Armored Dinosaur had a Bulletproof Vest

Many dinosaurs relied on plate armor to keep them safe from predators. But one went so far as to grow a ‘bulletproof vest’ over its plate armor. The best-preserved dinosaur fossil on record is a type of ankylosaur called a nodosaur. The nodosaur was a herbivore that grew 18 feet long and lived 110 to 112 million years ago. One of these fossils was so well preserved, scientists were able to determine the strength of its keratin plates and the bony spikes that covered them. It is estimated that the nodosaur could survive a crash with an F150 pickup that was going at speed.

Usually, only the bony spikes remained on other armored dinosaur fossils, because keratin (dead cells that form structures like hair and fingernails) doesn’t fossilize well. So when paleontologists studied armored dinosaurs in the past, they assumed the main protection came from the bony structures, which they thought might have been covered by a thin layer of keratin like a turtle shell.

In 2017, an exceptionally well-preserved fossil was discovered in a mine in Alberta, Canada. The fossil was so well preserved that researchers could analyze the color of its armor and even look into its stomach to see its last meal.

There was a keratin layer over the bones, but it was much thicker than anticipated. It was over 6 inches thick in some places. The keratin sheath over a modern cattle horn is only 0.6 inches thick. The keratin sheath would allow for flexibility and could easily be removed if it got damaged. It would be like trimming a broken nail instead of needing to heal a broken bone.

This armor could withstand much more force than predators of the time could deliver, which suggests the armor may have been used during fights between males who were vying for female mates.

This research also reveals new insight into dinosaur armor in general. It is likely that other armored dinosaurs also had thick keratin sheaths. And those with armored and weaponized faces and heads were probably using a lot more keratin than is normally modeled.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/armored-dinosaur-could-withstand-the-impact-of-a-high-speed-car-crash-thanks-to-the-bulletproof-vest-over-its-plate-armor/ar-AA1tHLFo?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=f4e5ca4b3d53413dc221ad6255622e96&ei=63

Saber-Toothed Kitten

In Siberia, Scientists have recovered the mummy of a newborn saber-toothed cat from the permafrost. The kitten died at least 35,000 years ago, yet its whiskers and claws are still attached. It is remarkable that the mummy still had sharp claws and whiskers. However, the eyelashes were not preserved.

An analysis of the kitten’s stunningly-preserved head and upper body shows it was 3 weeks old when it died. The pelvic bones, a femur and shin bones were encased in a block of ice with the mummy. The cause of the kitten’s death is unknown.

It is extremely rare to find well-preserved remains of saber-toothed cats. This one is of the species Homotherium latidens. Saber-toothed cats of the Homotherium genus lived across the globe from 5.3 million to 11,700 years ago, but evidence suggests this group became less widespread toward the end of the last ice age.

The latest recorded presence of Homotherium in Eurasia was between 770,000 to 126,000 years ago. But the discovery of this kitten confirms its presence from 126,000 to 11,700 years ago in Asia.

The frozen mummy shows it was well-adapted to ice age conditions. The kitten carcass was compared to that of a modern 3-week-old lion. The saber-toothed kitten had wider paws and no carpal pads, which act as shock absorbers in today’s felines. These adaptations enabled walking with ease in snow, while thick, soft fur found on the mummy shielded it against polar temperatures.

The comparison with the lion also revealed that saber-tooth cats had a larger mouth, smaller ears, longer forelimbs, darker hair and a thicker neck. Studies of adult Holotherium skeletons had already shown that they had short bodies and elongated limbs, but these features were already present at the age of 3 weeks.

Radiocarbon dating of the mummy’s fur suggested the kitten has been buried in permafrost at least 35,000 years, and possibly as long as 37,000 years. The carcass was discovered in 2020 and has enabled scientists to describe physical characteristics such as the fur’s texture, the shape of their muzzle, and the distribution of their muscles.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/35-000-year-old-saber-toothed-kitten-with-preserved-whiskers-pulled-from-permafrost-in-siberia/ar-AA1ualVY?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=f4e5ca4b3d53413dc221ad6255622e96&ei=47

Oldest Known Alphabet Discovered

In a groundbreaking discovery, researchers have found what may be the oldest known alphabetic writing in human history. It’s dramatically older than any other alphabetic writing, so these ancient artifacts are rewriting the history of communication.

Discovered in a tomb in western Syria, several delicate clay cylinders are challenging everything scholars thought they knew about the origin of alphabetic communication. Four finger-length artifacts, extracted from Tell Umm-el Marra, have been dated to 2400 BCE. This places them a stunning 500 years earlier than previous historical records.

“Alphabets revolutionized writing by making it accessible to people beyond royalty and the social elite,” said the lead archaeologist. According to him, “Alphabetic writing changed the way people lived, how they thought, how they communicated.

The cylinders were found among an archaeological treasure trove. Not only did the tomb contain six skeletons, gold and silver jewelry, cookware, a spearhead, and intact pieces of pottery. These clay cylinders appear to be labeled with what might be the earliest known alphabetic script.

It is speculated that these cylinders might have been used as labels, potentially identifying vessel contents, origins, or ownership. But without a method to translate the writing, these are educated guesses.

Scholars previously thought the alphabet was invented in Egypt sometime after 1900 BCE. But these artifacts are older and from a different area, which suggests the alphabet may have a different origin story than thought.

The research team’s meticulous work included carbon-14 dating to confirm the age of the tombs, artifacts and mysterious writing, which provides scientific validation for their claims.

The meaning of these ancient markings is a mystery, but these artifacts offer a glimpse into how our ancestors first began to record and share information beyond spoken language.

