redeem code phlboss
Today’s NYT ‘Connections’ Hints And Answers For Saturday, November 23By Nora O’Malley Local Journalism Initiative Reporter This story starts down an abandoned forest service road deep in central Nuu-chah-nulth First Nations territory on Vancouver Island. It was fall, two or three years ago. Tyee Wilson Jack was bucking up a log for firewood when he saw something move on the right side of his periphery. “Did something just stand up?” thought the Yuułuʔiłʔatḥ (Ucluelet First Nation) Hereditary Chief. “I didn’t want to turn my head, but I moved my eyes. I swore. It’s a frickin’ Pookemis.” “He’s just watching me,” Jack thought as he continued chopping, as he said to himself, “I’m not gonna panic. One more swing and I’m gonna look.” “THWACK!” Jack swung his axe then turned his head to look. The creature jumped off the stump it was standing on and hid. Jack said he heard the jump and saw the bookemis – or Sasquatch as the bipedal hairy giant is commonly called – for one second from about 25 metres away. “The hair on the face is long. The eyes are really dark and glassy, I guess. It was tall. Just the way I saw it stand up. It was like easily over seven feet. It was big. And the smell it left was stench,” Jack recalls. Jack says elders always taught that if someone has an experience with a bookemis, they should leave it an offering. “I left six pieces of chopped wood. I yelled, ‘I’m leaving you this wood’.” The next morning, bright and early, Jack returned to the site of the encounter and the wood was gone – but there were huge footprints. “I didn’t take any photos, damn it. I didn’t think to bring my phone,” said the 58-year-old. Jack shared other stories too; of MacMillan Bloedel loggers hearing them in caves, a woman bumping into one in the Hitacu village at night and on one occasion, when he did have his phone, Jack recorded a deep, grunting noise. He played the recording for two conservation officers he met while hunting in Nahmint one winter. “They looked at each other. They’d never heard the sound before,” said Jack. “What is it?” asked the conservation officers. “You won’t believe me if I tell you. It’s a pookemis. A Sasquatch,” Jack replied. 200 black bears for every Sasquatch Cynical unbelievers might be swayed by the ongoing research of Dr. Jeffrey Meldrum, professor of anatomy and anthropology at Idaho State University. Dr. Meldrum has dedicated his life to studying Sasquatch tracks or Anthropoidipes ameriborealis (North American ape foot). Meldrum’s primary evidence includes the analysis of hundreds of footprint casts. His research has been published in the New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science Bulletin, the Journal of Scientific Exploration and he has penned several books on the man-like creatures, including ‘Sasquatch: Legend Meets Science’ and the ‘Sasquatch Field Guide’. “I’ve examined long trackways. That’s what pulled me in was examining a long trackway of 35 to 45 tracks that showed all the variation. It showed toes extended, toes flexed, toes sliding in the mud, half tracks where it was running up on the front half of the foot, all the dynamics of an animate foot,” Meldrum told the Ha-shilth-sa over a Zoom call. He says the hoaxes are “very transparent” and that anyone with a little wherewithal and familiarity with the anatomy and functional aspects of the primate and human foot could distinguish a real track from a fake. “Finding a long line of tracks with successive tracks is really rare,” Meldrum said. “My privilege of looking at a long line of tracks was actually quite unique. I was so floored because at that time I was kind of ambivalent in my attitude towards the subject matter. I was intrigued, but ambivalent and very skeptical.” He admits that the lack of physical remains is frustrating, but not surprising given the moist forest habitat, acidic soils, and the presumed intelligence and caution of the trackmaker. “It’s the favourite piece of missing data the skeptics focus on and obsess with it to the exclusion of everything else,” said Meldrum, who has faced criticism from his peers for decades due to the absence of fossil records. With the recent discovery of fossils from a small extinct hominin species labeled Homo floreiensis (hobbit) on the Indonesia island of Flores, Meldrum says the scientific community is “at least tolerating the possibility that Sasquatch might exist”. Based on credible sightings and footprints, Meldrum says that there is good evidence to suggest that the Sasquatch is a large, powerful omnivorous species that has similar habitat requirements to black bears. “The ratio, I think, is about 200 black bears for every one sasquatch. That’s not just pulled out of the air. That’s based on inferences drawn on about analogy of their social structure, their size, the life history of great apes and so forth,” said Meldrum. “The point being, have you ever talked to anyone who has found a black bear skeleton in the woods?” asked Meldrum. The professor of evolutionary biology went on to compare the supposed social behaviour of Sasquatch to orangutans – male orangutans are primarily solitary and communicate with loud calls to advertise their presence and attract a female. “I think that is probably a good analogy for sasquatch because we have those ruckus loud calls,” said Meldrum. The smoking gun? In May 2023 Darby Orcutt, the director of Interdisciplinary Partnerships at North Carolina State University Libraries, launched a “curiosity driven project” approved by the Institutional Review Board called the ‘Study of Allegedly Morphologically Anomalous Physical Samples’. He put an open call out to anyone in the United States or Canada with unusual samples to offer for deeper analysis and genetic testing. Orcutt says they received more than 100 items to investigate, including hair, teeth and even body part his research team informally dubbed a “hand-paw thing”. “The DNA is really the gold standard today. It wouldn’t matter how wonderful the trace evidence of apparent trackways were - that’s never going to be what puts the scientific community or the general public over the top. But DNA...well, that’s a different matter,” said Orcutt over Zoom. “If we were to find something interesting, that would really change the understanding of this topic. But that all depends on IF there is a biological species underlying