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  • Horoscopes: Thursday, Dec. 11, 2025

    ARIES (March 21-April 19). Willpower is like a battery that drains over the course of the day. Make it easy for yourself to make good choices by anticipating what you’ll need in low-motivation moments. Don’t rely on willpower; rely on setup.

    TAURUS (April 20-May 20). The right phrasing can inspire confidence. Precision communicates competence. People sense when you mean what you say. Put thought and practice into your word choices. It will be the difference between closing a deal or not.

    GEMINI (May 21-June 21). Perfection can never fully be achieved. There’s always one more improvement, one more detail, one more layer of refinement. Even though absolute perfection is an impossibility, the pursuit itself leads you to the sublime.

    CANCER (June 22-July 22). Feelings are power sources. Strong feelings such as anger, fear or the elation of love can make your heart pound and your body spring alive. Think of them as huge power plants. There’s no need to shut them down; direct the energy instead.

    LEO (July 23-Aug. 22). Boredom is a signal to pursue something different. When you’re truly interested in something (or someone), curiosity flows naturally and opens attention. Attention is love in motion. Follow fascination instead of trying to lead it.

    VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22). Closure is efficiency. You’ve gathered all the lessons this situation can offer. Stop rereading old chapters and put that focus to better use. Reinvest the same energy in people and projects that give something back.

    LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 23). A stumble teaches you where you need to build up strength. Start with one steadying habit: move your body, pay a bill, call a friend. Do it again tomorrow. Small consistencies become the structure that keeps your world from wobbling.

    SCORPIO (Oct. 24-Nov. 21). You used to see a situation and think, “This shouldn’t be happening.” But now, you’re more effective. You see the futility in resisting what is. By accepting it all, you waste no energy. You simply commit wholly to a solution.

    SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 22-Dec. 21). You carry both fire and tenderness in the same vessel: You’re tough enough to follow through, but kind enough to let go when you need to. You have the discipline to meet goals and the softness to forgive the unmet ones.

    CAPRICORN (Dec. 22-Jan. 19). In business, retention means keeping what’s valuable: customers, employees and assets. Today it applies to your own life: Keep the value and cancel what drains you. Whether a subscription or a relationship, stop paying for anything that no longer enriches your spirit.

    AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb. 18). Someone pays attention to where you go and how you get there. They watch to see if you travel directly or wander perilously. Don’t forget that the witnessing is a form of love. Sometimes you’re the shepherd; sometimes you’re the sheep.

    PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20). You have habits you notice and ones you don’t. The invisible ones run the show. Step back for a clearer view. You need feedback, journaling and other honest mirrors to help you see what’s really driving you.

    TODAY’S BIRTHDAY (Dec. 11). Welcome to your Year of the Triumphant Return. Something you gave up on gets resurrected, and this time it works brilliantly. It will fortify you to finally see the stellar results that match your years of acquired and well-applied knowledge. More highlights: promotions, publishing, property and proof in loving, fun relationships that your consistency wins. Cancer and Capricorn adore you. Your lucky numbers are: 7, 14, 22, 39 and 4.

  • Dear Abby | Date change of funeral leads to death of friendship

    DEAR ABBY: I had a friend, “Mylene,” for many years. We swapped dog-sitting to offset the cost for each other. I helped her when she was sick and broke her foot. I walked her dog whenever she needed me. If a funeral, wedding or family emergency came up, I was always there for her.

    An aunt of mine in another state passed away. I would have had to drive there, but her daughter was making the funeral arrangements while in the hospital herself. The funeral was delayed until the next week because my aunt’s body had to be shipped to another state for the funeral.

    When I told Mylene, she said she’d keep my dog, but when the date changed, she said she couldn’t do it. “I have to work,” she said. Abby, her dog stays at home while she works, so why is there a problem? I reminded her of everything that I have done to help her out when she needed it, but she didn’t want to help me. (This was two days before I was to travel for the funeral.)

    I have tried many times to apologize to Mylene, but she refuses to make amends with me. All she does is send emojis, which I find disgusting. Can’t she call and talk to me like a grown adult to straighten this out? I paid her several times to help her, and this is what I get? What do you think about this?

    — DISAPPOINTED IN NORTH CAROLINA

    DEAR DISAPPOINTED: You have done plenty for Mylene, but the time to remind her wasn’t when she said she couldn’t take care of your dog. (Is this why you “have tried many times to apologize”?) Mylene may have sent emojis instead of calling because you embarrassed her. When we do favors for others, we shouldn’t do them with the expectation that we will be paid back. What do I think about this? I think you should find another dog-sitter immediately.

    ** ** **

    DEAR ABBY: Our daughter and her family live an hour from us. We are both in fair health. Our daughter got a late start on marriage and children. Their girls are 10 and 8. The little one is sweet and shy, but the 10-year-old is a nightmare to be around. She’s very smart but also manipulative. She lies, cheats and steals. She is rude and seems to always do exactly the opposite of what an adult tells her to do. If her parents see her being sassy or ugly, they will put her in timeout for 10 minutes, but nothing ever changes.

