Willie Johnson was a 35-year-old African American from South Carolina with a wife and six kids. What did I‚ a 20-year-old single white kid from Quincy‚ Mass.‚ have in common with him‚ other than being stationed in Vietnam with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment? Well‚ living with someone in an Armored Cavalry Assault Vehicle (ACAV) for five months will make for close relationships. Willie was a career soldier‚ our first sergeant‚ a leader‚ advisor‚ confessor‚ and friend. He was firm but fair and full of life. He taught me to play pinochle‚ a card game I never played before and have never played since. I never called him Willie‚ but always “Top.” He was killed by a rocket propelled grenade (RPG) a few feet from me.   Near the Cambodian Border On March 5‚ 1970‚ we moved from a location near the Cambodian border to a place just four or five miles away. The rolling terrain was a challenge for our 12-ton armored vehicles. We arrived at our night defensive position just before dusk and deployed our 20 ACAVs similar to how covered wagons would circle in Western movies. The track commander was Capt. Max Bailey‚ who sat on top of our vehicle behind a .50-caliber machine gun. The driver was Don‚ whose last name I forget. Top and I were the rear gunners behind M60 machine guns. I dismounted our track‚ set up trip flares covering our part of the perimeter‚ and positioned Claymore mines in front of our vehicle. We had been in constant contact with the enemy for months and were always prepared for battle. Our enemy was not the Viet Cong but the North Vietnamese Army (NVA)‚ and we never knew where or when they would hit us. I was still awake at probably around 10:00 p.m. when I heard the distinctive thump of a mortar tube being fired. Seconds later the first rounds hit in and around our perimeter. This was followed immediately by a barrage of enemy AK-47 and RPG fire. We responded with volleys of machine gun and tank cannon fire. With 20 vehicles firing at once‚ the sound was deafening and the smell of cordite filled the air. Ground and aerial flares lit the night sky. Claymore mines exploded all around as the enemy closed in. The enemy attack died down after about 20 or 30 minutes. Bailey dismounted our vehicle and walked the perimeter to check on damage and wounded. Top‚ Don‚ and I pulled up more ammunition for our weapons. The Fateful Call Top received a call from Bailey that some enemy wounded had been spotted in a bomb crater a few ACAVs down from us. We had a directive from our headquarters’ G-2 Intelligence that if possible we should take prisoners for interrogation. Top would never order someone to do something he wouldn’t do himself. So he jumped off our vehicle and told Don and me to follow him to get more information. Bailey confirmed there were two or three NVA wounded about 20-40 meters from our perimeter. Without blinking‚ Top said: “Let’s go get them.” So Top‚ Don‚ Bailey‚ and I lined up about five meters apart and headed for the bomb crater.   We made it about halfway to the crater when a figure jumped up with an RPG and fired at us. The rocket landed between Top and Don who were at the end of our line. We received more mortar and RPG rounds‚ followed by small-arms fire. I hit the dirt and returned fire at the shadowy figure. I lost sight of the other three as bullets whistled above me. I was caught about 20 meters outside our perimeter. Bad News Just as concerned about friendly fire from behind as enemy fire in front‚ I crawled back to our perimeter. I looked for Top‚ Don‚ and Bailey but couldn’t find them. As the battle raged‚ I returned to my ACAV‚ took my position and continued to return fire. When the other three hadn’t returned‚ I assumed they jumped on other ACAVs to continue the battle. Eventually things quieted down. This time we were sure the enemy had retreated.   Some time later‚ Bailey returned to our vehicle and told me that Top was killed by the RPG round and Don was wounded. Bailey was also wounded but continued to lead the battle and was awarded the Silver Star for his efforts. I was stunned. I had been in country for 10 months and through a lot. Although other men in my unit had paid the ultimate sacrifice‚ this was different. Because I was so close to Top‚ it hit me hard. What made it worse was having to stay alert and man my vehicle in case of another attack. There was nothing I could do except live with the thoughts going through my head. You don’t plan for someone to get killed so you don’t know how to react. At first light I went over to the medical area and saw Top’s body on the ground covered with a rubber poncho. I can’t remember if I cried‚ but I was in a state of disbelief. Here was a person I truly respected‚ confided in‚ told stories with‚ and a few short hours earlier had been laughing and joking with‚ and now he was gone.   A Step Closer to Closure At my computer about 33 years later‚ I went to the 11th Armored Cavalry website and scrolled to Top’s name on a list of 700 troopers killed in Vietnam. Over the years I’ve thought about him many times and wondered about the family he left behind. I saw a message that made me freeze. It was signed by a Ricky Johnson who wanted to hear from anyone who had served with his dad. I summoned the courage to give Ricky a call. It was extremely emotional. Ricky was 11 years old when his father was killed‚ and the Army never told the family how he died. It was difficult for me to recount the events‚ but it was a step closer to the closure that neither of us will probably ever achieve. Memories fade with time but for the rest of my life I will remember my friend Willie and all that he taught me. To all the Willie Johnsons who never came home‚ may you always be remembered.   Adapted from the author’s book‚ 11B10: Memories of a Light Weapons Infantryman in Vietnam. This story appeared in the 2024 Winter issue of Vietnam magazine. this article first appeared in vietnam magazine See more stories SubscriBE NOW!  