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/article/oldest-known-alphabet-discovered-on-ancient-artifacts-rewrite-history-of-communication/ar-AA1uvoE7?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=6d3f5a178b054867be3cfa0c233c94fa&ei=67

Learning Patience While Healing

Oof! This has been a bad year for me, health-wise. I had 2 stays in the hospital, one for 9 days in July, and the other for 7 days in September. Then I took a fall in a local mall parking lot at the end of October that resulted in 6 broken ribs. I’m looking at 6 weeks while those heal.

Enough already! I am ready to be well!

Of course, things don’t work like that. The body takes the time it needs to heal. And when the time comes that your brain is ready to get back to doing things, but your body isn’t done healing, guess which one wins the argument.

It wasn’t so bad when I was in the hospital. The first half of my stay, I was too sick to do much but eat when my meals arrived and sleep. When I did reach the point where I felt like doing things, I never thought to have my hubby bring my laptop to me because I was sure I was going to be discharged any minute! And when it didn’t happen that day, I was sure it would happen the next, so I’d find some mind-numbing shows on the tv, and think about all I would do once I got home.

But cracked ribs are a little different. You get to be at home; you just have to be careful not to aggravate your damaged bones. And get plenty of rest. The ache of my ribs made me extra tired. I found myself sleeping 9-10 hours at night and taking a nap in the afternoon. And maybe one in the morning. It left me little time to get anything done.

Each day, I would stare at my To Do List and cross off those things I did manage to do; take my morning pills, check my blood sugar, check how my Amazon Ads are doing, open the daily snail mail, brush my hair and teeth, take my evening pills… small stuff that had to get done. And each day I would gather up all the things I didn’t manage to do that day and shove them off until the next day. Things like write my family letter that usually gets sent out every 2^nd month, write my weekly newsletter, write my weekly blog, format the next manuscript waiting to be published, ride my stationary bike for some exercise, and so on.

The first couple of weeks after my fall, I had plenty of pain to remind me why I was sleeping so much. “This isn’t forever,” I told myself, and so I wouldn’t beat myself up about all that I wasn’t getting done. But as the pain subsided – and by now, it’s just a gentle ache in my ribs to remind me to take an afternoon nap – then I find myself impatient to start doing all those things I’ve been putting off. To ignore the ache and keep working.

I could do that. Some days I have done that. However, if I choose not to take a nap, then I am extra tired extra early that evening, and I sleep even longer that night.

I have to learn to be patient. It is no good beating myself up over my need for extra sleep. That just makes me depressed, and I’m already fighting chronic depression, so I don’t need any more of it. This won’t last forever. By mid-December, my ribs will be fully healed. That’s only a month away.

Thankfully, this past week has afforded me the opportunity to get some writing done; the family letter, this week’s newsletter, this blog, and even a couple thousand words on my current Work In Progress. Although that story has passed 10K words, so I’m not sure it truly qualifies as a short story anymore, but we’ll see how long it gets. However, that time for writing is obtained by being away from our home for the day, so I can’t get an afternoon nap. Here’s hoping that these days give me a little boost in stamina for getting through a day without a nap. That would be nice.

In the meantime, I must be patient. Being impatient doesn’t get me anywhere.

Red Deer Cave People

The Red Deer Cave People appear to have been some of the most unusual humans in the past 20,000 years. They have been dated to have existed about 14,000 years ago, which is exceptionally recent in terms of human evolution. Yet, their fossils display many ‘archaic’ human features that are associated with more distant relatives in the family tree.

They might have been an ancient relic of humanity that held on until the end of the last Ice Age. Or they may have been a hybrid population, possibly related to Neanderthals and Denisovans. Or perhaps they show that Homo sapiens were extremely diverse throughout their history.

In 1989, human remains were unearthed at a cave in Yunnan, southern Chine. It became known at the Red Deer Cave because of the discovery of giant red deer fossils at the site. It is believed the human inhabitants cooked and ate the animals.

In 2012, scientists speculated whether the people in the cave represented a new human species. By studying their jaws and teeth, it was noted they had thick skulls with flat faces, broad noses, small chines, large molar teeth and prominent brow ridges, all features associated with older, long-extinct members of the human family tree.

The scientists had discovered a population of prehistoric humans whose skulls display an unusual mosaic of primitive features, like those seen in our ancestors thousands of years ago.

A 2015 study of a thigh bone discovered at Red Deer Cave suggested that individual weighed about 110 pounds (50 kilograms) and shared anatomical features with early Homo erectus or Homo habilis, both of which went extinct about 1.5 million years ago.

Since the femur was dated at just 14,000 years old, this did not fit the widely accepted chronology of human evolution. This femur was part of a living person a few thousand years before Homo sapiens developed agriculture, which sparked an evolution of culture that ultimately gave rise to complex civilizations.

It suggests that primitive-looking humans might have survived until very late in our evolution. But it is just one bone. A pre-modern species may have overlapped in with modern humans on mainland East Asia, but that case needs to be built with more bone discoveries.

By 2022, advancements in ancient DNA allowed a study of Red Deer Cave hominins’ genetics. It confirmed that they were modern Homo sapiens. In fact, they had a significant genetic connection to modern East Asians and Native Americans, who descended from the same groups of people.

So the Red Deer Cave People were not as unusual as first thought, even though the small population did have features not seen in any modern population of humans. With no clear explanation why they appeared this way, it hints that humans living towards the end of the last Ice Age were more diverse than those living across the world today.

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/red-deer-cave-people-mysterious-humans-with-archaic-features-lived-just-14-000-years-ago/ar-AA1sjQUN?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=d22bab67fbce4483a434506da43bfd67&ei=110

Speedy Space Object

It’s always good to know that our defense systems work.