    None of their neighbors wants this child at their home. To make matters worse, she has begun early puberty. We can’t stand being around this 10-year-old because it wears us out. We love our daughter and would like to have a good relationship with the whole family. Please advise on how we could help or what we should do.

    — EXHAUSTED GRANDPARENTS IN OHIO

    DEAR GRANDPARENTS: A 10-minute timeout is not enough discipline for a 10-year-old’s consistent bad behavior. Without further intervention, that girl is headed for big trouble. Please suggest to your daughter that she consult a child psychologist about how to get her obviously troubled daughter heading in the right direction before things become worse.

  • Delco residents prepare for a 19% property tax hike — the second double-digit increase they face in two years

    Delco residents prepare for a 19% property tax hike — the second double-digit increase they face in two years

    For the second year in a row the Delaware County Council approved a double-digit property tax increase.

    Facing fury from residents, the all-Democratic board voted 4-1 Wednesday to approve a $340 million budget that raises the county portion of property taxes 19%.

    Last year, the council voted to increase taxes 23% as federal COVID-19 relief dollars that had filled the county’s longstanding structural deficit began to run dry. That hike took effect in January.

    The new 19% increase, which will take effect next month, will place Delaware County on stable financial footing, members of the council argued.

    “Our primary responsibility is to ensure that this county is on solid financial footing. Make no mistake, absent this increase tonight that would not be the case. We would run out of money,” said Councilmember Kevin Madden, whose term on the board runs out this year.

    The budget, Council Chair Monica Taylor said, would be the first truly balanced budget for the county in more than a decade.

    The tax increase will translate to an additional $188 annually for the county’s average assessed home value of $255,000.

    Taylor and the other council members said they didn’t take the increase lightly, but that it was a necessary step. Their Republican predecessors, they argued, went too long without substantially increasing taxes and left the county in dire straits when Democrats took control in 2020.

    Amid inflation and shrinking federal funds, they said the last two years of increases were needed. And after increasing taxes 19% in 2026, they predicted taxes could be kept level in the future.

    “If it comes down to it, next year rather than raise taxes I am going to be looking at cutting discretionary spending,” Councilmember Christine Reuther said Wednesday.

    The proposed budget increased spending by just under 6% with the majority of new spending attributed to increased costs for employee health benefits, increased court costs, employee pay, and increases to the county’s SEPTA contribution.

    “Our strategy is not just to increase revenue but to decrease expenses,” County Executive Barbara O’Malley said.

    Over the course of several meetings and hearings ahead of the vote Delaware County residents showed frustration with the increase and doubt that 2026 would be the end of the hikes. They urged council members to find ways to cut the budget or to spread the increases out over more years.

    “I own my home but I’m behind on my taxes because the taxes are so high,” resident Maureen Mitchell said in a Monday budget hearing. “Something’s gotta give for the seniors, we’re losing our homes.”

    Although Democrats inherited a deficit when they took control of the council, residents pointed out that they also made significant expenditures in recent years, including the decision to deprivatize the prison, spending more on legal fees, and launching a health department. The majority of the health department is funded by state and federal dollars.

    “Find some cuts and give taxpayers a break, then hold the line on future spending,” said Michael Straw, the chair of the Media Borough Republican Committee.

    Democrats retained control of all five seats on council in November despite GOP messaging that focused on rising tax costs.

    Cynthia Sabatini, an Upper Providence resident, asked council members to release a full list of what spending is discretionary and to spread the increase out over several years.

    “Why does it have to be done in one fell swoop?” she asked Monday.

    Councilmember Elaine Schaefer voted against the increase because she said she couldn’t justify such a steep hike during hard economic times.

    “We do need to raise the revenue but in my opinion it’s too abrupt and causes too much of a hardship to do two really significant increases in a row,” Schaefer said Wednesday.

    Delaware County is one of three of Philadelphia’s collar counties considering a tax increase this year. Montgomery County is poised to vote on a 4% tax increase next week while Bucks County is contemplating a tax increase to fill a $16 million deficit.

  • Why Jalen Hurts plans to ‘stay the course’ after turnovers stalled the Eagles offense

    Why Jalen Hurts plans to ‘stay the course’ after turnovers stalled the Eagles offense

    Very few things about this Eagles season have made much sense, so what happened Monday is in some ways was just par for the course in what has been a wacky post-Super Bowl campaign.

    The offense looked the best it has during what is now a five-game slump of sorts. The Eagles racked up 365 yards against the Chargers, finally had a balance of run and pass, yet Jalen Hurts threw four interceptions, more than he ever has in a game, and the Eagles suffered their third consecutive defeat after one final turnover in the red zone in overtime.

    Two days later, as calls for his benching outside the NovaCare Complex — both from radio talking heads and some fans — increase, Hurts said he plans to lean on the things that he always does, but taking it all to “another level.”

    “I take the approach I’ve taken for a while, and it’s seemed to work,” Hurts said Wednesday. “I think right now it’s just a matter of being more detailed, more focused.