this phenomenon and IF someone offers an authentic sample of it,” he said. The Bigfoot Field Researchers Association sent Orcutt a cache of hair samples to work with. “It’s a sacred trust, really,” said Orcutt. “Real science takes a lot of time. We are batching this up and very meticulously documenting each one.” Unfortunately, Orcutt says the first analysis of 20 samples did not yield results, so they are using a different approach. “The samples are not the freshest,” he said. “There is tremendous opportunity for Indigenous communities to partner on this.” The Bigfoot DNA study remains open to any offerings of unidentified specimens found in North America. Folks who submit samples can be identified by name or opt to keep their identity confidential. “The other thing is, we are not disclosing specific locations of things at all. We’re not doing that under any circumstance. We might say, ‘This sample came from Saskatchewan or eastern Kentucky’. That’s about as specific as we’ll get,” Orcutt promised. “It’s kind of like fishing. We don’t want to reveal their hiding hole.” Orcutt went on to say that if they do find an undiscovered species, they will be “careful and ethical with the reveal”. The ‘hide-and-seek-champion’ Nuu-chah-nulth have many stories about seeing Sasquatch and unique names for the creature. Huu-ay-aht First Nations knowledge keeper Qiic Qiica says the belief in Sasquatch, or C̓ac̓uqḥta, is widespread and deep rooted in his culture. “Our people, historically, were always hunters. In Nuu-chah-nulth culture, there are a number of animals that we just don’t hunt. One of them is C̓ac̓uqḥta. Another one is the wolf, we don’t hunt them because they are a pack animal, we believe they live like us. Same with the orca,” Qiic Qiica said. “Another one we didn’t used to hunt is the black bear. In the plains or on the mainland, you might hear of Indigenous people who would eat bear, our people never did because it was believed they were like the healer or the doctor. They could have anything wrong with them and they know what to eat to fix it,” he explained. “Our people used to watch the bear to learn what they eat for getting better.” Qiic Qiica points out that the greatest predators in North American are rarely seen. “More often than not, they see us and we don’t see them. Think about how illusive the wolves are, how illusive the cougars are. Those are some of the most illusive animals in the world. From our point of view, the C̓ac̓uqḥta is even more illusive than the most illusive. It really is the hide-and-seek champion.” He shared a story about an ancient agreement between C̓ac̓uqḥta and a Huu-ay-aht chief that teaches about protecting its identity: The Chief got really curious about it and he kept trying to go out and find. He would go out when it was foggy, he would go out at daybreak or dusk and try to find it. He went out this one foggy day and he could see in the distance C̓ac̓uqḥta. He started following it, chasing it and trying to see where it lived. Finally, the Bigfoot realized he was being followed so he started running. The Chief was trying to keep up to it and he ended up slipping on a rock and hurt himself. The Sasquatch turned back and felt sorry for him. He wanted to help him. The Chief was really grateful because he was saved by this creature and he asked him, ‘What do you want in return?’ The Sasquatch replied and simply said, ‘I want to be left alone.’ It’s a spiritual gift to encounter a Sasquatch, according to Nuu-chah-nulth culture. “If you are so blessed to ever see one or be in the presence of one, you were chosen,” said Qiic Qiica. Jack echoes the sentiment. “It’s not there to harm you. To me, it’s a protector. They’re just curious. I would never recommend anyone to harm it. I would hate to see anyone harm something like that,” he said. -30- CAPTIONS Tyee Wilson Jack talks about a recent Sasquatch encounter over coffees at Ucluelet’s Big Beach Lounge. (Nora O’Malley photo) Dr. Jeff Meldrum holds a Bigfoot cast. (Submitted) Dr. Jeff Meldrum discusses his research over zoom from his office in Idaho State. (Nora O’Malley photo) Lab: FIGURE 1. Multiple angles of the virtualized models of duplicate Patterson casts included in the holotype of Anthropoidipes ameriborealis. (Submitted)
Stock market today: Nvidia drags Wall Street from its records as oil and gold rise
California to consider requiring mental health warnings on social media sites
Another recount won't be ordered in a North Carolina court race, but protests are aheadMITCHEL FIELD, N.Y., Dec. 10, 2024 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Frequency Electronics, Inc. (“FEI” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ-FEIM) is reporting revenues for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024, of approximately $15.8 million and $30.9 million, respectively, compared to revenues of $13.6 million and $26.0 million, for the same period of fiscal year 2024, ended October 31, 2023. Operating income for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024 was $2.6 million and $5.0 million, respectively, compared to operating income of $0.9 million and $3.0 million for the same period of fiscal year 2024. Net Income from operations for the three and six months ended October 31, 2024 was $2.7 million or $0.28 per diluted share and $5.1 million or $0.53 per diluted share, respectively, compared to a net income from operations for the three and six months ended October 31, 2023 of $0.8 million or $0.08 per diluted share and $2.9 million or $0.30 per diluted share, respectively. FEI President and CEO, Tom McClelland commented, “By all financial metrics the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 performance was excellent. For both the quarter and year to date, revenue, gross margin, and operating income have grown substantially. The backlog is also holding strong; at $81 million (an all-time high) compared to $70 million at the end of the first quarter, and $78 million at the end of last fiscal year. The results reflect continued solid growth in our core businesses, which show every indication of continuing. We are well into the execution phase of several key programs won over the last two years, and our gross margins (48% for the quarter, and 46% for the first half of FY2025) reflect our successful efforts to obtain work, and deliver it successfully. Our