Thirteen-year-old Manuel's biggest worry used to be school essays and his sister's pranks. But when he brings home a perfectly smooth, pearly stone from a family camping trip, the predictable rhythms of his neighborhood begin to fracture. It starts small: a moved garden gnome, a persistent hum in the air, and a patch of grass that refuses to grow back. As the "Malicious Rock" begins to exert its influence, Manuel realizes that the familiar world he loves is merely a stage for an ancient, u...

AI is not just a tool. It's a new creator and a new risk. Artificial intelligence is transforming how companies innovate, create, and compete. But with this transformation comes a legal and strategic minefield.Generative AI tools can produce valuable assets or create unintentional IP violations. Training data may be unknowingly scraped, reused, or leaked. And companies that fail to align their IP strategies with AI use risk litigation, brand damage, and even board liability. This b...

From the outside, The Lyon's Den doesn't look like much; there isn't even a sign. But Mercs of all species know that if you head to southwest Houston, near the Starport, there's a particular run-down strip mall that looks like it's been abandoned for years. The glass door second from the south end of the strip is plastered over on the inside with blue paper, and the faint golden outline of a rampant lion is the only clue.The door is locked, of course, and beyond the door is nothing...

A drawing of two white mice. A riding whip. And a woman who cannot speak — but is trying, desperately, to tell someone something.A barrister with a gift for codes. A psychologist who doesn't believe in telepathy — until tonight. And forty miles of dark country road between them and an old house with two white doors.Some messages are written. Some are screamed in silence.E.C.R. Lorac — a puzzle, a race against time, and a mother's last, wordless act of courag...

Discover the deep cultural roots of Southern cuisine through archaeology.Understanding and explaining societal rules surrounding food and foodways have been the foci of anthropological studies since the early days of the discipline. Baking, Bourbon, and Black Drink: Foodways Archaeology in the American Southeast, however, is the first collection devoted exclusively to southeastern foodways analyzed through archaeological perspectives. These essays...

Exploring how New Deal innovation transformed archaeology in the American South.New Deal Archaeology in Tennessee tells the engrossing story of Southeastern archaeology in the 1930s. The Tennessee Valley Authority Act of May 1933 initiated an ambitious program of flood control and power generation by way of a chain of hydroelectric dams on the Tennessee River. The construction of these dams flooded hundreds of thousands of square miles of river bo...

Archaeological case studies consider material evidence of religion and ritual in the pre-Columbian Eastern WoodlandsArchaeologists today are interpreting Native American religion and ritual in the distant past in more sophisticated ways, considering new understandings of the ways that Native Americans themselves experienced them. Shaman, Priest, Practice, Belief: Materials of Ritual and Religion in Eastern North America broadly considers Native American re...

Thirty-five awesome stories - one kick ass meme that started it all.It started as a joke. Storm Area 51 they said. They can't stop all of us they said. But all laughter stopped when the U.S. Air Force mobilized the reserves and pulled out the big guns.However, relentless mockery and derision by the media and the powers that be pushed the weebs and alien enthusiasts too far. What else were they supposed to do? They put on their big girl panties and showed up, determined to fi...

The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah is the location of one of the best-known terrestrial records for the late Cretaceous. A major effort in the new century has documented over 2,000 new vertebrate fossil sites, provided new radiometric dates, and identified five new genera of ceratopsids, two new species of hadrosaur, a probable new genus of hypsilophodontid, new pachycephalosaurs and ankylosaurs, several kinds of theropods (including a new genus of oviraptor and a new ...

There has been, and continues to be, an explosion of interest in developing new small science centers that is changing the world of museums. This handbook is designed to be a one-stop source for future and current centers, and anyone interested in the important roles these institutions play in their communities. With articles-all written by leaders in field-covering everything from administration, staffing, finance, marketing, exhibit design, and beyond, this comprehensive resource will be...

Provides a more holistic approach by combining research both on the impacts of climate change on agriculture and the contribution of agriculture to climate changeHighlights advances in ways of predicting the effects of agriculture and climate change on one anotherBuilds on this foundation to outline key mitigation strategies to achieve a more ‘climate-smart’ agriculture

The Wildside book of Fantasy presents 20 great fantasy tales by modern masters. Included are stories by Tanith Lee, Chelsea Quinn Yarbro, Gene Wolfe, Fritz Leiber, Lawrence Watt-Evans, Robert E. Howard, and many more. A choice selection of tales!THE DEAD MAN, by Gene WolfeBRIGHT STREETS OF AIR, by Nina Kiriki HoffmanTHE DOLPHIN AND THE DEEP, by Thomas Burnett SwannTHE SWORDSMEN OF VARNIS, by Clive JacksonTHE EMPEROR OF GONDWANALAND, by Paul Di Filippo