    “When you put forth the work, put forth the effort, good things happen when you need them to happen. That’s my mentality. That’s how I’ve gotten to where I am today.”

    Jalen Hurts throws the ball to A.J. Brown in the second quarter Monday.

    Regarding any benching, Hurts’ coach put that notion to rest, at least for now, during his weekly interview with 94 WIP, calling the idea “ridiculous” Wednesday morning.

    The offense, Nick Sirianni said later in the day, did “a lot of good things,” a sentiment left tackle Jordan Mailata later expressed in the locker room after the Eagles began their practice week with a walk-through. It was the turnovers, Mailata said, that made the difference. The turnovers, of course, put Hurts under the microscope. But of his four interceptions, A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith took ownership of one apiece.

    “[We’ve] got to make catches and I think it’s a different ballgame,” Mailata said.

    What we know (and don’t) about the Eagles entering Week 15 vs. the Raiders

    The message this week, Mailata said, was to “pick ourselves up from off the floor and dominate your box.”

    For Hurts, there is plenty to work on, even if two of the four interceptions weren’t entirely on him.

    The Eagles added some new wrinkles to the offense Monday. They returned to the under-center looks that they found some success with earlier in the season. They had new schemes in the running game, and invited Hurts to be more aggressive throwing the ball over the middle of the field, something he hasn’t done much. The Eagles and Hurts value possessing the ball, and we learned Monday why they don’t take too many chances in the middle of the field and into tight windows. But there were still signs of life from an offense that has too often looked impotent and vanilla.

    Eagles offensive coordinator Kevin Patullo with wide receiver A.J. Brown and quarterback Jalen Hurts during the game against the Los Angeles Chargers.

    “I think that he did a good job of taking some of those opportunities that he was given, and I think he’s always done a good job of taking what the defense gives him,” Sirianni said of Hurts using the middle of the field. “Obviously, I never want the turnovers, but he did some really good things. I’m always going to look at the win-loss, the turnovers, and look at that and say that, but there were a lot of good things on offense. We were able to move the football against a really good defense.

    “Now, we didn’t finish drives for multiple different reasons, and we turned the ball over for multiple different reasons, but there was a lot to be encouraged by, that we’re continuing to go into the right direction that we need to go.”

    Eagles’ Jalen Hurts hits his low point, which begs the question: Should he be benched for Tanner McKee?

    Hurts said there seems to be an “antagonist” every week.

    “When we do something very well, then there’s another thing that comes up and kind of bites us,” he said. “This week, it was turnovers.” Hurts also had one interception a week earlier vs. Chicago, which doubled his count from one to two this season.

    “We just have to find a way to put it all together,” Hurts said.

    Last week, leading up to the Chargers game, Hurts revealed that he often returns to old film. It is well documented that Hurts has dealt with a lot of change. He’s had 10 coordinators in the last 10 years. But Hurts goes back deep into the archives, he said, to reflect on how things were and how things are now — the rhythm of the games, the structure of the offense.

    What’s he learning right now, and how does one Monday Night Football game test what he knows about himself and what he can push for?

    “I stick to the process and I just stay the course,” Hurts said. “I think a lot of the going back is trying to find ways we can improve, find ways that we can have new perspective or maybe think about some of the perspective we’ve lost. I’m doing all those things in the midst of change. It’s thinking about all the different perspectives that I’ve had to lean on from a coaching perspective.

    “From that aspect, it’s endless.”

  • The U.S. Mint unveils new coins for the Semiquincentennial, featuring three Philly landmarks

    The U.S. Mint unveils new coins for the Semiquincentennial, featuring three Philly landmarks

    The U.S. is turning 250 next year, and among its birthday gifts will be newly designed quarters, dimes, and half-dollar coins.

    On Wednesday evening, the U.S. Mint unveiled the new coins at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

    “The designs on these historic coins depict the story of America’s journey toward a ‘more perfect union,’ and celebrate America’s defining ideals of liberty,” said Kristie McNally, the Mint’s acting director. “We hope to offer each American the opportunity to hold our nation’s storied 250 years of history in the palms of their hands as we connect America through coins.”

    Several coins feature Philadelphia-area landmarks.

    Three separate quarter designs include images of Independence Hall, where the Declaration of Independence was signed; the Liberty Bell, housed and managed by the National Park Service in Philadelphia; and a Continental Army soldier at Valley Forge commemorating the Revolutionary War.

    This new design for the quarter commemorates the U.S. Constitution and depicts Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and U.S. Constitution where signed. The other side of this quarter has a depiction of President James Madison.

    The new dime represents the founding era of the country. Its design includes Liberty depicted as a woman wearing a cap patterned with stars and stripes. The other side of the dime will feature an American eagle, which was on early dimes that circulated in 1796, and it hasn’t appeared on the coin since 1837, according to the U.S Mint.

    In addition to the Philadelphia-area landmarks, the quarters also don images of pilgrims and the Mayflower. The five new quarters reference the Mayflower Compact, the Revolutionary War, The Declaration of Independence, the U.S. Constitution, and the Gettysburg address, and also feature images of Presidents James Madison, Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln.