ability to perform at high operational standards on our heritage satellite programs allows us to pursue new developments (especially for proliferated small satellites), which at least initially may be at lower margins. As we have been successful obtaining a mix of heritage and new development work, we anticipate continued profitability going forward, though the mix in any given quarter could potentially cause variability. Nonetheless, we believe that the operational improvements we have made over the past few years will allow us to generally achieve higher, more consistent margins than we have experienced in the past. “In October, FEI hosted a 'Quantum Sensor Summit' in New York City, a technical conference bringing together experts from around the world to share insights and expectations regarding this rapidly developing area of technology. This event was well attended, and we have obtained a lot of positive feedback from it. Quantum sensors is a rapidly developing market, one which FEI is well positioned to participate in based on our existing expertise, and one which we are actively pursuing as an avenue to continued growth well into the future. To support this effort we pursue external development funding where possible, but are also using internal R&D funding as necessary. This year internal R&D expenditures are up significantly (10% of revenue) as we work to stay competitive in this arena, but we remain debt-free and are confident in our ability to invest for profitable growth, reward our employees for serving our customers and maintain flexibility for shareholder-oriented initiatives, such as the two special dividends we have paid over the past two years. “All and all, I am happy with our performance, excited about our future, and proud to lead a workforce of talented and very dedicated individuals who are the real reason behind our success.” Fiscal Year 2024 Selected Financial Metrics and Other Items Investor Conference Call As previously announced, the Company will hold a conference call to discuss these results on Tuesday, December 10, 2024, at 4:30 PM Eastern Time. Investors and analysts may access the call by dialing 1-888-506-0062. International callers may dial 1-973-528-0011. Callers should provide participant access code: 685880 or ask for the Frequency Electronics conference call. The archived call may be accessed by calling 1-877-481-4010 (domestic), or 1-919-882-2331 (international), for one week following the call (replay passcode: 51761). Subsequent to that, the call can be accessed via a link available on the Company’s website through March 10, 2025. About Frequency Electronics Frequency Electronics, Inc. (FEI) is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of high precision timing, frequency generation and RF control products for space and terrestrial applications. FEI’s products are used in satellite payloads and in other commercial, government and military systems including C4ISR and electronic warfare, missiles, UAVs, aircraft, GPS, secure communications, energy exploration and wireline and wireless networks. FEI-Zyfer provides GPS and secure timing capabilities for critical military and commercial applications; FEI-Elcom Tech provides Electronic Warfare (“EW”) sub-systems and state-of-the-art RF and microwave products. FEI has received over 100 awards of excellence for achievements in providing high performance electronic assemblies for over 150 space and DOD programs. The Company invests significant resources in research and development to expand its capabilities and markets. www.frequencyelectronics.com FEI’s Mission Statement: “Our mission is to transform discoveries and demonstrations made in research laboratories into practical, real-world products. We are proud of a legacy which has delivered precision time and frequency generation products, for space and other world-changing applications that are unavailable from any other source. We aim to continue that legacy while adapting our products and expertise to the needs of the future. With a relentless emphasis on excellence in everything we do, we aim, in these ways, to create value for our customers, employees, and stockholders.” Forward-Looking Statements The statements in this press release regarding future earnings and operations and other statements relating to the future constitute “forward-looking” statements pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, our inability to integrate operations and personnel, actions by significant customers or competitors, general domestic and international economic conditions, reliance on key customers, continued acceptance of the Company’s products in the marketplace, competitive factors, new products and technological changes, product prices and raw material costs, dependence upon third-party vendors, other supply chain related issues, increasing costs for materials, operating related expenses, competitive developments, changes in manufacturing and transportation costs, the availability of capital, the outcome of any litigation and arbitration proceedings, and failure to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting. The factors listed above are not exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this release and in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended April 30, 2024, filed on August 2, 2024 with the Securities and Exchange Commission includes additional factors that could materially and adversely impact the Company’s business, financial condition and results of operations, as such factors are updated from time to time in our periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which are accessible on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov . Moreover, the Company operates in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict the impact of all these factors on the Company’s business, financial condition or results of operations or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements. Given these risks and uncertainties, investors should not rely on forward-looking statements as a prediction of actual results. Any or all of the forward-looking statements contained in this press release and any other public statement made by the Company or its management may turn out to be incorrect. The Company expressly disclaims any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.