On July 6^th, (I believe it was in 2024, but I could be wrong), automated systems that study the skies for potentially hazardous objects sent out a warning. Estimated at about 164 ft (50 m) in diameter, the object was spotted hurtling towards Earth. Its path would take it uncomfortably close to the moon and our planet. However, it was not an asteroid.

As objects move through the sky, different observatories identify whether it’s a new object and if it might pose a hazard to Earth. Follow-up observations determined that the object was actually the European Space Agency’s Juice (Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer) spacecraft. The probe was flying by Earth and the moon to exploit gravity as it slingshot through space.

But the Juice spacecraft isn’t 50 meters across. Its solar panel wings measure only 27 meters (88 feet), which is quite big for a deep space probe. Because it appeared very bright, owing to its reflective solar panels, the automated system initially estimated the object was a larger rock.

Scanning the skies for menacing objects is important. It gives us time to prepare and evacuate a certain area, if that’s necessary. Scientists agree that we need to know what’s coming, when it’s coming, and how hard it’s going to hit.

Space rocks do veer into our area of the solar system from time to time. But there are no known asteroids on course to collide with Earth for at least the next 100 years.

Even relatively small rocks are still threatening, as proven by the 56-foot (17 meters) rock that exploded over Russia and blew out people’s windows. Every year, on average, an automobile-sized asteroid plummets through our sky and explodes. Objects about 460 ft (140 m) in diameter occur every 10,000 to 20,000 years. And a ‘dinosaur-killing’ impact from a rock a half-mile across or larger happens on 100-million-year timescales.

Just to ease your mind, the dinosaurs went extinct about 66 million years ago.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/speeding-space-object-triggered-a-warning-it-wasn-t-an-asteroid/ar-AA1oUdjf?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=31d76d4fc57b4ec7828d859661209820&ei=30 

Mysterious Monolith

On the Mediterranean island of Cyprus, archaeologists have unearthed a temple believed to be 4,000 years old, which features a mysterious monolith. The remains of the sacred space were identified at the archaeological site of Erimi.

The prehistoric settlement of Erimi is located in south-central Cyprus more than 300 feet above sea level, on a limestone terrace. Cyprus is located in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, and serves as a crossroads between Europe, Africa and Asia.

Around 2000-1600 BC, in what’s known as the Middle Bronze Age, a community settled on the Erimi hill. In this Bronze Age community, scientists discovered a room in which they found a monolith measuring more than 7 feet in height. The monolith is completely smooth and features a motif in the center.

The monolith, which had stood in the center of the room, had collapsed onto the floor and destroyed a large amphora placed at its feet. An amphora is a type of container with a pointed bottom. Its characteristic form dates back to prehistoric times.

Peculiarities of this room indicate it is a sacred space. It is believed that the activity that supported the community economically also involved its members ideologically and symbolically. This small sacred space in Erimi is the oldest example known on the island.

I wish the article had included a rendering of the motif on the monolith. It’s always exciting to get a glimpse of what was considered important and special to people from another age.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/archaeologists-discover-mysterious-monolith-in-4-000-year-old-temple/ar-BB1pKQPq?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=5a6a04505124448aa6c13993dfb41141&ei=50

Hidden Secret Temple

Since 1830, archaeologist knew about the 120 tombs on a hill side in Tuscany, Italy. The tombs dated to the 7^th to 6^th centuries BC. But only recently did they discover in the same area an ancient temple of a cult.

The temple was part of the ancient Etruscan necropolis of Sasso Pinzuto. It includes plenty of artifacts, such as clay tablets that give details about the funerary rituals of the time, some of which may have lasted for centuries.

Known as an oikos—a house of the deity—the temple provides a window into the architecture of the ritual sites of the day. It includes a transverse atrium and 3 rooms oriented north-northeast.

Since the 1830s, researchers have found about 120 chamber tombs. Three mounds contain the bulk of the burials. North of the largest mound, they found 9 small pits dug for additional burials. It was near these pits that the temple was discovered. Experts believe the site was for Etruscan elites.

The architecture of the burial grounds shows the style of ancient tombs, with chambers dug into rock, divided into rooms that could be used for multiple generations of the same family.

Archaeologists also found information that helps depict what happened inside the temple. Decorated clay slabs show ceremonies chronicling everything from the use of horsemen and chariots to the purpose of dancers and musicians during banquets.

They also found the remains of clay and metal furnishings in the temple that appear to have been in use at the time.

Now, as I remember it, the Etruscans were around before the Romans appeared. But at the time I heard about them (many long years ago), there wasn’t much known about them, so I was excited to see this article.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/archaeologists-found-a-cult-s-secret-temple-hidden-among-ancient-tombs/ar-BB1qTqQI?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=4b29427ca0eb40e9a777238542e8cbdc&ei=31

Atlantis?

Some scientists have found some ancient islands deep underwater in the Atlantic Ocean. Some experts believe the drowned landmasses may be the potential inspiration for the well-known myth of Atlantis. They have even gone so far as to call the find “Lost Atlantes”, after the fabled civilization that the gods drowned.

Some of these islands still have their beaches intact. They are located on an underwater mountain located around 1.4 miles (2.3 km) underwater off the coast of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.

Researchers say that 56 to 34 million years ago, Los Atlantes was a series of islands topped by 3 now inactive volcanoes. When the volcanoes stopped erupting, the lava solidified and became denser, causing the islands to sink into the sea.

Despite the passing of millions of years, the islands have retained distinctive features, such as beaches, cliffs and sand dunes at the flat summit of the mountain. The sand which now covered the volcanic rock would have been deposited as the islands descended into the water.

Some of the beaches lie only 200 ft (60 meters) below the oceans’ surface. During the last ice age, when sea levels were far lower than today, the inactive volcanoes would have become islands again. These islands could have been colonized by wildlife, or even early people. When the ice age ended and sea levels rose, the islands sank again.