    This new design for the quarter commemorates the Declaration of Independence, and depicts the Liberty Bell, housed in Philadelphia. The other side of this quarter features President Thomas Jefferson.

    The half-dollar coin is intended to look to the future of the country with an image of the Statue of Liberty on one side, and on the other, a torch being passed from her hand to another hand.

    The coins will be produced at the U.S. Mint facilities in Philadelphia and Denver and begin circulating in 2026. The new designs are authorized under legislation signed by President Donald Trump just before he left office in 2021. It noted that these coins can be issued for a one-year period starting in January 2026.

    Historical interpreters Benjamin Franklin (from left) Gen. George Washington, and President Abraham Lincoln are in the audience as the U.S. Mint unveils new coins for the Semiquincentennial at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia Wednesday.

    Philadelphia is expected to see an influx of visitors in 2026 for the Semiquincentennial.

    This year, the U.S. Mint, which had 389 employees in Pennsylvania in 2024 according to federal database FedScope, stopped producing pennies in Philadelphia. The one-cent coins are more expensive to make than they are worth due to inflation and the high cost of metals.

    A newly designed quarter for the 250th anniversary of the country commemorates the time of the Revolutionary War. It depicts a Continental Army soldier at Valley Forge, Pa. The other side of this quarter features President George Washington.
  • With Kyle Schwarber back, the Phillies can focus on other roster needs after winter meetings

    With Kyle Schwarber back, the Phillies can focus on other roster needs after winter meetings

    ORLANDO — The Phillies’ cohort will leave Disney World on Thursday with more clarity than when they arrived.

    By signing Kyle Schwarber to a five-year, $150 million deal on Tuesday at the winter meetings, the Phillies now have a better sense of direction for the rest of their offseason.

    “I feel a lot better leaving the meetings than I did coming into the meetings because we filled a big spot,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said. “And with that, we’ve been able to proceed forward.”

    Kyle Schwarber found his way back to the Phillies, and he hopes J.T. Realmuto does the same

    Schwarber was the first major domino to fall this free agency cycle. Pete Alonso followed on Wednesday, agreeing to terms with the Orioles, according to multiple outlets.

    From his point of view, Schwarber felt like his free agency process was a “standard” length of time.

    “I felt like I got all the information I needed to make a decision, and I wanted to be respectful of everyone,” he said. “That’s how I operate. I wanted to be respectful of the Phillies. I wanted to be respectful to the other teams I talked to. And I know that there’s a long road in the offseason, but also, too, I wanted to make sure that I had the time to decide.”

    The Phillies are optimistic about bringing back J.T. Realmuto (left) after re-signing Kyle Schwarber to a five-year, $150 million contract.

    While the process itself wasn’t rushed, Schwarber was in a rush to get his physical completed in Philadelphia after coming to an agreement. He and his wife Paige are expecting the birth of their daughter very soon.

    And now, instead of worrying about contingency plans to fill a Schwarber-sized hole in the lineup, the Phillies can focus their attention on other areas of need.

    One area they have already started to address is the bullpen. Dombrowski said this week that the Phillies have five spots in the bullpen that are solidified — lefties José Alvarado, Matt Strahm, and Tanner Banks, and righties Jhoan Duran and Orion Kerkering — but there could be competition for the final three spots.

    The Phillies added some potential relief depth on Wednesday with a trade for right-hander Yoniel Curet from the Rays in exchange for minor league pitcher Tommy McCollum. In 2024, Curet was Tampa Bay’s No. 18 prospect by MLB Pipeline, but he dealt with a shoulder injury in 2025 that limited him to 55⅓ innings.

    He was designated for assignment by the Rays earlier this week, but the Phillies were intrigued by his fastball.

    They also were intrigued by Marlins right-hander Zach McCambley and selected him in Wednesday’s Rule 5 draft.

    Phillies select pitcher Zach McCambley in Rule 5 draft: ‘He could make the team’

    “It’s a pretty much a heavy cutter/slider attack with a good fastball that sits 94 up to 96 [mph],” said Phillies director of professional scouting Mike Ondo. “The guy throws strikes, and he’s really, really tough on right-handed hitters. And I think that was one of the big appeals for us.”

    McCambley has experience as a starter and a reliever, and the Phillies liked his versatility.

    There are other, bigger priorities still being worked on behind the scenes, and at the top of the list is catcher. Fresh off his own re-signing, Schwarber has joined the recruiting effort for J.T. Realmuto.

    “I’d be lying that I didn’t send a text to J.T. trying to see where he’s at and try to coax him,” he said.

    Reshaping the outfield also is a priority. Dombrowski reiterated this week the Phillies’ desire to find a “change of scenery” for Nick Castellanos.

    Phillies outfielder Nick Castellanos will likely have a change of scenery in 2026.

    “We’ve got work to do,” Dombrowski said of the outfield. “We’ve got a couple of options, with [Brandon] Marsh, and in this situation where we’ve talked about [Justin] Crawford, we’re going to give him that opportunity to make the club and we feel good about it. [Johan] Rojas is out there. We claimed [former Astro Pedro] León on waivers. We’ve got [Otto] Kemp that can go out there and play. …

    “We’ve got work to do, is what it comes down to, and we continue to try to make things happen.”

