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This First Person article is the experience of Heather Short, a scientist and educator who lives in the greater Montreal region. For more information about CBC's First Person stories, please see the FAQ. I have enjoyed my nearly 15 years of teaching students about geology, earth systems science, climate literacy and the present human-caused climate and ecological crises in my time at John Abbott College on the island of Montreal. Source

WASHINGTON -- Fossilized footprints discovered in New Mexico indicate that early humans were walking across North America around 23,000 years ago, researchers reported Thursday. The first footprints were found in a dry lake bed in White Sands National Park in 2009. Source

Two amateur free divers have found one of the largest collections of Roman coins in Europe off the east coast of Spain. Luis Lens and César Gimeno were diving off the island of Portitxol in Xàbiaon Aug. Source

Tyrannosaurus rex battled parasites and got gout from its meat-rich diet. Duck-billed hadrosaurs suffered cancerous tumours, and a towering sauropod in China survived a nasty pus-filled infection from a predator bite. Dinosaurs, like us, got sick and injured. Source

Intel Corp Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger plans to attend a virtual White House meeting on the global chip shortage on Thursday, along with representatives from companies including Apple, Microsoft, Samsung Electronics, GM, Ford and Stellantis, people familiar with the matter said. Source

TORONTO -- The oldest, largest galaxies in the universe once lived fast and furiously, according to astronomers, forming stars in a remarkably short amount of time. But about three billion years after the Big Bang, they hit the brakes and the growth of these galaxies stalled. Source

Bear conservationists on Metro Vancouver's North Shore are again asking people to give black bears lots of space as they feed on whatever they can before they hibernate for the winter. Luci Cadman, the executive director of the North Shore Black Bear Society, says this is a sensitive time of year for the wild animals. Source

New research shows that roads and runways quieted by COVID-19 are filling with birdsong instead. University of Manitoba scientists led a study drawing on millions of sightings by amateur birders across North America that looked at how reduced travel in response to the pandemic has affected birds from hawks to hummingbirds. Source

HALIFAX -- Canadians venturing out into commercial spaces for the first time since the pandemic began may spot some made-in-Canada technology whizzing around, keeping the high-traffic floors squeaky clean. Autonomous floor scrubbers are increasingly being used at airports, hospitals, universities, sports facilities and shopping malls as COVID-19 sharpens the public's focus on the cleanliness of public spaces. Source

TORONTO -- A 3,500-year-old clay tablet that shows parts of a Sumerian poem from the Epic of Gilgamesh is being formally handed back to Iraq after it was stolen and eventually housed in a museum in the United States. Source