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In March, we reported on a wild bobcat that had been hit and dragged by a car, who also got her head stuck in the car’s grill. As if things could get any worse, the wild feline arrived at Raven Ridge Wildlife Center in Pennsylvania on a Sunday, and the nearby veterinary practice was closed. But thanks to two lucky acquaintances, a mobile x-ray machine was brought in, revealing that the bobcat had broken two legs. 

Thanks in part to the fact that her bone fractures were clean breaks, her team decided to risk a surgery. The next morning, two surgeons operated on the bobcat contemporaneously. After the operation, Tracie Young, director of the Raven Ridge Wildlife Center, told Popular Science that she was doing “fantastic” and “starting to act like a bobcat.” 

In her great misfortune, the cat has been rather lucky—and it seems like the luck is holding. Two striking coincidences have now come together to get her a custom-made cage for her rehabilitation. 

“After two months of recovery, the bobcat now needs to be moved outside for exercise and to begin building muscle tone,” the wildlife center wrote on social media. “We had to devise a safe and creative way to get her outdoors, necessitating the construction of special caging. We determined that a custom dog kennel would be the only viable option.”

However, the problems were twofold: time and money. The dog kennel builders the wildlife center contacted needed at least eight months to build the rehab cage, and the project would cost thousands of dollars. But then Raven Ridge’s photographer Dawn called her neighbor Glen for suggestions, who turned out to be the owner of a kennel-building business and could build the kennel in two weeks. 

And if you think that’s enough of a coincidence, it gets even better. The very day construction commenced, Raven Ridge Wildlife Center received a letter with a generous donation. A woman named Raven Minervino has passed away, and her husband wrote that she had consistently supported the wildlife center. After she died, her husband had asked that rather than getting flowers, people make donations in her memory. The letter had a donation in her memory large enough to pay for the custom bobcat cage.

“Thanks to all this support, we successfully moved the bobcat to the new enclosure, where she is now exploring, exercising, and much happier,” reads the social media post. Raven Ridge plans to (or perhaps already has) put a plaque in Minervino’s memory on the cage. 

Both of the bobcat’s broken legs have healed, and since having the custom cage, she has put on ten pounds, bringing her to the much healthier total of 19 pounds. Adult female bobcats weigh approximately 15 to 20 pounds on average

The post Bobcat that survived being hit by a car gets a custom-built kennel appeared first on Popular Science.

As if we needed reminding, new research documenting dozens of previously unknown insect species highlights just how little we know about our fellow planet-dwellers. 

For the first time, researchers have comprehensively revisioned the Platydracus genus of beetles in China. Meaning flat dragon, Platydracus is a genus of rove beetles. In this new review, the team recorded over 100 species, a majority of which are new to science. Their work highlights how it’s not just the small and bland species that get overlooked in taxonomic work—sometimes, even large and colorful animals go unnoticed. 

In fact, these beetles are pretty large (frequently several centimeters long) and a lot of them mimic wasps or have bright colors. And yet, many of them have either gone completely unnoticed in the wild or sat for years unidentified in museum collections.

“It is striking that so many new species can remain hidden among large and colourful beetles. It shows how little we actually know about biodiversity and that even highly visible species can still go unnoticed,” Alexey Solodovnikov, senior author of the study recently published in the journal Insect Systematics and Diversity, said in a statement. 

Solodovnikov is a systematic entomologist at the University of Copenhagen who studies rove beetles. His team’s work puts a spotlight on the Linnean shortfall, or the difference between the number of scientifically named and described species and the number of species that exist in reality. 

For example, Platydracus is part of the rove beetle family Staphylinidae. This large family consists of approximately 70,000 known species, though researchers estimate that these are only 20-25 percent of the actual number of rove beetle species. More broadly, there are about 925,000 formally described insect species. This number is shockingly low compared to how many insect species exist, which is estimated at over five million. What’s more, even the species we do know are frequently insufficiently recorded, according to the study. 

The team also rectified some mistakes, which included cases of species having been described based on, per today’s taxonomic standards, too little knowledge. 