    Phillies opt to stretch their competitive window with Kyle Schwarber and Co., and baseball seems to agree

    Even with the areas that seem mostly set, there could be changes. Starting pitching wasn’t a big focus for the Phillies last winter, but they still traded for Jesús Luzardo, viewing it as an opportunity to improve. Dombrowski said they are staying “open-minded” this year, too.

    But it sure helps that the first item on the to-do list is checked off.

    “It’s given us then parameters on where we can go forward with different things and what we need to address,” Dombrowski said. “ … I feel very good in adding Schwarbs, because we know what he can be, and it’s one big need we do not have anymore.”

  • Scientists discover oldest evidence of human-made fire in a 400,000-year-old hearth

    Scientists discover oldest evidence of human-made fire in a 400,000-year-old hearth

    Scientists have discovered the oldest evidence of ancient humans igniting fires: a 400,000-year-old open-air hearth buried in an old clay pit in southern England.

    The study, published in the journal Nature, is based on a years-long examination of a reddish patch of sediment excavated at a site in Barnham. It pushes back the timeline on fire-making by about 350,000 years.

    The nebulous question of how far back human ancestors conjured fire is deeply intertwined with some of the biggest outstanding mysteries about human evolution. The ability to reliably set fires would have allowed humans to cook food, expanding the range of what they could eat and making meals more digestible. That, in turn, could have supported bigger brains that consumed more energy, catalyzing new social behaviors as humans gathered around campfires.

    But campfires don’t leave fossils. It takes painstaking work to reconstruct these ephemeral uses of technology. And what remains unclear is who set them. No telltale bones have been recovered at Barnham, but researchers think it was Neanderthals, close cousins of our species who interbred with our ancestors.

    “The evidence of fire is incredibly difficult to preserve. If you get to ash and charcoal, it can wash away. Sediment can get washed away,” said Nicholas Ashton, curator of Paleolithic collections at the British Museum and one of the leaders of the work. “We just found this one pocket — quite a large site — where it happens to be preserved.”

    Even when traces of fire remain, the task of distinguishing incidental flames sparked by lightning strikes or wildfires from those set by people is difficult. Perhaps most challenging is distinguishing between fires ignited by humans with the know-how from those produced by scavenging embers from wildfires.

    The study could spark more debate.

    “The authors did an excellent job with their analysis of the Barnham data, but they seem to be stretching the evidence with their claim that this constitutes the ‘earliest evidence of fire making,’” Wil Roebroeks, an archaeologist at Leiden University, said in an email, calling the evidence “circumstantial.”

    Ségolène Vandevelde, an archaeologist and adjunct professor at the University of Quebec at Chicoutimi, praised the multidisciplinary approaches the authors used and said the finding was “solid.”

    Pyroarchaeology

    In the Paleolithic era, the Barnham site would have been a woodland with a seasonal pond — set away from the main river valley, where predators might have roamed, according to Robert Davis, an archaeologist at the British Museum and one of the authors of the study. The wildlife would have included elephants, lions, deer, fish and other small mammals.

    Despite the fleeting nature of fire, it can leave traces under the right conditions. At the site in Barnham, where artifacts such as heat-shattered flint hand axes were also found, researchers were intrigued by a layer of reddish sediment — a result of iron-rich sediments being heated to produce a mineral called hematite. For four years, they studied it, trying to determine whether it was the result of a wildfire or deliberate human activity.

    One of the first questions they asked was whether this was a one-time blaze or something closer to a fireplace that was lit and relit many times.

    To deconstruct this question, scientists studied the magnetism of the sediment, which is altered by heating. They conducted modern experiments, to see if they could come up with an estimate of how many heating events might have resulted in the magnetic profile of the sediment — and found that after about a dozen heating events, each one four hours long, their modern samples mimicked the archaeological one.

    Then they examined the chemistry of the site — scrutinizing particular chemical compounds left behind. The patterns they found suggested humans had been using these fires.

    The last element was small pieces of cracked flint scattered about the site — as well as two bits of pyrite, which can create a spark when struck together. A geological study of the area showed that pyrite was scarce in the local landscape, leading the authors to argue that the inhabitants had carried it there for the specific purpose of making fire.

    Scavenging sparks vs. setting fires

    The archaeological record with examples of fires used by hominins — the ancestors of humans — stretches back more than a million years ago in Africa.

    But what interests scientists is not just the ability to successfully scavenge sparks from wildfires or lightning strikes, but also the ability to reliably create it — possibly by striking flint and pyrite together to create sparks.

    The oldest accepted evidence of fires purposefully set are from a Neanderthal site dated to 50,000 years ago in France. That evidence is considered convincing in part because there are chunks of flint showing “microwear traces of having been struck” to create sparks, Roebroeks said. But at Barnham, there are no microwear traces, leaving room for disagreement.

