7-year-old discovers saber-toothed cat
On vacation in Badlands National Park in South Dakota last year, 7-year-old Kylie Ferguson of Sharpsburg, Ga., says she noticed “something that looked different from the rest of the rock.” Park paleontologists agreed. They excavated the area and found the skull of a saber-toothed cat—a species that has been extinct for 33 million years. “They suggested Kylie could retire from paleontology,” said her father, Tom Ferguson. “Most paleontologists go most of their career and never find anything remotely like this.” Researchers used a CT scan to create a 3-D model of the skull, and plan to send a cast to Kylie.
Blind driver completes Daytona course unaided
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Thanks to technology developed by the National Federation of the Blind and researchers at Virginia Tech, Mark Riccobono, a blind NFB executive, can drive without assistance from a sighted person. Last week, Riccobono drove an enhanced Ford Escape around Daytona Speedway, completing a slalom course. The car was equipped with laser range-finding sensors that send distance data to special vibrating gloves, which inform the driver when to turn. A vibrating seat provides information on speed. “This project is a clear example that when you dream big and put your heart and resources into it,” Riccobono said, “you get to unimagined places.”
Overdue baby arrives during the Chicago blizzard
During the recent blizzard in Chicago, Julia Johnson, pregnant and eight days overdue, suddenly felt labor pains. Her husband tried to dig out their buried car, but couldn’t. They called 911, but the snow proved too much for the ambulance, too. At 2 a.m., in total darkness due to a power outage, Johnson trudged through the snow to reach an ambulance. “I could see the ambulance—that’s what kept me going,” she recalled. “I thought, ‘What a perfect backdrop for a bad contraction—a pitch-black street.’” She gave birth to a daughter, Vada, just 40 minutes after reaching the hospital.