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By 2100‚ the US could be scattered with thousands of ghost towns. That’s according to new research by the University of Illinois that’s suggested almost half of the nearly 30‚000 cities in the US will face depopulation by the end of this century. These impacted cities are estimated to experience depopulation of 12 to 23 percent‚ a radical demographic change that would likely cause all kinds of disruptions to basic services‚ including transportation‚ clean water‚ electricity‚ and internet access.“The projections suggest that‚ by 2100‚ all states will have cities facing some type of depopulation‚ except the District of Columbia and Hawaii‚” the study authors write.However‚ they added that the situation will vary across the country from region to region. The results show that 43 percent of US cities are losing population‚ while 40 percent are gaining population and the remaining 17 percent show fluctuating trends. “The number of depopulating cities in the Northeast and Midwest will be higher than in the South and West regions (although many cities in the North and Midwest will still grow). In California‚ the southern coast may lose population‚ while the northern coast may gain population. Although they are growing substantially as of this writing‚ Texas and Utah will also see a fair share of their cities going through population loss‚” they added. To reach these findings‚ the team looked at data collected from 2000 to 2020 by the US Census and the American Community Survey. Using five possible future climate scenarios‚ known as the shared socioeconomic pathways‚ they used mathematical models to forecast changes in urban populations. Speaking to Scientific American‚ lead study author Uttara Sutradhar explained that several different variables will drive the trends they identified‚ including rising property prices‚ industrial decline‚ lower birth rates‚ different levels of state taxes‚ and the impacts of climate change.To face this problem‚ the researchers believe that the US needs to have a radical paradigm shift away from growth-based planning and‚ instead‚ start embracing the principles of adaptability‚ modularity‚ and multifunctionality.More broadly speaking‚ it’s become well-established that the global population will decline by the end of the 21st century. A study in 2020 concluded that the population of the world will peak in 2064 at around 9.7 billion people‚ before falling to 8.8 billion by 2100. Another (more pessimistic) report argued that the global population will peak at 8.6 billion in 2050 and then decline to just 7 billion by 2100.The new study is published in the journal Nature Cities.

Compare these two scenarios: meeting your significant other for a romantic dinner‚ or going for an after-work coffee with that guy you barely know from HR. We’ll bet one of these sounds a lot more appealing than the other‚ right? Scientists have just cracked the code for why we crave spending time with some people more than others‚ and they did it with help from some super-cute furry critters.The prairie vole is one of only a handful of animals that‚ like humans‚ form monogamous bonds. That’s made them invaluable to generations of researchers analyzing all aspects of human connection and relationships‚ and it’s why they were an obvious choice for Zoe Donaldson and colleagues in their study of what happens in the brain when partnerships are made and broken.Protect them at all costs.Image credit: Todd Ahern“What we have found‚ essentially‚ is a biological signature of desire that helps us explain why we want to be with some people more than other people‚” Donaldson‚ an associate professor of behavioral neuroscience at CU Boulder‚ said in a statement. “As humans‚ our entire social world is basically defined by different degrees of selective desire to interact with different people‚ whether it’s your romantic partner or your close friends. This research suggests that certain people leave a unique chemical imprint on our brain that drives us to maintain these bonds over time.”The study used state-of-the-art neuroimaging to watch what was happening in the voles’ brains in real time when they were separated from their partners. In one scenario‚ two paired voles were separated by a door that one had to open with a lever; in another‚ the female vole was forced to clamber over a fence to reach her beloved.Using a miniature fiber optic sensor‚ the team tracked activity in a part of the brain called the nucleus accumbens‚ which we know from human studies is vital in motivating us to seek reward. When an animal engages in behaviors that should lead them to something they desire – like a fuzzy little vole searching for its life partner – the neurotransmitter dopamine floods the brain’s reward system.The fiber optic sensors used in the study lit up each time they picked up a hit of dopamine. When the voles were finally reunited with their loved ones‚ first author Anne Pierce said the light show was “like a rave”. By contrast‚ while they were separated‚ the lights dimmed.“This suggests that not only is dopamine really important for motivating us to seek out our partner‚ but there’s actually more dopamine coursing through our reward center when we are with our partner than when we are with a stranger‚” Pierce explained.   Okay‚ tissues at the ready people. In the next experiment‚ a vole couple was kept apart for four whole weeks. In the wild‚ this would be long enough for a vole to seek a new mate‚ so in many ways it is akin to a bereavement‚ or at least a very painful breakup‚ in humans.When the voles were finally reunited‚ they hadn’t forgotten each other‚ but that characteristic flood of dopamine had gone. In other words‚ they’d lost their strong desire for one another.“We think of this as sort of a reset within the brain that allows the animal to now go on and potentially form a new bond‚” said Donaldson. While this may sound sad‚ it could actually be good news for humans who have experienced loss or a relationship breakdown – this could be the brain’s way of allowing us to move on.More research will be needed before we know how well these findings translate from prairie voles to humans‚ but the authors believe their work could have important implications for humans coping with grief‚ or those who struggle to form intimate relationships.“The hope is that by understanding what healthy bonds look like within the brain‚ we can begin to identify new therapies to help the many people with mental illnesses that affect their social world‚” Donaldson said.The study is published in Current Biology.