    “It’s a very contentious debate that’s been going on for some time,” Davis said.

    Early hominins would have learned to harvest fire by collecting embers, harvesting the right fuel and tending the fire. And eventually, they had to learn how to make it on demand — which would allow them to live in colder places, cook, fend off predators and socialize after dark.

    The study does not suggest that Barnham was where fire originated; it was probably widespread across the ancient world. But it does offer a rare, preserved snapshot of prehistoric life.

    “The maintenance of fire requires social cooperation, cultural rules and work coupled with knowledge of wood types, and means that a complicated tradition is at play,” said John Hawks, a paleoanthropologist at the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

    https://washingtonpost.com/documents/961318a0-f937-42fe-9cee-f031b09c476d.pdf
  • Sixers’ Joel Embiid and Paul George want to ‘be efficient’ while playing on the floor together

    Sixers’ Joel Embiid and Paul George want to ‘be efficient’ while playing on the floor together

    Paul George and Joel Embiid have only played two games together this season. So, following the 76ers’ optional practice on Wednesday, George was asked what the next step was for the pairing.

    “Just keep at it,” he said. “Keep getting opportunities on the floor together. Keep presenting healthy, and everything else just kind of roll it out once we get on the floor and continue to keep logging minutes.”

    Neither player shot the ball well during Sunday’s 112-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers at the Xfinity Mobile Arena.

    The Sixers still haven’t figured out their bad third quarters: ‘Something’s got to give’

    George made 3 of 8 shots — including going 1-for-3 on three-pointers — to finish with 12 points along with six rebounds, three assists, one steal, and a turnover in 32 minutes, 9 seconds. Meanwhile, Embiid missed 17 of 21 shots — including all six of his three-pointers — while scoring 16 points. The 7-foot-2 center also finished with seven rebounds, two assists, one block, and a steal.

    In their two games together, Embiid averaged 17 points while making 28.5% of his shots. Meanwhile, George averaged 14 points on 36% shooting.

    “Just, obviously, trying to be efficient,” George said of his biggest takeaway from playing alongside Embiid. “Trying to understand, still, spacing and key moments of being aggressive, and when I can be aggressive, look for mine, but understanding, like, he [hasn’t] played a ton either. So, he’s trying to find his rhythm. He’s trying to get in a flow, and I think both of us, on the court, are trying to do that at the same time.

    “So, more minutes. More understanding. He’ll know where I like the ball, where I’m aggressive, and vice versa.”

    Joel Embiid is averaging a career-low 18.2 points in nine games for the Sixers this season.

    But their struggles haven’t been limited to those two games.

    Through eight games played this season, George’s field-goal percentage (41.8%) and three-point percentage (34.9%) are both the second lowest of his career. He’s also averaging the fourth-fewest points (14.1 points) of his career.

    Meanwhile, Embiid is shooting career lows from the field (40.7%) and on three-pointers (21.4%), in addition to averaging a career-low 18.2 points in nine games this season.

    Sixers vs. Lakers takeaways: Tyrese Maxey’s lack of respect, Joel Embiid’s struggles, and more from loss to Lakers

    But George noted that Embiid had great looks at the basket on Sunday. He added they were shots the Sixers want him to take.

    “Shots, I’m sure he was comfortable with,” George said. “It’s just how the ball went that night, but that’s the game. He’s been working on his game. He’s been working on his rhythm, his timing. He’s been putting the extra work in.

    “So, we expect him to be on the reverse side of that. But it’s the game, man. It’s how it goes sometimes.”

    Sixers’ Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey shown together during a game against the Hawks on Nov. 30.

    Embiid has missed 14 games this season due to left and/or right knee injury management. Meanwhile, George missed 14 games with left knee injury management and sat out another game with a sprained right ankle.

    Not having games on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week is bittersweet for the Sixers, especially Embiid and George. They’ve been able to rest and build rhythm heading into Friday’s home game against the Indiana Pacers.

    Jabari Walker is soaking up knowledge from his veteran Sixers teammates

    “We’ve taken advantage of these days off,” George said. “We’re in the gym today. We were in the gym yesterday. So, it hasn’t been ‘off’ for us. We’re still putting the work in to kind of be prepared and be ready and get our bodies going and try to stay sharp, but it is bittersweet. Especially, for us trying to get into a game time rhythm where we start to come back and then there’s a break in between, but it’s good.

    “Especially for the guys that have been playing a ton of minutes for them to get some time away. That’s where the sweet part comes in.”

  • Christian Dvorak has done wonders for Trevor Zegras and the team’s depth down the middle. Should the Flyers consider keeping him around?

    Christian Dvorak has done wonders for Trevor Zegras and the team’s depth down the middle. Should the Flyers consider keeping him around?

    Flyers general manager Danny Brière sat at the podium following a busy July 1 and said what everyone was thinking.

    “Shows that we focused on term — short term — to try to fill those holes,” he said. “Guys were willing to bet on themselves, which is awesome. And for us, term was way more important than anything else. … We know that the salaries were very competitive, but where it helps us is, it keeps the flexibility moving forward in our favor.”