In my opinion, if there were people living on these islands during the last ice age, and at least some of them escaped when the sea levels rose, I’m sure they couldn’t resist telling anybody they met about their escape. Such a tale, handed down from generation to generation, could have easily become the myth we still know today.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/tripideas/the-origins-of-atlantis-discovered-off-the-coast-of-lanzarote/ar-AA1oIRiY?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=35a8ff97a59b43ddb693e2b85c252796&ei=79

American Stonehenge

Stonehenge remains a great mystery, with experts divided over why the prehistoric monument was built. Somehow, prehistoric mankind managed to create this structure, which seems to defy the engineering capabilities of the time.

It has been discovered that a similar enigmatic stone structure exists beneath the waters of Lake Michigan in the US. Furthermore, this underwater creation is believed to be 5,000 years older than its British counterpart.

The site was discovered in 2007 by a team of archaeologists conducting a survey of the lakebed. Just off the coast of Traverse City, MI, they chanced upon a series of large stones arranged in a circular pattern. At a depth of about 40 feet (12.1 m), the team was initially unsure what they’d found.

The pattern is of 2 circles, one inside the other, with the inner circle 20 feet in diameter and the outer circle 40 feet. Some of the stones weigh up to 3,000 lbs (1,360 kg), but analysis suggests that the stones had been deliberately arranged by humans.

The stones are all granite, which is found in the area. The formation is estimated to be around 10,000 years old, one of the oldest formations ever discovered in North America.

While the Lake Michigan stones are similar in size and shape to the monoliths of Stonehenge, they aren’t stacked or connected in the same way.

There is evidence that prehistoric tribes roamed the Great Lake area for thousands of years, very little is known about them.

The Anishinaabe were among the first to inhabit the region. This tribe’s prehistoric, hunter-gatherer forefathers settled in the area following the last Ice Age, and their descendants believe they placed the stones there for a sacred purpose.

The area was not underwater 10,000 years ago, and people had settled on the exact spot where the stones were laid. However, 5,000 years later, the water levels rose, flooding the Lake Michigan basin.

Thanks to advanced technology, scientists were able to stitch together photographs of the rocks to create accurate 3D pictures, which they could then analyze in detail. This revealed carvings and engravings on some stones, including an image of a Mastodon.

Mastodons were ancestors to elephants and woolly mammoths. They were up to 10 feet tall (3.1 m), weighed upwards of six tons (5,440 kg), and lived from about 2.6 million to 11,700 years ago. The carvings suggest that the humans at this site had some knowledge of these mammals, possibly even hunted them.

The formation’s configuration–which includes a long line of rocks leading directly to it–suggests it could have been an ancient hunting structure known as a drive lane. Humans have used drive lanes for thousands of years to herd groups of animals along a path toward a kill zone, where hunters lie in wait. In this case, the site challenges the belief that early humans weren’t capable of creating such sophisticated structures.

Nevertheless, the precise purpose of the structure and the identity of its architects remain a mystery. Like its younger cousin over in Salisbury.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/strange-stonehenge-discovered-in-us-lake-that-s-5-000-years-older-than-the-british-landmark/ar-BB1pGifA?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=c9c98088d1de48bf9e371e0d06f68d37&ei=80

Homestead on the Moon

Hooray! There are homes for the taking on the moon!

Don’t start packing. They aren’t exactly built yet. It’s more like they’ve found empty lots where homes could be built. If you like living in caves.

Scientists have convincing evidence of a cave where astronauts could work and live in relative comfort. They suspect there may be hundreds of caves on the moon and want to use radar to find others.

Plans to build a permanent lunar base have been stymied over the conditions found on the moon’s surface. During the moon’s day, the temperature can reach 250 degrees F, and during the night, it dips to -200 degrees F. Solar and cosmic radiation is also a hazard that must be prepared for. Some plans for a lunar base called for the base to be built, and then buried in at least 2.5 feet of moon dirt.

But caves can mean less work to build a lunar base, because you wouldn’t need to move all that moon dirt around.

The data about this first cave discovered indicates the cave is approximately 150 feet wide and possibly 260 feet long, slightly smaller than an American football field. This cave sits in a deep pit which likely formed when a lava tube collapsed. There are no active volcanoes on the moon now, but billions of years ago, lava flowed through valleys, creating tubes across the lunar surface.

Over the ages, some of those tubes collapsed, creating pits. The scientists don’t have a clear idea what the cave looks like inside, but lava tubes like those in Hawaii have been studied. NASA has identified over 200 of these pits on the moon, suggesting the presence of hundreds of caves also.

The cave’s thick rock ceiling is ideal to protect people and infrastructure from the extreme hazards of the moon’s surface. In a cave such as this, computer simulations suggest that the cave’s temperature would remain at around 63 degrees F. Sounds like the place to build, right?

However, reaching these caves could be another matter. The Mare Tranquilitatis cave is located over 400 feet from the surface, near the bottom of a steep slope of loose debris. Traversing that slope would require technological ingenuity. That could be jet packs to fly people in and out, a lunar elevator, or something else.

There’s also a chance that moon cave could harbor water, in the form of ice. It’s long been known that there’s frozen water on the moon, particularly in its permanently shadowed craters. Since caves are shielded from the merciless radiation of the sun, they also could have ice.

Such water would be a crucial resource for any future moon bases. It wouldn’t just be a beverage, it could also be broken down to its elements–oxygen for breathing and hydrogen for rocket fuel. Thus an abundance of water on the moon could help launch astronauts to Mars.

But in the meantime, let’s all put on our thinking caps and start designing lunar cave bungalows, shall we?

