‚” Hansjörg Seybold‚ Senior Scientist in the Department of Environmental Systems Science at ETH Zurich‚ told SciTechDaily. He’s a co-author of a new study into global groundwater decline‚ published last month – the findings of which provide a sobering look at humanity’s water consumption across the globe.Researchers "analyzed groundwater-level measurements taken over the last two decades from 170‚000 wells in about 1‚700 aquifer systems‚” wrote Mohammad Shamsudduha‚ co-author of the paper and an Associate Professor in the UCL Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction‚ in a blog post on the research. “This is the first study that has mapped trends in groundwater levels using ground-based data at the global scale in such an unprecedented detail that no computer models or satellite missions have achieved this so far.”What they found was an unprecedented decline in global groundwater levels: reductions of more than 10 centimeters (3.9 inches) per year in 36 percent – more than one in three – of sampled aquifer systems. In one-third of those‚ water was disappearing even faster – by more than 50 centimeters (19.7 inches) annually in 12 percent of the total number of aquifers. “We weren’t surprised that groundwater levels have fallen sharply worldwide‚” Seybold told SciTechDaily‚ “but we were shocked at how the pace has picked up in the past two decades.”The study covered more than 40 countries‚ but some stood out for their severity: West Qazvin Plain‚ in Iran‚ for example‚ is drying out faster than it used to‚ as is Lobo Flat in Texas. Areas like these are particularly vulnerable to groundwater depletion – their populations are growing‚ the natural conditions are arid‚ and the climate crisis is only making it hotter‚ drier‚ and less predictable. Even outside of such desert climes‚ groundwater loss is bad news. “Sustained groundwater depletion can cause seawater intrusion in coastal areas‚ land subsidence‚ streamflow depletion and wells running dry‚” wrote Shamsudduha. “Depletion of aquifers can seriously affect water and food security‚ and natural functioning of wetlands and rivers‚ and more critically‚ access to clean and convenient freshwater for all.”But there is good news. In amongst all the loss‚ there are pockets where groundwater reserves are showing a bounce back – areas where aquifer depletion is slowing‚ or even reversing course. Where strong regulations have been brought in to tackle water use‚ the effect has been particularly strong: pumping fees and licensing of wells have bolstered groundwater reserves in Thailand’s Bangkok basin‚ for example‚ while losses in Iran’s Abbas-e Sharghi basin were reversed by the diversion of water from a large dam in the west of the country.“Such examples are a ray of hope‚” Scott Jasechko‚ a researcher at the University of California‚ Santa Barbara‚ and lead author of the paper‚ told SciTechNews. But they’re far from guaranteed: “Once heavily depleted‚ aquifers in semi-deserts and deserts may require hundreds of years to recover because there’s simply not enough rainfall to swiftly replenish these aquifers‚” he added.Time is ticking. If groundwater reserves get too low‚ whole ecosystems and economies can be threatened: land can subside‚ wells can run dry‚ and water salinization can permanently destroy farms’ and wildlife’s chances of thriving.“That’s why we can’t put the problem on the back burner‚” warned Seybold. “The world must take urgent action.”“roundwater levels don’t always have to go only one way: down.”The paper is published in the journal Nature.