    Flexibility is critical for the Flyers as they climb out of a rebuild. Several players in the organization should push for roster spots in the coming years, and short-term deals fill gaps now without creating a logjam.

    Flyers takeaways: Ty Murchison looks the part, while Christian Dvorak continues his career-best pace

    But one player signed on the first day of free agency probably is forcing the Flyers to consider taking a detour. Christian Dvorak, whom many viewed as an overpaid stopgap and potential midseason trade candidate, signed a one-year deal with the Flyers at $5.4 million on July 1.

    He is earning every penny right now.

    “He was more in a defensive role in Montreal, more on the fourth line,” coach Rick Tocchet said after Dvorak got the Flyers on the board in Tuesday’s win over the San Jose Sharks.

    “And I think he’s getting a chance. He saw the opportunity here with our situation, and I think that he’s grabbing it.”

    Part of the reason Dvorak came to Philly was to work with Tocchet — again. The Flyers coach ran Arizona’s bench when Dvorak set a career high with 38 points in 2019-20. Just 28 games into this season, the 29-year-old center has 19 points and is on pace for 56.

    And a big factor is the trust between the two. Dvorak is deployed in all situations. He has played on the power play — like on Tuesday when Matvei Michkov missed the start of the second period — and is a key penalty killer. If Tocchet needs a faceoff man, it makes perfect sense to send out the player who wins 55.8% of them. The bench boss also uses him to close out games, even when it’s three centers and two defensemen.

    Christian Dvorak and Trevor Zegras, pictured recently at the Flyers’ Casino Night, have developed terrific chemistry on and off the ice.

    Dvorak also is centering the Flyers’ top line, between Trevor Zegras and Travis Konecny. They haven’t played together for long but already are making noise.

    According to MoneyPuck, among the Flyers lines that have played at least 35 minutes together, the trio ranks first in expected goals percentage (63.3%) and expected goals for per 60 minutes (4.33), but also tied for first in expected goals against (1.8).

    And according to Natural Stat Trick, among lines that have played at least 12 minutes together, when they’re on the ice, the Flyers dominate. It has them ranked first in chances for percentage (57.5%), shots for percentage (73.68%), scoring chances for percentage (60.53%), and high-danger chances (72.2%).

    A large part of that is because of Dvorak’s defensive acumen and his ability to not just be in the right spots but to let the creative duo of Konecny and Zegras do what they do offensively.

    “Yeah, it’s been great. Two guys [with] high hockey, IQ, which is huge. You know they’re going to make the right play almost every time, and that helps a lot,” Dvorak told The Inquirer.

    “And, yeah, getting to know TK the last handful of games, the chemistry is coming. Playing with Zegras for a while here, I think we read off each other pretty well, and that helps a lot. And I thought we’ve been pretty effective.”

    The trio has been on the ice for two goals for the Flyers and just one against in more than 35 minutes at five-on-five.

    The Flyers are playing well for the first time in what seems like forever. Let’s enjoy them and stop complaining.

    “I played junior against him a lot. Dominated him, actually, in junior, quite a bit,” joked Konecny — or maybe not — who played against Dvorak in the Ontario Hockey League.

    “But now it’s nice, yeah, be on the same line, and he’s got a ton of skill. He’s really, really smart, so he thinks the game the right way. And usually you just get into a good spot and going to know where you’re at.”

    Tocchet likes pairs, and Dvorak and Zegras are attached at the hip on and off the ice. Friends long before either came to Philly, their connection has helped Dvorak feel comfortable in the room. It’s showing with Dvorak’s confidence, but he’s also elevating his linemates’ games as well.

    “I’ve learned so much from him,” Zegras said after a spirited practice on Wednesday. “[Looking] back to earlier in my career, like maybe when things weren’t going my way, I’d be screaming and slamming sticks on the bench, and saying all crazy stuff that doesn’t really help in a positive way.

    Christian Dvorak (center) and Rich Tocchet go back to their days together in Arizona.

    “He’s as cool as a cucumber, and his famous line or expression is: it’s a game of runs. So that’s what I tell myself. It’s a game of runs. And you go back out there, you get ready to go for the next shift. So I just think that from the aspect of being himself, he’s a leader in that regard. And I’ve definitely learned a lot from him.”

    Maybe the Flyers should play long ball with Dvorak. At the time, his deal looked like an overpay. Today, it looks like they got him for cheap. And with the salary cap going up and the amount of available centers dwindling, the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent may just be someone the Flyers decide to keep around .

    Breakaways

    Defensemen Rasmus Ristolainen and Cam York, who are recovering from upper-body injuries, practiced on Wednesday in regular jerseys. … Defenseman Ty Murchison also remains with the club, and it sounds like he may get another game before possibly returning to Lehigh Valley of the American Hockey League.

  • House passes defense bill to raise troop pay and overhaul weapons purchases

    House passes defense bill to raise troop pay and overhaul weapons purchases

    WASHINGTON — The House voted to pass a sweeping defense policy bill Wednesday that authorizes $900 billion in military programs, including a pay raise for troops and an overhaul of how the Department of Defense buys weapons.