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-discover-an-underground-cave-on-the-moon-where-astronauts-could-live-and-suspect-hundreds-more/ar-BB1q6Hzp?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=d181ab3114dd46d7ae8dcdf13bc73e29&ei=57

Prehistoric Human Brains Baffle Scientists

The most delicate organ in the human body is the brain, which is why it’s protected by a thick-boned skull. What’s baffling is that this squishy mass, out of all the organs, can survive the most time without decay.

Researchers have cataloged over 4,000 naturally preserved human brains, some as old as 12,000 years. This archive includes Inca sacrificial victims, prehistoric people, and North Pole explorers. And yet, the discovery of a preserved brain is perceived to be a very rare incident.

Human soft tissue, including the brain, can be preserved by some well-understood processes such as dehydration, freezing, and tanning. These methods can be the result of human actions or natural factors. It’s not unusual for brains to survive when other internal organs are well-preserved, such as in dried-out remains of desert burials, frozen bodies from mountain passes, and tanned bodies from bogs.

However, preserved brains have been found without other soft tissues, such as floating alongside bones in sunken shipwrecks, or sitting alongside ancient bones from a swampy pond.

Until now, there has been no systemic study to determine why brains last longer than other soft tissues.

This new archive allowed researchers to determine the prevalence of intact brains, to study how they persisted, and the diversity of their preservation conditions. They also mapped their distribution worldwide across time. Finally, the researchers studied the brains to understand ancient diseases and genetics.

About a quarter of the brains were discovered in bodies lacking any other preserved soft tissue. Known processes that preserve all types of tissue can’t explain why these brains endured.

The reason why these brains were preserved is a mystery, but it might be because of the brain’s chemical composition. The brain has a 1-to-1 ratio of proteins to lipids, while other soft tissues have different ratios. This ratio could mean that if metals like iron are introduced, it could cause the proteins and lipids to bind together and last longer. Many preserved brains were found to contain iron oxide (rust).

The team is employing new techniques to study the molecular interactions leading to the preservation of brains. The brains could also offer an opportunity to study neurological diseases in ancient humans.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/thousand-year-old-intact-human-brains-baffle-scientists-and-there-are-thousands-of-them/ar-BB1knvV8?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=e61c919954d04db49bab96e09d0a1bfa&ei=54

Strange Metal Relic

An awe-inspiring metal column has perplexed experts for over a century.

The 1,600-year-old pillar stands amid the ruins of a world heritage-listed temple in Delhi. It’s made of iron, but it never rusts. Normally, iron is very susceptible to the elements and develops a coat of reddish-brown rust at the hint of water.

The pillar’s resistance to erosion has invited several theories over the years, but none of them could be proven. Only recently has it been discovered that the structure’s power is due to ancient Indians’ skills. Researchers have analyzed the pillar to work out its complex chemistry.

The towering column stands almost 24 feet tall. The base is around 16.4 inches in diameter and tapers to around 12 inches at the top, where an ornamental structure sits.

Despite being made of 6.5 tons of solid wrought iron, it was dragged across India several times over the centuries as spoils of battle.

Around 1333 AD, a Moroccan explorer was told the pillar was made of seven metals, but that no one knew what those seven metals were.

It has several inscriptions etched on its surface, the oldest of which is written in the ancient Indian language Brahmi and names a king called Chandra. Researchers say the style and form of the Sanskrit text suggest it was inscribed during the reign of King Chandragupta II Vikramaditya, who ruled the Gupta empire between 375 and 415 AD.

But what made the pillar so resistant?

Experts wrote that the pillar is a monument demonstrating the metallurgical and engineering skills of the ancient Indians, who purified their ironwork to a remarkable 98%. However, how they managed this was a closely guarded secret handed down through a family from generation to generation.

The heat used during these processes was not sufficient to melt the metal, so it was extracted as a soft spongy mass which was then hammered into the desired shape. Lumps of this spongy iron were laid out and repeatedly hammered to separate the mineral impurities, forming it into a sequence of ‘pancakes’. The heated iron pancakes were joined by hammering.

Microstructual analysis of this structure revealed a convergence of properties that resulted in the metal’s resistance to corrosion. It turns out the hammering did not remove the impurities evenly. It left a patchwork of tiny phosphorus-rich particles in the iron. This created a network of electrical conductors, which triggered certain chemical reactions.

The phosphorus present in the impurities are oxidized to phosphate. This acts as an inhibitor and promotes the formation of protective oxide films for preventing corrosion.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/strange-metal-structure-that-defies-rules-of-science-found-in-ancient-ruins/ar-BB1mPsTK?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=fb3adb6d319746fe9adf1517855cbfd9&ei=46 

New Ancient Temple Found in Peru

In Peru, archaeologists have unearthed what they believe are a 4,000-year-old temple and theater, shining some light on the origins of complex religions in the region.

Last year, the local government of La Otra Banda, Cerro Las Animas, alerted scientists that looting had taken place near the northern Peruvian town of Zana. A team began studying the new site in June.

The team excavated a plot roughly 33 feet by 33 feet and found ancient walls made of mud and clay at just 6 feet deep. Surprised to find ancient structures so close to the modern surface, they dug deeper. They found a section of a large temple. But the most exciting find was a small theater with a backstage area and stairs that led to the stage. They postulate the stage could have been used to perform ritual performances.

One staircase was flanked by mud panels with an elaborately carved design of a mythological bird. The figure resembled other images dating to the Initial Period, around 2,000 to 900 BC, which gave clues about when the temple was built.

The Initial Period is when scientists have evidence of institutionalized religion in Peru. They still know little about how complex belief systems emerged in the Andes, but now they have evidence about some of the earliest religious spaces that were created in this part of the world.