Mach numbers compare the flow velocity of a fluid past a boundary to the speed of sound. Crucially‚ however‚ there is no universal speed of sound. Instead‚ sound travels at different rates depending on the medium the sound is travelling in and the temperature. Consequently‚ Mach 1 is equal to the local speed of sound‚ that is the speed in the medium through which an object is traveling.The local nature of the measure might make it seem unimportant‚ compared to universal constants. For anyone trying to surpass Mach 1‚ it’s sound’s local speed that matters‚ and it can become important for those nearby as well if they succeed.Mach 1 can vary dramatically depending on temperature and the material through which one is moving‚ as well as weakly with some other factors. However‚ while there is a Mach 1 for water or any other medium‚ it’s almost always used to refer to movement through air‚ particularly at the heights at which airplanes usually fly. In air‚ Mach 1 is determined primarily by temperature‚ which decreases with altitude. Consequently‚ while the speed of sound is frequently given as 343 m/s (772 mph‚ or 1‚242 kmph)‚ representing room temperature‚ airplanes can often break Mach 1 at less than 300 m/s.  A solid object traveling through gas creates pressure waves in front of and behind it. These travel at the speed of sound in that gas‚ and for something as large as an aircraft they’re a force to be reckoned with. As the object’s speed increases‚ the waves get forced together‚ which at Mach 1 creates the famous sonic boom‚  which is not only disturbingly loud‚ but can rattle objects hard enough to cause pieces of houses to fall off. Objections to this inevitably led to restrictions on flights that would cause such booms. These in turn have raised costs‚ which is why you can’t now buy a passenger flight from New York to London in three hours anymore‚ although NASA hopes to fix that. Even approaching Mach 1 poses problems. As aircraft get close to the speed of sound‚ they experience greatly increased aerodynamic drag and can become harder to control. This led to Mach 1 being referred to as the “sound barrier”‚ with suggestions in newspapers it was impossible to exceed.An inaccurate analogy between Mach 1 and c‚ the speed of light in a vacuum‚ has led many people astray. Exceeding Mach 1 was considered almost impossible to do safely in an aircraft‚ until Chuck Yeager did it‚ leading to the term the “sound barrier”. Consequently‚ once the apparent limit was broken‚ and jets proceeded to exceed the speed of sound on a regular basis‚ many people assumed the speed of light would prove similarly permeable. This contributed to concepts like Warp Factor 5 in Star Trek being widely accepted‚ as if this was just an engineering problem like building planes that can fly at Mach 5. It makes for great science fiction‚ but the problems start when people believe it despite the real differences. Importantly‚ the fact that the local speed of sound could be exceeded was never in doubt. The crack of a bullwhip comes from the small sonic boom when a skilled user makes the cracker travel faster than Mach 1. Thunder is produced by a similar shockwave in the air. The challenge was to scale up.Meanwhile‚ more than a century after Einstein published the theory of Special Relativity‚ we have no evidence of anything traveling faster than the speed of light‚ whether it be tachyons or ordinary matter accelerated to pass that speed. By the way‚ the official definition of Mach 1 refers to the speed at which a fluid flows past a boundary‚ but we usually think of it as the speed at which a solid object like an airplane moves. Don’t be concerned by this discrepancy. Since all motion is relative‚ if the speed at which a plane is moving is measured compared to the air around it‚ rather than to the ground‚ the air will be flowing past it at the same rate in the opposite direction. It’s the relative motion of the two that matters. Consequently‚ a plane traveling with the wind can travel faster relative to the ground‚ than the speed of sound in the air it’s moving through‚ without exceeding Mach 1 and creating a sonic boom.

In a heart-wrenching scene on the side of the road‚ rescuers from Animal Aid Unlimited in India discovered a frail calf‚ so thin that her ribs were starkly visible. The little one‚ named Merry‚ lay helplessly‚ too weak to even acknowledge the world around her. The rescuers speculated on their Facebook page‚ “So small. Discarded.... The post Dying newborn calf lies helplessly on the road‚ waiting for someone to save her appeared first on Animal Channel.

In the charming heart of the Netherlands‚ a beautiful scene unfolds. It’s a story that tugs at the heartstrings‚ featuring two horse brothers‚ separated for ages‚ finally coming face to face. Their reunion shows the depth of animal emotions. It’s a scene that echoes in the hearts of anyone who’s ever felt the happiness of... The post Long-lost horse brothers can’t contain emotions when they reunite after years apart appeared first on Animal Channel.

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