“Many species were originally described on a very limited basis. With more collected specimens and modern methods of examination, we can now test and refine earlier species delimitations while adding new species to nature’s mosaic,” Solodovnikov explained. “This gives us a much more accurate picture of biodiversity, which is crucial both for our understanding of nature and for our ability to protect it.” 

The researchers closely studied the beetle’s bodies and used DNA barcoding—a method that uses an organism’s genetic sequence to recognize the species. They found that sometimes species can look very different despite having the same DNA markers. The oppositescenario—having different DNA markers, but appearing very similar—can also happen.

Ultimately, the study stands as a reminder that we still have a long way to go in mapping out all the life that we share the planet with.

The post 61 new beetles discovered in China appeared first on Popular Science.

This little collection of Lentil Recipes is the kind of cooking I come back to again and again. They are simple, nourishing, and full of flavor without trying too hard. Lentils are one of those ingredients that quietly do it all: they’re hearty, packed with protein, and incredibly versatile.

In this collection, I’ve gathered five of my favorite ways to cook with them. There’s a fresh, vibrant lentil salad that works just as well for a quick lunch as it does on a bigger table. The lentil fritters are golden and satisfying, perfect when you want something comforting but still wholesome. My creamy lentil soup is exactly what I make on slower days, it’s smooth, warm, and deeply comforting.

For something quicker, the lentil stir-fry comes together fast and is full of texture and flavor. And the lentil and walnut dip is a bit of a surprise favorite. It is rich, slightly nutty, and perfect with bread or veggies.

These are the recipes I actually cook at home, the ones that make lentils feel anything but boring. Simple ingredients, real food, and plenty of ways to enjoy them.

Mediterranean Lentil Salad – Fresh, Healthy, High-Protein Meal

This Mediterranean Lentil Salad is one of those simple dishes that somehow tastes like sunshine in a bowl. It starts with humble canned lentils, but once you rinse them and mix them with fresh vegetables, everything changes, they become light, fresh, and full of life.

Check out this recipe

Easy Lentil Fritters

If you're looking for a simple, nourishing recipe that's full of flavor, these Lentil Fritters are just the thing. They're made with tender lentils, sweet carrots, fresh parsley, and just the right amount of onion and garlic to make them wonderfully savory. Eggs and breadcrumbs help bring everything together into crisp, golden patties that are satisfying without feeling heavy.

Check out this recipe

Lentil Cream Soup

This easy recipe for Lentil Cream Soup makes a comforting dish, especially for cold days, either for lunch or dinner. It is creamy and full of flavor, great to be served hot, with some cheese toasts, cream, chili flakes and some lemon wedges on the side.

Check out this recipe

Lentil Stir-Fry – High-Protein Healthy Side Dish

This lentil stir-fry is one of those meals that comes together effortlessly but tastes like you put in way more effort. It’s packed with flavor, and full of texture, it is a high-protein side dish and seriously satisfying.

Check out this recipe

Red Lentil and Toasted Walnut Dip

This Red Lentil Walnut Dip is healthy, quick and nutritious and a great choice as appetizer, or for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

Check out this recipe

I hope these recipes find their way into your kitchen and become part of your everyday cooking, just like they are in mine.

If you try any of them, I’d truly love to see. Tag me on Instagram and share your creations with me. It always makes my day to see your versions and how you make these recipes your own.

Other collections you may like:

55 High-Protein Recipes
20 Egg Recipes for Breakfast or Brunch
30 Must-Try Cheese Appetizers
40 Delightful Tomato Recipes
70 Fall Recipes for Cozy Meals
10 Comforting Beef Recipes
25 Homemade Bread Recipes
15 Easy Dip Recipes
70 Easy 30-Minute Savory Recipes
65 Savory Dishes from around the world
25 Best Potato Recipes
10 Delightful Sweet Potato Recipes
20 Delightful Chicken Recipes
25 Sweet or Savory Pumpkin Recipes
15 Make-Ahead Appetizers
25 One Pan Meals
60 Freezer-Friendly Recipes
55 Budget-Friendly Comforting Recipes
60 Sweet Breakfasts That Aren’t Dessert

The post 5 High-Protein Lentil Recipes -Easy Vegetarian Meals appeared first on Home Cooking Adventure.