Peru’s best-known archaeological site, Machu Picchu, was built by the Inca Empire in the 15^th century. This new site is 3,500 years older, and also predates the pre-Inca cultures of Moche and Nazca.

Scientists don’t yet have a name for these people. All they know at this point is from their houses, temples and funerary goods. It is believed their complex religious system was an important aspect of political authority.

The archaeologists also found several large murals painted on the walls. They collected paint samples to analyze in a lab, as well as for carbon dating to confirm the site’s age.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ancient-temple-and-theater-3-500-years-older-than-machu-picchu-discovered-in-peru/ar-BB1pO4fA?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=0fae904fd9754a41a8dbe596dac78bfb&ei=26

Found: Ancient South American Culture

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of a previously unknown ancient culture in Venezuela’s Canaima National Park, where they discovered 30 rock art sites dating back thousands of years.

Canaima National Park is huge, about the size of Belgium. It is made up of forests and mountainous terrain. The most famous feature is Angel Falls, the tallest waterfall in the world.

The park may have been where this culture first developed. Later, it may have moved on to the Amazon river, the Guianas and even southern Colombia, for all of these places house similar artwork to the newly found example in Venezuela. Similar artwork in Brazil has been dated to 4,000 years ago, but the newly discovered artwork may be even older.

The newly discovered pictograms and petroglyphs include depictions of leaves and stick figure drawings of people, star-shaped patterns and other geometric designs. It is thought that the images had a ritual meaning, and may have been related to birth, diseases, or prosperous hunting.

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/archaeologists-unearth-4-000-year-old-art-from-never-before-seen-culture/ar-BB1pke44?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=d05b9dc9a1fc4eea81888fcb280ddf9a&ei=40

Finding the Americas

There have been several theories about how mankind found their way to the Americas. I’m not going to go through all of them in this blog post. But a couple theories keep getting tweaked as scientists find new evidence.

 

Two theories postulate that mankind made its way to Alaska by way of following a land bridge from Siberia into Alaska. The land bridge existed due to a much lower sea level during the last ice age. There are two theories because some scientists believe the people followed the edge of the land bridge by boat, keeping the land in their sight all along the way. Another group of scientists believe the people followed game animals as they walked across the land bridge. Which group reached Alaska first? I don’t think anybody knows.

 

According to data gleaned from sediment and fossilized marine life, the first Siberians might have traveled to the New World more than 10,000 years before the First Nations people are thought to have arrived. Such an early migration would have been a lot easier because of sea ice. It’s been suggested that expanses of winter ice may have facilitated travel by foot when passage by boat would have been treacherous.

 

For about five decades, archaeologists thought the Clovis people as the original pioneers of the North American continent. This theory stated that families trekked across the land bridge around 13,000 years ago.

 

Yet recent discoveries have pushed back the arrival of humans in the Americas to more than 25,000 years ago.

 

But could they really have walked all that way? The sea level was probably low enough to expose a solid bridge as far back as 36,000 years ago. However, the rugged cap of snow and glacier covering the bridge might not have been traversable.

 

However, once glaciers began to retreat, a thin strip of coastal ecosystems could have provided resources for traveling by boat. A 14,000-year-old settlement on Canada’s western coast implies that pre-Clovis people were inching their way along the water’s edge.

 

However, windows of opportunity may have closed during warm periods, when melting snow and ice would have sent currents swirling in the wrong direction for migrating paddlers. An analysis of climate models says high winds and lower sea levels would have made ocean currents 20,000 years ago twice as strong as they are today.

 

Records also suggest that winter sea ice would have been present until 15,000 years ago, which migrants could have walked across, or even sledded. Researchers identified 24.5 to 22 thousand years ago and 16.4 to 14.8 thousand years ago as the most likely periods for early migration along the Alaskan coast, possibly aided by a “Sea-ice Highway.”

 

Emerging signs that humans ventured as far south as New Mexico more than 20,000 years ago imply there may have been a relatively safe and open path for them to get there.

 

 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/scientists-may-have-found-an-ancient-path-into-america-24-000-years-ago/ar-AA1lV4H4?ocid=mailsignout&pc=U591&cvid=59a8d49a00384382a6fcf88ce2c5200b&ei=76

Amazonian Ancient City

Scientists have discovered an ancient city in Eastern Ecuador using LIDAR. The Light Detection and Ranging technology (LIDAR) was used to map 115 square miles of Ecuador’s Upano Valley, along the foothills of the Andes. They found evidence of a settlement named Sangay, which could have been home to as many as 100,000 people.

 

One scientist remarked that this discovery changed the way to think about Amazonian cultures. Instead of small groups living in huts, at least some of them lived in complicated urban environments.

 

The system discovered at Sangay connected various urban centers. The road are nearly straight and contain right angles, which would be difficult in the Amazonian terrain.

 

We don’t know much about the people, archeologists also detected traces of fields where they likely grew maize, beans, sweet potatoes and cassava. And at the end of a hard day, they probably enjoyed a kind of sweet beer called ‘chicha’.

 

They have dated Sangay to have been active from 500BCE to possibly 600CE. The LIDAR scans have revealed various platforms, plazas, streets, and drains. But one unique aspect of Sangay is the complex road system that extends nearly 6 miles.

 

I am always interested in such discoveries. I’ll be keeping my eyes open for more information about Sangay.

Formatting Manuscripts

Finally, I got some actual instructions from Draft2Digital on how to prepare a manuscript to be uploaded for publication! Their instructions are vastly simpler than what I had to do for Smashwords, but I have made some mistakes that would make the finished ebook come out wonky.

 

For instance, I placed 4 hard returns before each chapter heading, to push it down a nice distance on the page. But now I know that 4 hard returns in a row will be changed to a page break. I don’t want that, because I already put in a page break to get the new chapter to start on a new page. It would wind up with blank pages before each chapter if I don’t go through and remove 3 of those hard returns.

