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Three boys made a historic discovery in Mississippi after they dug up an intact mastodon fossil while playing in their backyard. The Ice Age-era beast went extinct about 11,000 years ago.

A Nepali Sherpa is hoping to summit Mount Everest for a record-breaking 22nd time next month, during the busy climbing season that each year sees hundreds of climbers reach the top of the world. But to Kami Rita Sherpa, who has worked as a guide on Everest for over two decades, climbing to 8,848 metres is a job, not a record-shattering feat. "I did not start climbing to set a world record. But in the course of my work in the guiding industry, this is going to be my 22nd ascent. It wasn't for any competition," Kami Rita told the...

Twitter Email Print Save Leo the Lion is one of the more recognizable constellations in the April sky. It is also a great place to point a telescope and try your hand at deep sky observing. The “deep sky” is what astronomers call the realm beyond our solar system; it is populated with galaxies, nebulae and star clusters in abundance. As winter turns to spring, our evening sky turns away from the plane of the Milky Way. Our view is directed into deep space where we find external galaxies unhindered by the obscuring gas and dust of our own galaxy....

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It’s a discussion that has preoccupied some gun enthusiasts for decades. Which is better between the civilian-legal versions of the two primary military weapons of the Cold War superpowers: the AR-15 or the AK-47? I’ve owned both, so I figured that was as good a reason as any to pretend my opinion counts for anything and get to work. As time has marched on, the positions have shifted a bit as economic realities changed. That’s why some older discussions on the internet might give you some bad information that’s not relevant in this day and age. What was true seven...

I am calling for your help. As you probably know VT is under assault. The state house just passed a bill with a high cap mag ban among other things. It has to go back to the senate which already passed a version of the bill without the mag ban. We need a couple senators to flip their vote now that the mag ban has been added to stop at least the mag ban portion of the bill. Here are some of the senators that could be emailed and swayed to change their vote. Please email them and tell them...

EarthFirst Mourning Loss of a Tree - Crying & Screaming https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElJFYwRtrH4 a golden video to remind us why we're not crazy liberals and why Earf Day is stupid

Police in Maryland say this was just the start of it: A 1997 Ford Crown Victoria, traveling in front of an officer early Friday morning, veered off a highway and struck a large traffic sign in Montgomery County. Next: A wooden support post from the sign became impaled in the Ford’s front windshield, sticking up and back more than five feet, like a misplaced lance. Yet the driver kept going, refusing to stop even as lights and sirens flashed behind him. “He was lucky no one was killed,” said Officer Rick Goodale, a Montgomery police spokesman. The driver, Omar Rasharn...

Washington (CNN)Capitol Hill is no stranger to partisan clashes, but on Thursday, the East Lawn saw a different kind of battle: a snowball fight. Sens. Cory Booker, D-New Jersey, and Jeff Flake, R-Arizona, ventured outside Thursday morning for a "snowball duel." The stakes: Loser would have to buy pizza for the winner's staff. Booker announced he lost the duel to Flake. "With great ignominy I have to announce I lost the snowball fight 3 to 2," he wrote. "I'm buying the pizza for his office . . . . I neglected to tell him though that I am definitely sending...

CBS Local — A Florida cat has finally found his way back home after getting separated from his owner 14 years ago. The miraculous reunion was made after the long lost feline disappeared during a 2004 hurricane. Thomas Jr., also known as T2, was with his owner Perry Martin when Hurricane Jeanne hit Florida’s Treasure Coast. The pair moved in with a friend in the aftermath of the storm. “People didn’t have air conditioning, so as time went on people left their windows and screens open,” Martin said, via CBS46. “I was staying in Stuart at the time and he...

BROOKVILLE, Pa. Authorities are on the hunt for a possibly rabid coyote that mauled a Pennsylvania woman, leaving her badly wounded and "drenched in blood." Brookville borough police say a night shift employee of an assisted living community was attacked ... Brookville Police Chief Vince Markle says the woman was "drenched in blood" and required over 20 stitches and a rabies vaccination. He says the woman may also need reconstructive surgery. Brookville is about 80 miles northeast of Pittsburgh.