Previously, we reported on the birth of a baby western lowland gorilla (Gorilla gorilla gorilla) at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo on May 18. His mother Jamani was one of two pregnant western lowland gorillas bearing children from the same father, a silverback gorilla named Nadaya. Since Olympia was due around the same time, we spent the long weekend waiting anxiously for news. 

The Woodland Park Zoo’s announcement arrived last night. The baby was born on May 24—five dates past the due date. To bring her baby into the world, the medical team that usually works on humans performed an emergency C-section on Olympia. The procedure is incredibly rare for gorillas, with less than a dozen recorded gorilla C-sections.

“Over the weekend, the decision to proceed with emergency delivery was due to low fluid and intermittent low baby heart rate (found by us with the Butterfly) and critical behavioral information from the keepers team that suggested delayed/paused labor, with confirmation of ruptured membranes (bag of water) by the Team Gorilla OB physicians,” Sachita Shah, emergency physician and VP of Global Health at medical equipment manufacturer Butterfly Network, tells Popular Science. In a previous interview, Shah said that ultrasounds of gorilla fetuses look very similar to ultrasounds of human fetuses. 

Butterfly is an all-in-one ultrasound probe that the gorilla care team has been using to monitor the pregnancies. Once the baby came out, “I used The Butterfly throughout the neonatal resuscitation to keep a close eye on the baby’s heart rate as our vital sign so we were able to ensure the safe point to transition from neonatal resuscitation to post natal care,” Shah adds. 

Whether for humans or gorillas, a C-section is a major operation, and Olympia rested without the baby for the first night after the birth. But the newborn wasn’t far away—a gorilla keeper and veterinary technician took care of the baby in a den next to Olympia’s, so she was able to see, hear, and smell it. Both Olympia and the baby boy are now back with their gorilla troop, though Jamani is taking care of Olympia’s newborn as well as her own baby boy. 

“So far Olympia’s baby is doing well and maintaining a healthy body temperature. While Olympia recovers from the C-section, our plan is to allow Jamani to continue caring for Olympia’s son while also caring for her own son as long as both infants remain healthy, which is our priority,” Martin Ramirez, Curator of Mammalogy at Woodland Park Zoo, explained in a blog post. “Once Olympia shows signs of being ready for her baby, we’ll move forward with plans to reunite them.”

It remains to be seen what the mother-son duo will look like. However, western lowland gorillas are critically endangered, so the important thing is that both remain healthy.

The post Doctors perform rare emergency C-section on a gorilla appeared first on Popular Science.

There are over 283 million cars cruising the United States, and over 90 percent of them are still guzzling gas. Apart from the obvious environmental problems, fuel prices also continue to skyrocket thanks to the ongoing war in Iran. The average price for gas is currently around 33 percent higher than it was before the crisis, and there is little sign that those numbers are going down anytime soon.

The strain is forcing many drives to reconsider how they get around—and they’re getting creative with it. In Georgia, a 30-year-old handyman is showing everyone how to properly adapt to uncertain times. According to a recent Reuters profile, Mali Hightower has retrofitted a discarded, bright pink Power Wheels Barbie Dream Camper with a two-gallon, one-piston engine for his shorter commuting needs.

“I drive this when I can,” Hightower said on May 19. 

To get it going, a driver simply pulls the rip cord that’s attached to the former power washer engine. At less than four-feet-tall, the Dream Camper may not be the most comfortable ride for a full-grown adult,but it’s definitely cheaper. Hightower likely still prefers driving his 1996 Mercedes-Benz convertible, but with a full tank costing him around $90 right now, he’s more than willing to use his Power Wheels alternative for errands like grocery runs.

While somewhat surreal to see at a gas pump, the DIY solution underscores a more important issue: the need for more people to divest from fossil fuel rides in favor of public transportation and electric vehicles (EVs). Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done for many people. The U.S. is dramatically underfunded when it comes to options like commuter bus routes and trains, while EVs are still out of many people’s price ranges. The Dream Barbie Camper may be one-of-a-kind right now, but there’s a good chance that similar, intentionally constructed alternatives are on the way. At least those will be able to comfortably fit the driver.

The post Handyman adapts Barbie Dream Camper to handle soaring gas prices appeared first on Popular Science.