 

I also carefully created a Table of Contents. But their software will create one for me, so I need to yank mine out.

 

There are other places where I’ve got multiple hard returns as I tried to get the front matter somewhat symmetrical. Now I have to spend a few minutes figuring out how to place the front matter pleasingly on the page without using a bunch of hard returns. Because just 2 hard returns in a row will be converted to a section break, which I don’t want cluttering up my title page.

 

There are 60 chapters in the book I’m trying to get published. It will take me 2 or 3 days to go through and straighten those out. Another day to figure out the title page, and time to work on a couple other pages that have a picture involved. And I’m still in the middle of classes that take up far more time than I thought they would. So, it’s beginning to look like this book might not go on sale until August 1.

 

Still, I’m making progress, however slowly.

 

Not Enough Time

I wish there were two of me. Identical twins who can finish each other’s sentences and know what the other one is thinking.

That way, maybe I could get some things done.

I’m not sure how I got myself in this predicament. There for a long time, I was over-busy arranging my hubby’s doctor appointments and seeing that he got to them, that he had his medicines, that he had food to eat… in other words, I was his caregiver.

Then, suddenly, I started having my own health issues, and I was juggling appointments for both of us, researching my new diet, keeping track of my own medicines… I was now caregiver to both of us.

Consequently, I didn’t get much business or writing done. Oh, if I had an odd hour free in any given day, I would edit a chapter or two of a book that was waiting to be published. In the evenings, I would try to write. For the most part, writing was the only pleasure I had.

Then I discovered online classes, called challenges. They involved watching a short video (under 10 minutes) and following the simple instructions. Homework probably took 10 minutes or less to complete. I was very happy with the results of the first one I took, and it only lasted 5 days.

Then I signed up for a 2^nd one, which sounded even more intriguing than the first had. I think that’s where I made my mistake.

This challenge lasts for 5 weeks, with new videos to watch each week, and new homework to do by the end of the week. And it wasn’t just 1 video to watch, but multiples. If you have to watch 7 or 8 videos at the beginning of the week, that time adds up, even if most of them are under 10 minutes. And then there’s bonus videos to watch, at an hour or two a pop. There were Q&A sessions (2 hours ea) every Thursday afternoon, which I never got to join because of doctor appointments. Deep into week 3, I am now behind on watching 3 Q&A sessions. This challenge is sucking up every spare moment I’ve got and demanding more.

I’ve thought about quitting the challenge. But I really want to learn the subject!

It’s only 3 more weeks. (We get a few extra days at the end to catch up.) So I guess I’ll keep doing the best I can. Maybe I don’t need those Q&A sessions, or the hour-long bonus videos.

I’ve got a book I’ve been trying to get published for the last 2 weeks. Maybe, when we get back from our appointments tomorrow, I will publish it before I return to working on this week’s challenge.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Big Sale Coming!

MoonPhaze is excited to announce that most of our books will be available as part of a promotion on Smashwords for the month of July as part of their Annual Summer/Winter Sale! This is a chance to get our books, along with books from many other great authors, at a discount so you can get right to reading.

You will find the promo here starting on July 1, so save the link:
https://www.smashwords.com/shelves/promos/

Please share this promo with friends and family. Not to mention the avid readers in your life!

Thank you for your help and support!

Happy reading!

Writing Ups and Downs

I’ve been working on a short story the last couple of weeks. The guidelines said a minimum of 3,000 words, which is a little less than most shorts I write, but I thought I could do it in about that many words.

The first week, I thought I would never get to 3 thousand words! It seemed like I wrote and I wrote, and the word count barely moved.

Now I’ve reached 3k, and it seems like the story will never come to an end! I’m so close, and yet I’ve got to go through so many details before I finally end it. I rather dread working on it, but if I don’t, it won’t get done. It’s not going to write itself.

I just noticed the deadline is August 1^st, so I’ve got some time. But I can hardly wait until I can revise the rough draft into a 2^nd draft. I’ve already seen places where I’ve used too many words, scenes that could be shortened.

I think my problem is that I’m not sure of the subject matter. But they wanted stories where a zombie presence is the new normal. So I’m writing zombies. I’ve only ever read one book about zombies. I used to watch the Walking Dead, and that scared me half to death, some episodes. It’s a fine line that I’m walking to be writing about zombies.

Well, I’ll be that much happier when I get it done and can submit it. Then I can return to working on my longer Work in Progress, which is waiting impatiently.

PS. I finished the zombie rough draft Wednesday night. The word count is now 4,500 words. I’m taking a couple days off from it before I start revisions.

Publishing Made Simpler

A few months ago, I made some changes to one of John’s books, and then I tried to republish it. Unfortunately, I made some errors in the formatting as I got ready to republish it, and when I sent the new manuscript to smashwords’ publishing software, those formatting errors were obvious. So I listed that book as ‘unpublished’, thinking it wouldn’t take me long to fix the formatting errors.

I was wrong. Whatever I had done wrong, it was there to stay, so I had to remove ALL the formatting and then put correct formatting back in. Usually, this takes me about a week, if I can spend most of my time concentrating on it. But I couldn’t focus on it like that. John’s health wasn’t good, and then I started having my own health issues, and months went by where I couldn’t focus on that book at all.

But I kept picking at it, doing a chapter here and there, and I finally got the formatting done. I was ready to republish!

Meanwhile, smashwords and Draft2Digital merged. I was notified that Draft2Digital would be doing the publishing, and smashwords would only be a storefront. My first thought was a sarcastic, “Great, now I have to learn how to format books for Draft2Digital’s publishing software.” I have to admit that I procrastinated looking at Draft2Digital’s formatting requirements for a few days. I didn’t want to go through and reformat that book again.