Disneyland is squashing its bugs in favor of Marvel superheroes, as it plans to replace the “a bug’s land” at Disney California Adventure theme park in Anaheim with a new “land” devoted to Marvel comic characters. In a move that had been rumored for some time, Disney announced on Tuesday that the new Marvel land slated to open in 2020 will be anchored by the revamped Guardians of the Galaxy ride, replacing the cute-bug-based attractions area that appealed mostly to little kids. New Marvel Lands will also be developed in Disneyland Paris and Hong Kong. Disney’s Hotel New York will...

CHARLOTTE, N.C. Seven children were bitten Monday afternoon after a stray male pit bull got into a southeast Charlotte elementary school and began chasing students as they fled for cover. ... Investigators said the stray dog first came into the school's playground area while the children were outside playing. School staff escorted children into the school as a precaution. However, the dog managed to get inside the school, ... The dog's owner was contacted by the school using information on the animal's collar tag. The owner picked up the dog and left the school prior to the arrival of Animal...

FORT HUACHUCA — Fort Huachuca, in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service, will conduct a prescribed burn of Area Delta on the East Range on Tuesday to support military training, reduce the risk of wildfires and maintain the ecological integrity of the fire-adapted ecosystems dependent on recurring fire that benefits forest health. Ignition will start around 8:30 a.m. Prescribed fire activities are expected to continue throughout the year when favorable weather permits. Before fires were suppressed here around the turn of the century, areas such as Fort Huachuca had fire burn across them every three to seven years, which is...

Bears beware in Virginia. According to WHSV, Hunters in Virginia killed a record number of bears during the most recent hunting season. The Roanoke Times reports that state figures show 2,861 bears were killed, marking a 17 percent increase from the previous season. The increase in bear hunting was partly due to a first-ever three-day season in early October, which was held in 37 counties. There were 395 reported bears killed during that season, which made up 14% of the total for the year. Virginia sold 32,687 bear licenses, which was about 900 more than the year before, though...

A road test of an electric powered Harley. I can see more market for an electric motorcycle for short commutes than I can an electric car Harley Livewire

Just in time for Saint Patrick’s Day — two construction workers in Holland have discovered a real-life “pot o’ gold.” The workers from water company Oasen made the stunning find when they were laying pipes in the new town of Hoef and Haag, in the province of Utrecht, LiveScience reports. During the construction work, they dug up a medieval cooking pot that contained 12 gold and 462 silver coins. The coins have been dated to the 15th century. It's unclear at this point who will keep the coins. After finding the pot, "it literally and figuratively rained coins," the company...

Gun control activists are functionally ignorant when it comes to talking about guns. This has been eminently clear in the effort to demonize the NRA and guns in the wake of the shooting at the high school in Parkland, Florida. From Conservative Tribune: As such, they are also pushing yet another legislative attempt to ban “assault weapons,” a made-up term that essentially constitutes any sort of firearm that looks like something the military would use, but in actuality is a standard semi-automatic firearm with certain cosmetic features, of which there are millions upon millions in common use. Unfortunately for them,...

Researchers are on a critical mission in the heart of Broward County — bashing in the brains of iguanas in an attempt to eliminate the reptiles that have overtaken South Florida. A 15-member team from the University of Florida is using a tool called a captive bolt gun that sends a bolt into the brain, similar to what is used in the livestock industry. They’re also smashing the creatures’ heads against solid objects, including a truck and boat they’re using to track them down. “Most of what we’re doing is blunt force trauma,” said Jenny Ketterlin, a wildlife biologist and...

Spring just arrived, some of the Mexican poppies are starting to bloom and the alyssum that had self-seeded itself under the chairs in my outdoor seating area has been blooming for some time and so have the violets. Now I see the yellow blossoms of the Angelita daisies, so pretty. Many years ago at one of our High on the Desert Gardening and Landscaping Conferences, happening this month, I bought one of these little beauties and planted it in the front of my house. My front yard is kept very natural and wild, mostly planted with native plants or desert...