    The bill’s passage comes at a time of increasing friction between the Republican-controlled Congress and President Donald Trump’s administration over the management of the military.

    The annual National Defense Authorization Act typically gained bipartisan backing, and the White House has signaled “strong support” for the must-pass legislation, saying it is in line with Trump’s national security agenda. Yet tucked into the more than-3,000-page bill are several measures that push back against the Department of Defense, including a demand for more information on boat strikes in the Caribbean and support for allies in Europe, such as Ukraine.

    Overall, the sweeping bill calls for a 3.8% pay raise for many military members as well as housing and facility improvements on military bases. It also strikes a compromise between the political parties — cutting climate and diversity efforts in line with Trump’s agenda, while also boosting congressional oversight of the Pentagon and repealing several old war authorizations. Still, hard-line conservatives said they were frustrated that the bill does not do more to cut U.S. commitments overseas.

    “We need a ready, capable and lethal fighting force because the threats to our nation, especially those from China, are more complex and challenging than at any point in the last 40 years,” said Rep. Mike Rogers, the GOP chair of the House Armed Services Committee.

    Lawmakers overseeing the military said the bill would change how the Pentagon buys weapons, with an emphasis on speed after years of delay by the defense industry. It’s also a key priority for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. Rep. Adam Smith, the top Democrat on the armed services panel, called the bill “the most ambitious swing at acquisition reform that we’ve taken.”

    Still, Smith lamented that the bill does not do as much as Democrats would like to rein in the Trump administration but called it “a step in the right direction towards reasserting the authority of Congress.”

    “The biggest concern I have is that the Pentagon, being run by Secretary Hegseth and by President Trump, is simply not accountable to Congress or accountable to the law,” he said.

    The legislation next heads to the Senate, where leaders are working to pass the bill before lawmakers depart Washington for a holiday break.

    Several senators on both sides of the aisle have criticized the bill for not doing enough to restrict military flights over Washington. They had pushed for reforms after a midair collision this year between an Army helicopter and a jetliner killed all 67 people aboard the two aircraft near Washington’s Ronald Reagan National Airport. The National Transportation Safety Board has also voiced opposition to that section of the bill.

    Here’s what the defense bill does as it makes its way through Congress:

    Boat strike videos and congressional oversight

    Lawmakers included a provision that would cut Hegseth’s travel budget by a quarter until the Pentagon provides Congress with unedited video of the strikes against alleged drug boats near Venezuela. Lawmakers are asserting their oversight role after a Sept. 2 strike where the U.S. military fired on two survivors who were holding on to a boat that had partially been destroyed.

    The bill also demands that Hegseth allow Congress to review the orders for the strikes.

    Reaffirm commitments to Europe, Korea

    Trump’s ongoing support for Ukraine and other allies in Eastern Europe has been under doubt over the last year, but lawmakers included several positions meant to keep up U.S. support for countering Russian aggression in the region.

    The defense bill requires the Pentagon to keep at least 76,000 troops and major equipment stationed in Europe unless NATO allies are consulted and there is a determination that such a withdrawal is in U.S. interests. Around 80,000 to 100,000 U.S. troops are usually present on European soil. It also authorizes $400 million for each of the next two years to manufacture weapons to be sent to Ukraine.

    Additionally, there is a provision to keep U.S. troops stationed in South Korea, setting the minimum requirement at 28,500.

    Cuts to climate and diversity initiatives

    The bill makes $1.6 billion in cuts to climate change-related spending, the House Armed Services Committee said. U.S. military assessments have long found that climate change is a threat to national security, with bases being pummeled by hurricanes or routinely flooded.

    The bill also would save $40 million by repealing diversity, equity and inclusion offices, programs and trainings, the committee said. The position of chief diversity officer would be cut, for example.

    Iraq War resolution repeal

    Congress is putting an official end to the war in Iraq by repealing the authorization for the 2003 invasion. Supporters in both the House and Senate say the repeal is crucial to prevent future abuses and to reinforce that Iraq is now a strategic partner of the U.S.

    The 2002 resolution has been rarely used in recent years. But the first Trump administration cited it as part of its legal justification for a 2020 U.S. drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassim Suleimani.

    Lifting final Syria sanctions

    Congress would permanently remove U.S. sanctions put on Syria after the Trump administration temporarily lifted many penalties.

    Lawmakers imposed economically crippling sanctions on the country in 2019 to punish former leader Bashar Assad for human rights abuses during the nearly 14-year civil war. After Syrian President Ahmed al-Sharaa led a successful insurgency to depose Assad, he is seeking to rebuild his nation’s economy.

    Advocates of a permanent repeal have said international companies are unlikely to invest in projects needed for the country’s reconstruction as long as there is a threat of sanctions returning.

    Lack of IVF coverage

    Democrats criticized House Speaker Mike Johnson (R., La.) for stripping a provision from the bill to expand coverage of in vitro fertilization for active duty personnel. An earlier version covered the medical procedure, known as IVF, which helps people facing infertility have children.