But I finally took a few minutes to look it up, and their requirements were vastly simpler than smashwords’ had been! I was still ready to republish!

It’s always good when a new process is simpler than the old process.

Another Character

My first romance novel was about Wanda, who had been very comfortable with her life before the readers meet her. She was very happily married, with a husband, Hank, who thoroughly supported her efforts to be a full-time author. Wanda wasn’t sure how much money Hank was making with his IT job, but he paid the bills without complaint, and he told her he was saving ‘as much as he could’ in case they ever had any emergencies. They had friends they got together with regularly and life was pleasant in their apartment in Chicago.

The reader meets her shortly after Hank has died in a traffic accident going to work in a blizzard. She is deep into grief, not just because Hank is dead, but because she knows she can’t pay the rent on their apartment on her own. She will have to move.

As she is going through Hank’s papers, wondering what she can get rid of, Wanda comes across a deed for a house in a tiny town in Nebraska. The house was an inheritance from Hank’s grandmother, given to Hank and somebody named Charles. Charles had apparently sold his half to Hank, or gifted it, but whatever, it looked like the house was entirely Hank’s. It seemed strange that Hank had never mentioned the house, but he didn’t talk much about where he grew up. Except happy memories of his childhood.

Wanda contacted a real estate agent in Nebraska who might be able to answer questions. The agent knew the village of Belgrade well and assured her that the house was in decent shape and fully furnished, although it was likely to be dusty, since it had been empty a couple of years.

So Wanda moved, without even seeing the house she was moving to. Or the town where she would be living. Not having rent or a mortgage to make payments on, she was confident she could make ends meet. She took herself from a place where she had been happy to a place where she was an outsider.

The first person she meets in Belgrade—a bartender at one of the two local bars—looks an awful lot like Hank. Besides fixing her some lunch, he makes phone calls on her behalf to get her utilities turned on.

It only takes a few days for Wanda to realize there are 3 men in Belgrade who look like brothers to Hank; Bob (the bartender), Charles (who had briefly owned ½ of the house she now owned), and Lyle, a drunk womanizer. Bob tries to make her feel welcome. Chuck seems too busy to run into her very often. She wants nothing to do with Lyle.

But this is a romance I’ve written, and it takes place in a very small community, where gossip is the normal method of entertainment for the residents. It isn’t long before people are wondering which of the town’s young men will catch Wanda’s eye. Even though Wanda is still grieving and trying to keep her distance from the men, in a town of less than 200 people, that doesn’t seem to be possible.

If I’ve piqued your curiosity, you can get an e-copy of Hank’s Widow at www.smashwords.com/books/view/1090836 Use the coupon code JN73Q when you check out to get it for half off.

And just to put a little icing on the cake, so to speak, you can also get “The Game”, a story that explains the relationship between Hank and his look-alikes. This short story is free at www.smashwords.com/books/view/1091675 .

 

 

About Mac

I want to talk about Mac. Colleen “Mac” MacDowell is a character I’ve been working with sporadically for the past 20 or 30 years. But the last couple of years, I’ve been working pretty intensely on getting her story written. I’ve still got a long way to go. (I’ve got about 9 volumes written in the series, but I’m thinking it will be at least 15 volumes long, maybe more.)

Colleen—

Nobody calls me that. It’s Mac.

(Sigh.) Mac is a girl. Or rather, by the time we meet her, she’s a woman. She was born and raised on a heavy-world planet, namely Gaelund, so she has more strength than it seems she would have. She’s also fairly short, about 5’2”. She has fire-engine red hair, typically only found on Gaelund, and emerald-green eyes.

She was raised the only daughter, with 7 older brothers. Their father instilled in those brothers that they would protect their sister’s ‘innocence’ no matter what the cost. She carries a lot of baggage with her.

I came here with 1 regulation duffel bag!

I meant psychological baggage.

Oh, that.

Anyway, after 4 years at the Fleet Academy, and roughly 5 years bouncing from one tug to another, she somehow finagled a promotion and a transfer to the FSS Fireball from her former captain. She’s the 4^th communications officer on the Fireball, and she’s assigned to the midnight shift.

Tell them about Bugsy.

Stop interrupting. She was happy to get to the Fireball because she knew the senior helmsman, Bugalu, who she considers an adopted brother. Bugalu was two years ahead of her at the Academy and was roommate for her youngest brother, Matthew. It took the 2 of them to keep Mac out of trouble, and to get her trained to get along in Fleet society.

Trained? You mean, like a pet?

You’re interrupting again.

You talk too slow.

I type even slower. Now, let me get along with this. When Mac arrived on the Fireball, along with 2 other beautiful women, the captain wondered which of the 3 would turn out to be trouble. Capt Jane Burke couldn’t tell from her first introduction to them, but they all seemed to have personality quirks that could mean trouble down the road. Still, she sent the ladies off to their assignments and hoped their supervisors could nip any potential problem before it got too big.

Mac had a tumultuous probation period on the Fireball. Between not being able to pass her probational test and arguing with men who want to date her, it seemed Mac was going to be the problem. Meanwhile, the Fireball had some adventures, and somehow, Mac always seemed to be in the middle of those adventures. And then Mac came up with a problem that she couldn’t solve.

You’re going to end it there?

I have to leave some mystery to it. I can’t give away all your secrets.

Now, all of that, I’m thinking, will be in the first 5 volumes. And I’m thinking that Volume 1 will get published on 9/16/2025. That should give me time to get it edited, formatted, a nice cover for it… all those things that go into publishing a book.

That’s over a year away, even on Gaelund.

We’ve been working on your story for decades, what’s another year?

I think that’s what my fiancée thought when he…